On Thursday 5th May, Tony Philips who lives in Filecchio, had the opening of his show, TUBE; THAMES; ANATOMY OF LONDON at The Commonwealth Club.
The Thames, the river, is means of communication and the reason for the development of a city that has been of such huge importance in English history. In a series of etchings the development of the area that is now known as London is illustrated. Superimposed images show how from prehistoric times up till the present day. The first bridges tied the banks together and over the centuries more bridges were built, first crossed on foot, then by horse, wagons and carriages and now by teeming modern traffic. The city is built, destroyed, laid waste and rebuilt, over and over, each new construction bearing the imprint of previous cultures. The etchings laid one over the other show the ghostly imprint of the past in an effective historical reconstruction of development and always there is the Thames, unchanging, but changed; the reason for everything that has come into being.
A group of three oil paintings move us along the modern day Thames, now tamed and confined within concrete banks, spanned by bridges and with its own motorised traffic. On the banks there are no longer fishermen, but tourists, buskers, and people strolling. The great buildings , both past and present have replaced the marsh land. In the water instead of water fowl and fish there is modern debris. At night the Thames cannot retreat into darkness; in the forefront of the paintings are the elaborate lamps that illuminate the water.
Beneath the Dome, in one etching comprises a detailed historical cross section of London.
The series of paintings that celebrate the Tube are teeming with life and colour. Laid out as cross sections through the layers above and below the city roads, the artist illustrates the very fabric of the metropolis; cultural diversity, the arts, beauty and squalor, the developments and the changes that make up modern life. The gaping black tunnel present in every painting, invites and repels. The Tube is a metaphor for our own spiritual journey into darkness and hopefully into some kind of light. We descend into the bowels of the earth in one place and emerge elsewhere. Billboards inform and tantalise us. The snaking pipes and cables, like umbilical cords that nourish this dark world are very evident, red and blue, the colours of veins and arteries.
The Cultural Affairs department of the RCS organises a range of art exhibitions, hosted in the stylish gallery space of the Commonwealth Club.
Combining well-known names from across the Commonwealth with up-and-coming talent, the exhibitions feature work in a broad variety of media, from oil paintings to sculpture, pencil to photography. Offering a unique insight into the cultures, traditions and individual lives of artists from around the world, they provide a visual display of the rich diversity which characterises the Commonwealth.
Tony Phillips, painter and printer, presents us with a visual body of work interpreting the social make-up of London. His work references that of Hogarth and Doré, updating their work for the 21st century. His paintings portray London life grafted onto the layers of history which are ever-present in the make-up of the modern city. This exhibition will launch the first images designed for a publication on this theme.
The works follow two earlier series of paintings and etchings: ‘Tube’ – a device for representing the city as a never ending series of journeys, and ‘Thames’ , both of which are included in the Royal Commonwealth Society’s exhibition. – RCS site is here
Many guests from Barga were present at the opening of the show, which closes on June 10th. For those discerning critics who wish to buy any of the works on show, prices are enticing.
Article by Margaret Moore