I have work in an exhibition opening this week. The exhibition is called Death and Transition and it is on at the beautiful Gabriel Fine Art Gallery
My work in the show is based on the philosophy of pantheism. Pantheism says “We see death as the return to nature of our elements, and the end of our existence as individuals. Our actions, our ideas and memories of us live on, according to what we do in our lives. Our genes live on in our families, and our elements are endlessly recycled in nature.”
DEATH AND TRANSITION
Private View Friday 17 April 2015 6.30-9.30pm
Gabriel Fine Art Gallery
Cottage 2 Old Paradise Yard 20 Carlisle Lane Waterloo SE1 7LG
17 April to 1 May 2015 Tuesday to Saturday 10-6pm
‘First of all learn about death, then about other things’ – Nichiren Daishonin, 13th Century Japan
Behind St Thomas’ Hospital, and formerly a Buddhist centre, Gabriel Fine Art is situated near an old burial ground and close to the site of the old train station used in 1848 for transporting the bodies of the Cholera epidemic – it is rich with a history associated with death.
Death as a subject to shout about is provocative, but it walks with us every day. The three curators Melissa Budasz, Ilinca Cantacuzino and Yolanta Gawlik question what this final taboo may mean, exploring its finality and the fear it engenders. The result is thought provoking and cathartic. You will find a wealth of drawing, painting, photography, sculpture, time-based media, performance, poetry, and song during the last two weeks of April.
The Devil in Shaw’s philosophical play ‘Man and Superman’ claims ‘This marvellous force of Life of which you boast is a force of Death. Man measures his strength by his destructiveness’. More than 30 South London Women Artists and friends come together to challenge such a notion by harnessing the force of life, rather than death, through the art process, and question through their work the finality of death. Each artist may have different beliefs and cultural backgrounds but death in the end unites us all. Confronting ‘the end’ and the darkness of fear or futility can unleash a transition, a liminal state, a courageous leap into something new.
SLWA is collaborating with Gabriel Fine Art and Southbank Mosaics who are based in the Crypt at St Johns Church Waterloo SE1 where there will be a FREE event on Saturday 25 April 2015 2-4pm showcasing The Rye Poets, Beata Kozlowska who will create a live performative drawing and the duo Sarah Lloyd and Ian Kennedy will sing songs about death. Come join us after for tea and cake as we host a Death Cafe, a forum for discussion, led by Compassionate Funerals.
The closing event at Gabriel Fine Art on Friday 1 May 2015 6.30-8.30pm will also offer poetry and performance. There will be a special SLWA publication for sale for £10.00, a catalogue documenting the artwork, poetry and exhibition.
Exhibiting artists:
Anna Arianova
Polly Bagnall
Jacqueline Merry Bernard
Juliet Blake
Kate Bowe
Lisa Brown
Melissa Budasz
Joan Byrne
Ilinca Cantacuzino
Gin Dunscombe
Edori Fertig
Dana Finch
Sheila Fratini
Yolanta Gawlik
Chantal Gillingham
Pia Goddard
Camilla Gray
Moira Jarvis
Beata Kozlowska
Ky Lewis
Wenchi Lucas
Yoke Matze
Jennie Merrell
Marnie Pitts
Jasmine Pradissitto
Kate Redfern
Mary Gordon-Smith
Selena Steele
Kelda Storm
Chrissy Thirlaway
Caroline Underwood
Olivia Urquhart
Kim Winter
Directions to the Gallery