Davenport here uses the most basic range of materials, colour and format. The dark grey ground is undercoat and the gloss layers varnish. The vertical bands of matt and gloss result from the lifting of a paint-laden instrument from the bottom canvas edge to the top. The workings of this movement are bound by the height of the canvas which can be reached by one unbroken stride of the arm. The canvas is tipped and angled so that the varnish finds its own way. There is no impassioned and expressive force in this method, just a controlled and sophisticated awareness of the great power of simplicity.

New Voices New Works from the British Council Collection, The British Council 1992