Clunie, an artist, crafts the paintings, while Okri, author and poet, writes the text. The driving force behind their artistic endeavours is the climate crisis. Political slogans and provocative questions written in black ink stretch across the colourful sections of the paintings. The bold boundaries enhance the meaning of the text, as in one of the paintings the words “the true artist breaks out of jail” is cut up by a division of colour between a horizontal band of yellow and red. A vertical black inked figure explodes out of the red and into the yellow space. In another image, text functions as a directional narrative, guiding the viewers eye upwards, “they rose from the sweet songs of the dead” is accompanied by two symbolic orange arrows from the bottom of the painting up to the upper section. The story is interspersed with obstacles, making the reader work to follow the narrative. Together Clunie and Okri combine their core strengths, creating timely, thought provoking and engaging works.
Image: Rosemary Clunie and Ben Okri, the true artist breaks out of Jail, 2019, acrylic on paper,
H1500 mm x W1000 mm.
The exhibition is accompanied by talk, dance performance and workshop, to book tickets follow the link.
https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/firedreams-dance-performance-and-workshop-tickets-596838729707
The Bomb Factory, Marylebone, London, until 10 April 2023.
Courtesy and ©Rosemary Clunie, Ben Okri, Georgia McConnell and Renee Pfister Art & Gallery Consultancy, 2022.
#rosemaryclunie #benokri #firedreams #climatecrisis #artandpoems #artandwords #reneepfisterartandgalleryconsultancy #powerofart #firedreamsdanceperformance #firedreamstalk #firedreamsworkshop #bombfactory