STEWART GEDDES | Kairos: In collaboration with TM Lighting

CLOSE Gallery is proud to present Kairos, a new exhibition of recent paintings by Stewart Geddes, opening on Wednesday 14 October 2026 at TM Gallery, 7 Cubitt Street, King’s Cross, London.

Kairos marks a moment of recognition in Geddes’ practice. The title is derived from the Ancient Greek philosophy, Kairos (καιρός), meaning "the right, critical, or opportune moment". These paintings feel increasingly certain of where they are going. Improvisation remains central, but it is no longer simply a condition of chance or apparent arbitrariness. Instead, the paintings move through uncertainty towards an internal logic, a process of discovery in which colour, gesture and structure gradually find their place.

Geddes has long been fascinated by different forms of learning and by the ways in which knowledge can emerge through making. His paintings weave together a visual poetry with a direct and physical celebration of the act of painting. Forms spin and rotate, revolve and layer before our eyes; there is movement within the apparent restriction of the canvas. Tension develops between colour and mark. Paint dances, twists and gathers through gesture and the physicality of the brushstroke. As he comments;

“My attraction to abstraction emerged from a transition from perspective to Cubist spatial frameworks. In this form one ‘negotiates’ with a painting, making decisions about its organisation as much as its representations. Now, the organisation is at the fore.”

The work is made through a process that allows intuition and deliberation to coexist. Geddes begins with a palette, activating the surface through meandering linear gestures placed in relation to amorphous drops and fields of paint. After this initial movement comes a pause: a period of reflection in which the painting is set aside until its next direction becomes clear. Each work evolves through successive decisions, with Geddes responding to what the painting presents rather than following a predetermined course. Sometimes the resolution is hesitant; at other times, a direction becomes suddenly apparent. The timing of that recognition is part of the painting’s development.

In Kairos, this process feels newly assured. The paintings retain the openness and surprise of improvisation, but there is a growing sense that the work recognises its own possibilities. Rather than searching for an image or arriving at a predetermined destination, Geddes allows each painting to establish the terms by which it will be understood. The significance lies not simply in where the painting arrives, but in recognising the moment when a particular decision becomes right. Knowing emerges through the act itself.

Despite their autonomy, Geddes’s paintings remain connected to broader concerns and to the histories of landscape painting. Having maintained his studio in Bristol throughout his career, the city has played a pivotal role in the development of the work. Early experiences of visiting Patrick Heron at his home, Eagle’s Nest, and encountering a private collection of Peter Lanyon’s paintings were formative to his practice.

Geddes continues; “Bristol is a city of demarcations between urban and pastoral, city and sea. The penetration of nature into its urban centre is one of its chief characteristics, and I think, in turn, permeates my work.”

Although the paintings are not dependent on direct reference, the world beyond the studio enters them nonetheless: through remembered landscapes, architectural spaces, density, atmosphere and movement. He continues;

“Although I think of my paintings as self-generated and independent of reference, I acknowledge they possess a sort of reversed relationship with content. That is, they’re not motivated by an underpinning reference, but I recognise things beyond the studio are drawn into the work - most typically some form of relationship with land, or sometimes, a denser room space.”

Geddes works in clusters, allowing ideas to overlap, migrate and develop between paintings. This method creates the conditions for unexpected relationships and inventive departures, while also allowing a more sustained language to emerge across the body of work. It is a way of working that leaves space for the unexpected - for ideas to gather momentum and for the right moment to reveal itself. Kairos brings together a new group of paintings at a moment when Geddes’s practice seems to be stepping forward with renewed clarity: still open to accident, still responsive to uncertainty, but increasingly aware of its own direction. The title speaks to a central quality of the work: the recognition that a painting develops not according to a fixed timetable, but through a series of moments in which something becomes possible, necessary or suddenly right. These are paintings shaped by attention, patience and decision - by knowing when to act, when to pause, and when to recognise that the moment has arrived.

Presented at TM Gallery in King's Cross, the exhibition continues the gallery's commitment to supporting artists while fostering collaboration between curators, collectors and cultural institutions. As a not-for-profit contemporary art platform founded by art lighting specialists, TM Lighting, almost a decade ago, TM Gallery provides a space for experimentation, dialogue and public engagement through exhibitions and events across the contemporary art world. International art publication Apollo continues its long-standing partnership with TM Gallery as Talks Partner for this exhibition, with further details to follow.

Andrew Molyneux, co-founding director at TM Lighting, comments, “It is a real privilege to collaborate with such an exceptional artist and to work alongside Freeny Yianni, whose experience, instinct and curatorial eye have brought such depth and distinction to the project. Freeny has an extraordinary ability to recognise an artist’s potential and to create the right context in which their work can be understood and appreciated. Her knowledge of the art world, coupled with her discerning approach to curation, has made this collaboration particularly special for us at TM Lighting. We are proud to have played a part in bringing this work to our space.”