Tom Hodgson is contemplating how clinical the abstract can be in his Fraction exhibition at Stone Soup’s creative offices in Barleycorn Yard, Walmgate, York, from today.

“Up until very recently, I wanted to represent views or observations, and so I employed figurative works to do this. But I’ve started to concentrate on the process and materiality of my work rather than an end game,” says Tom.

“Fraction represents this; it is abstract using figures.”

Tom is the second York St John University fine art graduate to benefit from the ArtWork collaboration between the Stone Soup design and advertising agency and The ArtSpace gallery in Tower Street.

He had caught the eye of Stone Soup’s creative director, Tom Sharp, and Artspace co-director Greg McGee with his degree show earlier this year, where his experimental work Black&White combined the disciplines of painting and installation.

Three slabs of high-gloss black suspended in front of 20 feet of high-gloss white meant the work was in a constant state of flux, affected by the light conditions and the reflection of the audience moving between the mirrored black boxes to create split-second portraits on them.

Now, in his new series at Stone Soup, Tom affirms his minimalist intentions by stripping his practice back to the three key elements: monochrome, line, and shine. “I’m obsessed with a slick aesthetic, and my desire is to create work that will strike the audience at first glance, but leave them free to interpret long after a primary aesthetic engagement,” he says.

Greg deems Tom’s Fraction show to be “as slick as anything you would see anywhere”.

“Tom Hodgson is the logical next step in the sequence of our York St John signings,” he says. “His approach to painting and exhibiting is thrillingly crisp. At the York St John degree show, I was blown away by his hard-headed, almost obsessive attitude to line and contrast.

“His portfolio also shows he has a sense of showmanship, an instinct for branding. What makes it all the more refreshing is that he has an unassuming, softly ‘blokey’ way of pitching his ideas. He’s a credit to York St John, and wears that establishment’s stimulating influence like a badge of honour.”

Tom is taking over from photographer Matt Durrant on Stone Soup’s walls and further ArtWork shows will follow from Clare Nattress and Jack Cook.

“We’re giving them an opportunity to transform Stone Soup’s offices and flex their ideas in the real world away from the academic context,” says Greg. “Tom Sharp and I are very happy with how ArtWork is going in that it’s as much about the event as it is about the art.

“The calibre of the artists has meant that the work has more of a curveball, left-field quality than ArtSpace, as a commercial gallery, could enjoy to the full. Tom Sharp especially has been bitten by the gallery curator’s bug, and it’s inspiring to watch him bring his challenging priorities to bear on the project.

“He has a keen eye for the smallest details and it’s refreshing to co-curate on a level that is so demanding. People often think that calibrating an art exhibition is about being a cheerleader while the artist indulges their creative buzz, but Tom ensures that the buzz is underpinned with rigour. As a result ArtWork is really coming into its own.”

Fraction will be on display at Stone Soup from today until August 31.