The Adze Gallery in York is exhibiting works by northern painters Ken Jones and Lesley Coates-Jones from tomorrow until July 5.

The Painting North-South-West show of land and sea-inspired new works by these two regular Adze artists also will feature paintings and ceramics by invited St Ives and South Western artists.

Gallery curator David Durham says: "This exhibition places Ken and Lesley's paintings about landscape and painting alongside works by a selection of their South West counterparts. The overriding link is a shared passion for expressing the artist's experience of place through bold use of colour, composition and texture."

Ken Jones's newly commissioned large paintings draw inspiration from the artist's love of St Ives and Cornwall.

"In them, Ken has fused the rich colours of sky, sea and earth - ultramarine, cyan, terracotta - with neutrals to create works which are serene and yet striking," says David. "Likewise, the compositions are both bold - monolithic, slab-like structures - and contemplative with quiet, ethereal passages."

Noting the "pristine white of cloud, surf and sun-bleached rock" in Jones's portfolio, David is reminded of the work of Barbara Hepworth, the Yorkshire artist and sculptor who made St Ives her home.

"In this her centenary year, I think she would have discovered in these paintings the 'barbaric and magical' landscape of the Cornwall where she was to become so deeply rooted."

Coates-Jones's paintings, also newly commissioned, convey her revelry in light, colour and life. "Her joie de vivre is vividly expressed through a masterly use of colour and texture in these rich and opulent canvases," says David.

Paintings are for sale at £350 to £1,900; gallery opening hours at Adze, in Gillygate, are 11am to 5pm, Wednesday to Saturday, and admission is free.

Updated: 10:50 Friday, June 06, 2003