Prismatic New Paintings by Husband and Wife Duo Biggs and Collings

Paintings by Biggs and Collings are never quite as straightforward as they seem. Their body of work references such diverse topics as pre-modern color organization, chance footprints in sand, industrialized cityscapes, and religious iconography. Now, with “They Shall be Male and Female,” at Vigo Gallery in London, the husband and wife strike upon the prismatic properties of fractured color.

Shifting hues and opacities hover and dance around each other in these 13 canvases. Colors are chosen and mixed by Emma Biggs, then painted onto canvas by Matthew Collings. For this married couple, the relationship between color, composition, and application is not just artistic.

In these artworks, every small decision has an impact. Perceptions change with different brushstrokes, color combinations, and arrangements. Like a glass prism dangling on a string, the canvases catch light differently depending where the viewer stands. The pieces are different from each other, and also from themselves.