Exhibited: The New Art Centre, catalogue no. 26

Rowntree could develop collage into high relief constructions or use their surface qualities to enrich his work with their contrasting social as well as visual associations. 

In these works, one thing is like another and can act as a metaphor, a poetic device more familiar in literature, but central to Rowntree’s later paintings. With his painting often lying flat on the table in the studio, he assembled his elements like pieces in a game, linking textures, colours, images, lettering and many bits of materials, including glass, plastic, metal foil, acrylic paint, wood, newspaper, holes and engraved lines. This innovative strategy allowed for change, readjustment, editing, and serial variations, using painting, photography, printing, cutting and construction. The game was premeditated, but its outcome was always a discovery.