Andy Parkinson blogs about the exhibition The Discipline of Painting at Harrington Mill Studios, on view through October 27, 2013. The show features works by David Manley, Sean Scully, David Tremlett, David Ainley, Katrina Blannin, Luke Frost, Lauri Hopkins, Dan Roach, Andy Parkinson, and Trevor Sutton.

Parkinson writes: "It used to be common to divide the discipline of painting into sub-categories or genres, still life, landscape, history painting etc, and whereas there was a time when abstraction looked like it might transcend all those genres it now appears to have become a genre, or tradition, of its own. That tradition could itself be divided into two approaches one that looks 'disciplined,' we might even say 'austere,' as opposed to a looser more casualist approach, where 'spontaneity' and 'improvisation' are the watch words. According to the gallery notes, 'The selection of works on display shows an abiding and durable commitment to a disciplined abstraction that foregrounds an aspect of colour and form and a certain ‘discipline’ in construction.'"