KATE BOXER : HYLTON STOCKWELL : BILLY LLOYD

It is always a delight to unwrap Kate Boxer’s paintings and prints prior to her biennial show at North House Gallery. Again this year animals (wolves, foxes, horses, dogs and deer) and all kinds of birds are observed with a charming accuracy and gentle wit; cowboys race and shout, their titles more or less esoteric quotes from movies or Frank O’Hara; writers (Proust and Coleridge) and rulers (Mary Queen of Scots and Joan of Arc) are as intimately portrayed as friends (David Flusfeder).

Hylton Stockwell is showing for the first time at the gallery but has been making sculpture for a very long time. He worked as an assistant to Henry Moore in the mid-sixties, between his degree at Hornsey College and postgraduate at the Royal College of Art, and has become a sought-after consultant for his skills in mould making and patination. His depictions of dogs show a similar affectionate wit and skill to Kate Boxer’s although he does not baulk at recording some of their more sordid habits. His men in sharp suits have a slightly more sinister and mysterious edge but a teenager lounging on a chair or the series of women undressing are intimate and funny. Even with the fashion for sculpture exploding this year, it is safe to say that there are not many opportunities to acquire original small bronzes of this calibre (mostly unique pieces) at affordable prices.

Even more affordable, and back by popular demand after the Christmas Show last year, are the white porcelain pots by Billy Lloyd, who, since graduating in 2006, has been assistant to two major ceramicists (Lisa Hammond and Julian Stair) and who has this year established his own studio. It is not too fanciful to ascribe wit and skill to his work too as his stacking cups, trails of handle-less jugs, tea and coffee pots and nesting bowls depart wackily from common shapes but within each series the hand thrown elements have to relate to each other mathematically. Even the mugs are designed individually: tapered, cylindrical or flared, and with handles at different heights, they seem to chat to each other on the shelf.