Jeffrey Kroll’s highly original, non-objective art has the huge merit of being neither historically ‘topical’ nor theoretically ‘derivative’ while still paying great tribute to the ground breakers who moved painting away from the purely figurative, as exciting as that sometimes was and still is. From Constable and Turner to the Impressionists the moulds were being smashed. From the late 19th to mid 20th centuries art theories of Cézanne and Seurat evolved into Cubism and Constructivism, expanded through Malevich and the harmonising principles of Mondrian and Gabo within a broadly structural, geometric and purist, classic vein. From diverse theories of Gauguin and Matisse, moving towards Modernism came the Abstract Expressionism of Kandinsky, Miro, Arp and others; a development more broadly intuitional, biomorphic and spontaneous, closer to the romantic vein. In an inevitable melding and merging of these developments where “the shape of the square confronts the silhouette of the amoeba”, as Alfred H. Barr, MoMA’s first director succinctly put it, something dynamically fresh continued to evolve and can be experienced here in the brilliant flair and energetic individuality of Jeffrey Kroll’s non-objective paintings. But for Kroll, as with all truly creative artists irrespective of any historical context, there is no escape from the influence of a totality of artistic aspiration across time and space, from cave wall painting to gallery hanging, which empowers this artist’s work today with an extraordinary energy and mystery, each painting arresting both eye and mind. In 2009 when it appears that thinking in theories has given way to freedom from theories (and thinking?), reflected too often in a move from aspiration to confusion, it is a privilege to experience the work of a painter which is vigorously alive with artistic integrity and a deep respect for those timeless traditions which so much ‘received’ art today seems intent upon ignoring, desecrating or destroying.

Kroll’s mastery at creating fluid yet structured form, juxtaposing and manipulating colour of intense impact and brilliance and his huge skill at layering paint with force, finesse and subtlety, puts his work in a class of its own. His dizzying inspiration and output is phenomenal. The physical and mental impact of the work, hanging in boardroom, boudoir and baronial hall worldwide, can take you ‘over the edge’, out of this world and into a universe of pure plastic art in form and content, line and colour. It is a sophisticated combination of the rational, the natural and the metaphysical with a continual internal balancing of these universally conflicting and harmonising elements; the core of its irrepressible strength and enduring popularity.

From MANIFESTO FOR THE IRREPRESSIBLE by Maggie Goren