Exhibition 4. – 19. Juni 2019
Vernissage: Dienstag, 4. Juni 2019, 19:30
Öffnungszeiten: Mo – Fr, 14:00 – 18:00
Journeys is a sequence of artworks created whilst travelling on foot, hitch-hiking and cycling which focus on the cerebral experience, the transmigration of thoughts from the physical movement of putting one foot in front of the other.
The works are quiet, reflect the single minded purity of thought and travel: I have left my old life behind me and I go forward; everything I see and do is inspired by this daily, almost continuous movement…..
The works are physically light because I carry them, collect many of the fragments, form ideas, make the work en route.
When I travel, I write. I write in a simplicity of form, in a way I cannot write in more complex times:
on the reappearance of my Father as a bush in Sicily:
He was there for several days
In the early sun (his favourite time)
And then the October winds changed him.
the mind empties, resolves and explores thoughts previously pushed aside, finds new relevance and expression formed by the momentum and structure of travel.
a handful of wild strawberries
uphill stony track
the promise of a view
My work seeks a humbleness born of pilgrimage and of Arté Povera. It moves slowly forwards and then slowly back…..
The wind is in the stars
The stars are in the bucket
The bucket is under the old sink
….it creates its own language.
Jonathan C L A X T O N Mfa
I’ve been an artist for more than 30 years, working with the land / environment. My Father was a farmer and the methodology of my artwork has evolved from this, beginning with works in earth, slate, corrugated iron, the flotsam of crofting; mostly in remote Scotland, later in Arctic Finland with Metsahalitus (Finnish Forest Research Institute). Always working with materials and an ethos cognizant to the cultural space I am in. When I moved to city spaces the significant „material“ was people; this brought me to Performance and informal dance structures based on streetlife / the movement of people. My work now is essentially my life – the everything of living: its terroir, living abroad (I live in France), living on a low income, the food I cook, the wine I drink, the smell of the air, the sound of living, renovating a house, succeeding quietly – modestly with minimum intervention, without a car and the usual trappings of consumerist life….. I gather experience whilst I learn how to use it, or allow it, to filter / integrate into my work – as I believe it perpetually does. Not seeking high profile exposure but from time to time a body of work manifests itself and I feel – needs to be seen – this is my first solo exhibition for 10 years!
