BRITISH SURREALISTS, Falmouth Art Gallery
SURREALISM evolved as an international movement early in the last century,and British artists were often influenced by Continental surrealists, artists such as Magritte, Ernst & Dali. The Surrealists were interested in the expression of dreams,which were often seen as manifestations of the power of the subconcious.
I am very flattered to have been invited to exhibit at FALMOUTH alongside such a well known group of British artists. Although some of my assemblages may seem to be a little “unreal”,I would not describe them as “surreal”, but rather as relating more directly to our contemperary “world of things”
Time has moved on,& the world that informed the Surrealist movement, nearly a hundred years ago, has changed considerably. The suprising & sometimes shocking juxtapositions, so often trademarks of Surrealist art ,have been widely imitated & frequently hi-jacked by the advertising industry, to be re-deployed as attention seeking devices, with the sole intention of feeding consumer,s dreams & selling their products.
The “HANGING BASKETS OF BASILDON” were, ironically,partly inspired by that same consumer world. I started to build this sculpture on return from a visit to London,where I had witnessed a more mundane expression of the power of dreams , the manic scrums of shoppers in Oxford Street during the end of season sales.
Assembled from cheap plastic imports found in pound shops everywhere, the piece also makes referances to some modern confusions between the the real & the artificial.
It is one of a series of a dozen large plant forms,all influenced by “THE GARDEN OF EARTHLY DELIGHTS” an enigmatic painting by the great Hieronymus Bosch,which explored many aspects of medieval life, many of which might still be seen as relevant to the human condition, in our modern world?
For other plants in my series”Gardens of Plastic Delights”, please see my BLOG of that name, as well as”Jurassic Botallack Botany”, & “the hanging Gardens of Basildon”
Other plant inspired public sculpture are featured in my BLOGS”Flexiplants, instant Landscapes” & “Greenhouse of Other Worlds”
BRITISH SURREALISTS, featuring the work of thirty artists including PAUL NASH,
CECIL COLLINS, CERI RICHARDS, ROLAND PENROSE, JOHN TUNNARD,,EILEEN AGAR, &,ITHELL COLQHOUN is a touring exhibition from Southampton City Art Gallery.
The exhibition can be viewed at the
FALMOUTH ART GALLERY
from 10th SEPTEMBER until 17th, November.
OPEN, Monday to Saturday 10-5 FREE
www. falmouthartgallery.com
