Abstract

This exhibition, curated by Karolynne Hart BEM, featured paintings and drawings about capturing moments in time and the symbolism of the everyday. The works were developed from sight, memory, imagination and through the ‘journey’ of painting. Paintings often start with colours and marks linked to something seen. Kevin also often recycles paintings and cuts them up to create parts of new images. This collage approach brings unexpected images and feelings.
The theme of the journey is important because it relates to different aspects of the work. Kevin has taken a personal journey through different kinds of art making ranging from working directly from life to entirely from memory and imagination. Taking a journey and being in a new place inspires some pictures. The paintings often depict an actual journey like walking through a landscape. Sometimes the idea of the journey is more metaphoric and might relate to passage of time, the journey of life, a journey through memory, an imaginative journey or moving from one phase of life to another. Other people’s life journeys and the importance of stopping ‘along the way’ to rest, shelter or enjoy are emerging themes.
Other ideas come from reading, things people have said or inspiration from other artists. In particular, a strand of work emerged from reading the novels of Iris Murdoch (1919-1990). This led to engagement with the Iris Murdoch Research Centre at Chichester University and the development of a range of other outputs including a reflection in the Iris Murdoch Review, an Iris Murdoch Society Podcast on Iris Murdoch and Artistic Inspiration, a conference presentation at the 11th International Iris Murdoch Conference and an exhibition, ‘Web of Life’ at the Iris Murdoch Archives.