Photographic Exhibition at the White Horse Hotel, Storrington

With only 27 days to go before the opening of the exhibition, things are beginning to fall into place, at long last.

We have posters and invitations being printed as I write, and I have received the first proof print of the 10 Limited edition Giclee prints I will be exhibiting.

Here is a sneak preview...

A significant percentage of the profits from each print sold will be donated to the White Horse Hotel's chosen local charity, Alexandra Bastedo's "ABC Animal Sanctuary" in nearby West Chiltington. http://www.abcanimalsanctuary.co.uk/

  

Now only 10 days to go and I have my 10 images finished, and uploading to the Print Space for Giclee printing.

The project has opened new possibilities and introduced me to new ideas for my Photomontage images.

Some things I rediscovered and some discovered anew, where so called "White" horses are recorded in myth and folklore.

The biblical reference to Death's mount the "Pale Horse" of the Apocalypse and 'St George" by tradition, rides a white horse. 

The ancient celtic myths of the magical fairy horse of Tír na nÓg and creatures such as Pegasus and Unicorns. In Norse mythology I discovered Odin's grey horse "Sleipnir" and her daughter "Grani" , the mount of the hero of the Völsunga saga "Sigurd". All of which were imported and absorbed into folklore. 

Inspiration for the classical romanticism of the White charger typified by John Maler Collier's "Lady Godiva".  

In symbolism, such horses are seen as creatures of fidelity, power and purity, such as the county of Kent's rearing white horse and the far more ancient Uffington white horse, whose story is now lost.

We may never have had the kind of cultural relationship with horses in the same sense as some other more famous ancient societies such as the Mongolians. Giving up the magical and spiritual association with these animals for the more material values of their labour.


Like many countries, we invested in the power of horses up until the early part of the 20th century, when we were deeply dependent upon working them for agriculture, industry and transport.


There remains a rich association with horses on a sporting and social level, where horses are kept more out of a passion and so a source of expense than a source of revenue.

The series has evolved to interpretate these ideas and associations in fresh visual allegories.

Received my Giclee prints back from the Print Space today and I am pleased with them, though I confess that I did have my doubts at first, but now that I see them in print I am pleased with my choice of Hahnemuhle Photorag. It gives them the painterly feel that I wanted for the series.

I am now becoming more hopeful that the series will be well received, attempting compositions that speak in more than one plane.  I have not set out to shock but to develop a dialogue through a common theme using photomontage construct.

With references at first drawn from my own experience and understandings, I have then sought out the separate components to complete the sentences of the constructed allegories.

The old mythology will always be displaced by whatever current mythology we collectively and individually adopt, but the purpose remains the same, to give a positioning to our relationship in the world and attribute that positioning with some validation of reality. 

An untethered grey horse passes through a stand of trees, watched by a white hound, poised to spring after it. Both animals are symbols of fidelity and loyalty which as concepts are the sole tokens of men. There is a pool of dark water in which a reflection of a female form gazes downwards self absorbed, her corporeal form invisible and only suggested in the image as presence of the past.  The narrative is illusion, this is not a natural scene but is man made, the freedom of horses to roam by any human intent is never as unfettered as it may appear, wild ponies are counted and culled and therefore controlled. The nymph in the pool is a trick of the light of romantic imagination. The pool is a drain to take away excess water from the pine plantation, a commercial  crop of wood.

In this way I hope to give expression to my feeling that the mythical and fictional relationship recorded in our histories and evidenced in images  and writings from a past that is perceived as something we have advanced beyond and grown out of is another illusion of ourselves. 

I would prefer the tales of spirits and mystery that gave explanation to our existence as the illusion I wish for rather then the celebrity funk that we are daily awash with.

So that I suppose is my weird, when I sit back and think, "where the hell did that come from?" Only to conclude that White Horse has proved a more interesting starting point than I had hoped for.

I hope to attract sufficient people who will support the show and raise awareness of the outstanding work carried out on behalf of many precious animals looked after at the sanctuary by a large team of volunteers.