Rebecca Salter : Into the Light of Things

Rebecca Salter (b. 1955) is a British abstract artist who lives and works in London. After studying ceramics she spent six years in Kyoto, Japan. There she started to make drawings and woodblock prints that combined Western and Eastern traditions. On her return, Salter began painting on canvas using acrylics. She still views her practice as "making an object" rather than a surface. Although Salter's work is studio-based, it reflects her experience of drawing outdoors, and she arguably can be categorized as a landscape artist. Accompanying a major survey exhibition at the Yale Center for British Art, this sumptuously illustrated book maps Salter's career, situating her work in relation to international abstraction, as well as investigating the impact of Japanese art, architecture, and aesthetics on her practice. Richard Cork considers Salter's redesign of the entrance of St George's Hospital, London, which demonstrates both her engagement with Japanese concepts of space and her belief in the therapeutic value of art.

Gillian Forrester is Curator of Prints and Drawings at the Yale Center for British Art.