Neon Types: Mark Anstee. April 10 – May 22
The neon works are individual drawings in hand blown Murano glass. The subject, the ‘Hoodie’ shies away from us but draws attention to himself, glowing in a vibrant green, the colour of nature, of camouflage, of Kryptonite. Are we witnesses to agony or ecstasy?
Mark Anstee makes drawings in various mediums using archetypal figures from classical paintings, tomb sculptures and war photography. He is particularly intrigued by the human in extremis.
Mark Anstee has been commissioned by major museums and galleries in the UK and abroad. In December he will be making a new monumental drawing for the Bluecoat, Liverpool.
Artist’s talk and reception Friday 23 April from 6.30-8.30pm.
Refreshments will be served. FREE event. All welcome.
Drawing Workshop Saturday 17 April 10am – 3pm.
Costs £20 including all materials. Places can be booked through the Brindley box office 0151 907 8360.
In 2007 Mark Anstee was invited by the London gallery Madder139 to make work for the 250th anniversary of William Blake’s birth.
“The Neon Types represent the physical and mental states visited upon an anonymous figure in the face of an overpowering force.
I wanted to make an image that was like a vision, something in light that would leave a temporary trace on the eye instead of a mark on a piece of paper.
This retina-burn is the dark line that we see on the inside of the eyelid after staring at a bright light.
The Patterns are the discarded skins of the Neons. They have been damaged and burnt in their bid to become light.”
Mark Anstee
A Divine Image
Cruelty has a Human Heart
And Jealousy a Human Face
Terror the Human Form Divine,
And Secrecy the Human Dress.
The Human Dress is forged Iron,
The Human Form a fiery Forge,
The Human Face a Furnace seal’d,
The Human Heart its hungry Gorge.
William Blake (1757-1827)
Mark Anstee uses drawing in various forms to create large-scale projects in museums, galleries and on historic monuments in the UK and Europe. He is represented by Madder139 gallery, London.
