It’s that time again and I am very happy to be able to tell you of my forthcoming solo exhibition at Beaux Arts in London. The show will run from April 11th – May 18th with an opening party on April 10th. We are also planning a rather special evening on May 8th, featuring music from the wonderful Callino Quartet and a short talk from yours truly – more of that later.
Those of you that came to my last two exhibitions in London will see some change in this new body of work. For the last two and a half years I have been trying to find a way to approach ideas of non-separateness. Our relations with the natural, or more-than-human-world are, in the main, chronically exploitative and if all abuse begins with making things ‘less’ than human, ‘other’ to ourselves, then we urgently need to change that story. In the UK in particular, the collapse in biodiversity – the ‘great thinning’ of wildlife – in my lifetime, causes me immense heartache. These new paintings, prints and drawings are my attempts to convey a more attentive, compassionate, not-so-separate experience. The difficulty of ancient mediums continues to fascinate and I have explored silverpoint and mezzotint, as well as oil on gesso, in the search for a method that might best acknowledge both that lessening of the edges, and something of the melancholy, or sense of loss, in our busy, un-aired, 21st century lives. Hopefully too, there are some moments of pure joy!
All this has been far, far better expressed in the beautiful and very readable catalogue essay by the author and naturalist Mark Cocker. I am grateful to him for his profound insights into my work and for the clarity of his writing. The catalogue is available from Beaux Arts info@beauxartslondon.uk 020 7493 1155 and Mark’s essay is on my website here .
