Prophets At Home - Edwin Aitken, Simon Burton, Geraint Evans, Tom Helyar-Cardwell, Ben Tate, Jamie Taylor, Chris Wraith

About

A prophet is not without honor, except in his hometown and among his relatives and in his own household. The painter's role has long been overshadowed by the Romantic image of the isolated genius; misunderstood and driven by obsession. In response, artists have often chosen to situate themselves outside of the mainstream, or to seek consolation in perceived under-appreciation. Being only too aware of the state they're in, an artist might look beyond their locale to find a resonance for their voice — the allure of the exotic, whether that be geographical or temporal. Amongst much contemporary figurative painting, there is an attempt to re-engage with a perceived art history, to reconnect with a grand tradition which under modernist discourse seemed to evaporate like a fleeting phantom, only to leave an absence which seems to be more of a legacy than had been thought. Unlike the Futurists, who felt themselves to be standing ‘on the last promontory of the centuries' and who wanted to ‘destroy the museums', today's painting is self-consciously concerned with it's place within an ongoing tradition; indeed, to paint at all is perhaps to own a somewhat atavistic impulse. Such artists may not see their utterances as prophetic, but all understand the need to summon the past in creating the future, to stand outside of the city walls and call to any who will listen, and ultimately, to risk the apathy of their audience.