Egyptian nude. (detail) 18" X 9" oil on canvas panel (Private collection)

" The exhibition at the Oxmarket should not be missed by anyone who responds to work based on high professional skills which, while following traditional means of expression, are adventurous and highly individual. Piers Ottey's work is very different, also inventive but based on more formal concepts. It is expressed with measured precision, producing an effect of careful design even in his nudes. He makes patterns of colours in small flat planes, beautifully balanced which give a general effect approaching abstract design, though all his work is basically figurative. The huge canvas of his studio interior is clearly a chef d'oevre and most impressive. This exhibition is an excellent example of the fact that despite the ludicrous antics of what is regarded as the avant garde, there are still artists in Britain who can continue and advance the role of serious painting."