Mark Milnes makes artwork that is dominated by one shape, an S-like curved form that is repeated in both his 2D and 3D pieces. In his sculpture, they are extended by pillars that could be a Roman pantheon or Victorian pagoda. They are the spotlessly clean, clinical white favoured by his minimalist predecessors, such as his Grid Column that resembles a Jenga game with a lick of white emulsion.

        He also works in cool greys with small painted wooden blocks that protrude from the hardboard surface and again reveal his curvy leitmotif. His lighted works are particularly interesting as they contrast brilliant white with half and full shadows, while his oil on hardboard paintings are playful studies in which he allows himself a more lively palette: sunflower yellows, poppy reds and ultramarine blues.

        His compositions are simple and jigsaw-like, with a busy construction of identical shapes built up to create an optical effect similar to Escher's work. They are nowhere like as intricate or careful though, with Milnes preferring a brash, much louder approach.

        Looking at the work as a whole, you have to admire his tenacity and self-confidence in sticking to such a minimal, simplistic style. The reworkings don't really develop the ideas though and the show may well bemuse many with its wilful obscurity, even if the sculptures do provide more of an insight into his raison d'etre. Milnes just goes to prove German Dadaist Hans Richter's premise that all artists only have one painting that they perpetually recreate.

Rich Jevons

        Artist Mark Milnes has to employ a fair amount of self-restraint to focus himself on his work at Batley Library. The part-time assistant faces the constant urge to check public reaction to his paintings and sculptures on show at Batley Art Gallery - an annex of the library building. But so far Staincliffe born Mark has steeled himself to the task and left viewers to enjoy the work. Mark opened the month-long show - his third solo exhibition - on Friday evening. "It was well attended with about 35 people turning up and the reaction was encouraging," he said. Mark said he preferred it when viewers could make up their own minds about the work without knowing his views beforehand, but the art world tended to demand some kind of supporting statement. "My current work stems from the decision to use the same shape as the starting point for each piece," he explained. "I have used the shape to explore different visual ideas and formats for display. This has allowed form and subject to become one. The work makes no conscious reference to the outside world."

        Bretton Hall-trained Mark has been an artist for six years and was recently admitted to the Royal Society of British Sculptors. He has staged solo and joint shows in Huddersfield, Wakefield, Harrogate, Eastthorpe Gallery, Mirfield, London and Pudsey. He lives and works in Mirfield.

        The show is open Monday to Saturday until June 30 but check with Batley Library for daily opening times on 01924 326021. Visit Mark's website at www.markmilnes.co.uk.

        (the same article appeared in the Mirfield Reporter on Friday June 8 2001 with the heading "Librarian fights to stay silent". Oh dear.)

        An artist's work has gone on show in the building where he works. Mark Milnes, from Mirfield, near Dewsbury, is exhibiting a collection of abstract paintings and sculptures at Batley Library, where he works as a part-time library assistant. He said he will have to resist temptation to keep going into the gallery to gauge people's reactions when he is at work. The exhibition, with more than 20 paintings, will run until June 30.

        A Mirfield artist is to display a number of his pieces of art and sculpture at Batley Art Gallery. The display will be Mark Milnes's third solo show, and contains abstract paintings and sculptures completed since his last solo show at the National Arts Education Archive Gallery in Bretton Hall, Wakefield, at the end of last year.

        The exhibition, which runs from Saturday to June 30, comprises more than 20 oil on hardboard paintings and more than ten sculptures made from plastic, MDF, and other DIY materials. Mark, a 27-year old library assistant at Batley Library, developed an interest in abstract art while a sixth form pupil at Mirfield High School and went on to study at Bretton Hall and Huddersfield Technical College.

        Batley Library Assistant Mark Milnes will have to resist the temptation to keep popping upstairs to Batley Art Gallery to see how the latest exhibition is going. For the exhibition of abstract art which opens to the public on Saturday, 26 May, is Mark's own work.

        Mark has been a part-time library assistant with Kirklees Cultural Services for 10 years (the last four at Batley) and although he has exhibited previously at Batley as part of open exhibitions, he has not mounted anything of this scale there before.

        He has several exhibitions already under his belt (including one in London) but he admits to feeling nervous about this show of paintings and sculpture and particularly the private viewing.

        "It's scary being present when people are looking at your work and you're wondering what they're thinking," he said.

        It's the first time Mark has had anything on show at Batley since he's worked there. He's not nervous of his colleagues seeing his work - some went to view his solo show at Bretton Hall, Wakefield, at the end of last year - but he thinks he might get a bit anxious when he sees people going upstairs to the art gallery to have a look.

        "I'm sure Ann (Blakeley) will have something to say if I keep disappearing upstairs," he quipped.

        Mark, who studied art at Huddersfield Technical College and at Bretton Hall where he gained a BA (Hons) in Fine Art, says working 25 hours a week in the library gives him time for his art and pays the rent while he struggles to make a name for himself in the art world.

        Whenever he exhibits, the works are for sale but, he said, that side of things has yet to take off. It's just as well, therefore, that Mark doesn't fork out a fortune for materials. His paintings are oils on hardboard and his sculptures are made from plastic, MDF and other DIY materials. "My work involves a trip to the DIY shop for materials rather than an art shop," he laughed.

        He said he has always had an interest in painting but that it wasn't until sixth form at Mirfield High School that he became interested in abstract art.

        Mark, who works from his home in Mirfield, has a birthday just before the opening of the exhibition. He turns 28 on 10 May. The best present he could get is for his show to be a big success.