Gallery 9 is proud to present its fourth solo exhibition by Ed Bats, Waving, not drowning,which opens on 16 June 2021 and continues to 10 July 2021. 

Bats combines hard-edged abstraction with a minimalist aesthetic to create works that push at the limits of composition and form. His careful, considered and constant working and re-working is laid bare in every stroke of paint, each exacting line or gesture.

In a moment of uncertainty and confusion Ed Bats decided to write a short piece of text for his latest exhibition with Gallery9 called “Waving, not drowning”, but in the third person. Perhaps he thought this style of writing might separate him from his opinions or his true feelings about his work. Perhaps it was a poor attempt at humour. Despite this I think his latest paintings show an even further exploration of his interest in abstraction and the ideas around visual languages. He is always harping on about visual languages and the many dialects within them, and how they open up so many interesting avenues to explore. I think he is right though, maybe these paintings do explore a new dialect of his visual language, or perhaps they make some other sort of commentary, but I doubt it. I know that he is quite interested in the idea of letting people unravel his work as they wish, so maybe that’s the case? - Ed Bats