‘For me drawing is a kind of dreaming. It’s a kind of place where forms and shapes and things don’t have to obey the laws of gravity.’

David Batchelor’s work revels in the brilliant hues of artificial colour and illuminated light, often hinting at the urban landscape. He is best known for his vivid three-dimensional structures made from re-purposed domestic and light industrial objects such as light boxes, dollies and detergent bottles which have been augmented to enhance their synthetic colour; a colour that can only have been created by a modern world. Drawing is at the heart of Batchelor's work, allowing him a freedom he cannot exercise in his sculptural work. 'Flatlands Remix' brings together these intricate and vibrant drawings as well as presenting his more recent exploration in to painting.

Since the late 1990s, Batchelor has been creating drawings that are independent of his three-dimensional work. Whilst sometimes appearing sculptural in depiction, the Atomic Drawings (1998-ongoing) are not subservient to sculpture and are never intended to develop into physical works. Instead these works allow Batchelor a distinctive space within his practice to explore ideas, form and colour. It is from these drawings that the Colour Chart series (2011-ongoing) initially developed, representing the first paintings that Batchelor has exhibited within his practice. Within these works, Batchelor uses poured paint to draw abstract shapes onto aluminium supports, allowing the lengthy drying process to wrinkle and form the surfaces into unique textures.

Alongside these two-dimensional works this exhibition presents Dog Days (2008-2011), a group of Batchelor’s colour-based monochromatic sculptures, and a recent digital configuration of his Found Monochrome series (1997-2015). For nearly two decades Batchelor has been photographing Found Monochromes – white rectangular and square panels encountered on walks through cities around the world. There are now over 500 images within this series, with each monochrome presenting a temporary void in our image-saturated urban environments.

‘Flatlands Remix’ is part of the British Council’s International Touring Exhibitions Programme and is selected and developed from David Batchelor’s recent solo exhibition ‘Flatlands’ (2013) which was guest-curated by Andrea Schlieker with The Fruitmarket Gallery, Edinburgh and Spike Island, Bristol. All works are loaned courtesy of the artist, Galeria Leme, São Paulo and Ingleby Gallery, Edinburgh.