{"product_id":"a-reason-to-hold-on-original-paintings","title":"A Reason To Hold On (original paintings)","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eA REASON TO HOLD ON\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, 'San Francisco', 'Segoe UI', Roboto, 'Helvetica Neue', sans-serif; font-size: 0.875rem;\"\u003eBlack 4.0 acrylic and gesso on canvas\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, 'San Francisco', 'Segoe UI', Roboto, 'Helvetica Neue', sans-serif; font-size: 0.875rem;\"\u003e30.5 × 30.5 cm (12 × 12 inches)\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, 'San Francisco', 'Segoe UI', Roboto, 'Helvetica Neue', sans-serif; font-size: 0.875rem;\"\u003eHand signed and numbered by Stuart Semple, verso.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIn A Reason To Hold On, Stuart Semple arranges fifteen hand-painted letters into a grid of three rows. The structure cuts across the boundaries of the words, suspending their meaning. Seen from a distance, the black forms approach abstraction; the painting asserts itself as an image before it can be understood as language.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe work continues a process of reduction developed over two decades. Where image and text once coexisted in Semple's paintings, their gradual separation has allowed language to assume a pictorial identity of its own. Reading follows looking. As the phrase becomes legible, it opens onto associations that the painting does not depict: memories, emotions and personal histories supplied by the viewer. This space for individual experience is central to Semple's purpose.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFor the artist, art has always been a reason to hold on, a sustaining presence through which one idea leads to another. The phrase's emergence is intended as a moment of affirmation and resolution. Executed in Black 4.0, a paint developed by Semple in his own studio, the work brings this conviction into the material of painting itself.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eOnly 10 will be available, each painted by hand. The price doubles with every purchase.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Stuart Semple","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":68103922319509,"sku":null,"price":800.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0315\/0207\/3901\/files\/AREASONTOHOLDON.png?v=1793298754","url":"https:\/\/store.stuartsemple.com\/products\/a-reason-to-hold-on-original-paintings","provider":"stuartsemplestore","version":"1.0","type":"link"}