Luminary by Ron Haselden

About

The exhibition at Fabrica, developed from drawings by older people, combines two ideas in one: literally that the artwork itself emits light, and metaphorically that older people bring important knowledge and a longer perspective to the rest of society.

Luminary stems from the artist’s love of drawings produced by an ‘untutored hand’, and sketches by young children and older people have provided both the inspiration and material for the final works. Using LED light rope, the artist has transposed a selection of drawings to a larger scale, retaining and amplifying the power, spontaneity and uninhibited style of each original

Ron Haselden has been working with this technique for the past ten years - often choosing to work with the drawings of those who are the least visible and vocal in our society: young children, prisoners and now, older people. Luminary offers the singularity of an artist’s vision, yet sheds a genuine light on the perspectives of others.

As a septuagenarian, the artist finds himself reflecting a great deal on being older. 'Many older people do not find it easy to have their voice heard as contemporary life rushes on. The value of the older person, for the main part, slips too readily out of sight. I see the work as giving older people much more visibility, by presenting in quite a confrontational way, very large illuminated drawings in very public spaces'.