Culham Court, Granville Road N4
2020 acrylic on card 10 x 15 cm
With all the uncertainty affecting society from the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic there comes a collective pause. Streets are emptied out, many people are nestled away indoors. Much of my artwork is about a sense of place but I feel that there is a surreal emptiness in this sudden togetherness. How does one paint that?
Despite the crisis I take heart from seeing artists globally continuing to post their latest creations on social media. The artist’s studio, it seems, is a natural refuge and a place where positive things thrive regardless of the happenings in the outside world.
Pabo Picasso Still Life 1942 oil on canvas
(Image: pablo-ruiz-picasso.net)
I also take heart from artists over the years who faced extremely abject circumstances. Take, for example, Pablo Picasso (1881-1973) who lived in Royan and Paris during the Nazi invasion and occupation of France during the Second World War. What’s amazing about this period in his life is that he was not afraid to continue to paint under such oppressive conditions i.e. facing off the continuous suspicions of the Gestapo (who would have considered his work ‘degenerate’), living in hardship caused by the diversion of food and energy resources to the enemy regime, plus the threat of bombing and gunfire. Many of his paintings produced over the war period are dark, grotesque and angular, reflecting the death, destruction and incarceration. Still Life (1942) pictured below was made whilst Picasso would have been in the thick of the terror and is a clear example of the deathly and morbid atmosphere that he experienced.
New River Avenue N8 2020 acrylic on card 10 x 15 cm
Today’s crisis has different challenges. Much of my work reflects urban themes such as cars travelling on roads, destinations and home, the stream of life. Two recent paintings I made are contemplations of a sense of pause in the stream. Culham Court, Granville Road N4 (see image at top of page) is not unlike my standard subject matter: residential buildings with lights on in the window; yet here I feel a sense of poignancy. With the government health advice of self-isolation, how many people might feel trapped or abandoned in their own home?
New River Avenue N8 depicts an empty lane, devoid of activity. Parked cars often serve as ‘people’ to populate my landscapes but even here there is no sign of life, people and things are substituted by sentinel-like street lamps. With our lives having to adapt to the upheavals and uncertainty of the pandemic, the role of the artist becomes an integral part of keeping things going. There is always something to create.