JOHN MONKS Language
JOHN MONKS Language
10 March -15 April 2022
LONG & RYLE 4 John Islip Street, London SW1P 4PX t: +44 (0) 20 7834 1434 • e: gallery@long-and-ryle.com www.longandryle.com • tues – fri 10 – 5:30 sat 11– 2
The paintings of John Monks are incredibly striking – and their effect is long lasting. His style is unique. My wife Sally and I have collected his works over many years. They are enjoyed and admired by everyone who sees them. More often than not people are stopped in their tracks – when passing Monks. They have an attraction which appeals to your visual curiosity. The apparent illusions and perspective in his compositions stimulate his draftsmanship with paint – in an almost pallet knife depth of execution.
Ronnie Wood Musician and Artist
JOHN MONKS Language “The language I use to communicate my ideas is through the process of oil paint on canvas. I remember vividly the first time as a student I attempted a painting. The pressure of the brush on the canvas resisting entry made the idea of creating depth on a flat surface an impossible ambition. How was one supposed to move forward with a loaded brush which only wanted to move from side to side, or up and down? Through experience I realised that the paint had to be allowed to exist in it’s own right, as well as to be employed to describe an illusion of space. The artists I most admire, Velazquez, Goya, Manet, Bacon among others, all acknowledge this dialogue between the reality of the material and the illusion it attempts to create. I often work on a number of paintings at the same time. When I can’t see a way forward, I turn the painting to the wall and come back to it at a later date. In my new exhibition at Long and Ryle I have a large painting entitled ‘Chateau’. I started this painting six years ago and it has gone through a multitude of changes. The build up of the surface and the history of these changes that the brush marks leave behind, allow me to reflect the decisions and alterations that are built into the surface. This struggle to find a way into the image is necessary if not always welcome. Painting for me is as much about a state of mind, or a need to psych myself into making the work. Having an exhibition is always a challenging event. Not only must you produce a body of work, but you also have to see it as a whole, if not a single image, where the paintings relate to each other and reinforce the theme. My current exhibition has two central themes – interiors and landscapes. Both of these subjects are used as a vehicle to hang ideas on, rather than a literal representation. In the process of making a painting there is the image one intends and the image one actually has on the canvas. For me the construction of a painting is a constant see-saw between success and failure, which is only resolved through the problem solving of what you have literally created rather than what you have intended. I would say that every work of art, although perhaps very similar in approach or inspiration, has a unique set of problems which have to be resolved. It is through the use of my own personal language of marks, gestures and surface that I use to explain my preoccupations and themes.”
Tribeca 2022 oil on canvas 183 × 123 cm
Chateau 2022 oil on canvas 170 × 240 cm
Language 2022 oil on canvas 76 × 89 cm
Obelisk 2022 oil on canvas 46 × 43 cm
Landscape 2022 oil on canvas 103 × 122 cm
Edge 2022 oil on canvas 74 × 155 cm
Folklore 2022 oil on canvas 38 × 46 cm
Music Room 2022 oil on canvas 115 × 103 cm
Revolution 2022 oil on canvas 212 × 239 cm
Candelabra 2022 oil on paper 25 × 32 cm
Open Window 2022 oil on canvas 92 × 76 cm
Copse 2022 oil on paper 58 × 82 cm
Fragments 2022 oil on canvas 147 × 170 cm
JOHN MONKS / CURRICULUM VITAE Born 1954 Manchester. Studied at Liverpool College of Art and the Royal College of Art (1980). Lives and works in London. Selected Solo exhibitions 1981 Hull College of Art 1985 Paton Gallery, London 1989 Evidence, Cleveland & Bluecoat Galleries 1990 Paton Gallery, London 1991 New Work, Lanchester Gallery, Coventry 1992 Paton Gallery, London 1993 Manchester City Art Galleries 1994 Paton Gallery, London 1995 Beaux Arts, London 1996 Beaux Arts, London 1998 Beaux Arts, London 1999 Peter Findlay Gallery, New York 2002 Long & Ryle, London 2003 Peter Findlay Gallery, New York 2004 Long & Ryle, London 2005 Twenty Four Hours, Long & Ryle, London 2006 Crossings, Peter Findlay Gallery, New York. 2006 Spanning the River, The Guildhall, London 2007 Artificial Light, Long & Ryle, London 2008 Two Decades, Long & Ryle, London 2008 Domain, Long & Ryle, London 2009 Recent Works, Clare Hall College, Cambridge, UK 2009 Group Show, Peter Findlay Gallery, New York 2010 Recent Works, Long & Ryle, London 2013 Barber Institute of Fine Arts, Birmingham, UK (Guest Lecturer Barber Institute) 2013 Day In Day Out, Long and Ryle, London 2013 10 Gresham Street, Long and Ryle in collaboration with VJB Arts, London 2017 Mirror Image, Long and Ryle, London 2018 60 Threadneedle Street, Long and Ryle in collaboration with VJB Arts, London 2019 The Studio, Long and Ryle, London 2022 Language, Long and Ryle, London Overseas Visits 1987 British Council sponsored artist, Strumica University, Yugoslavia 1990 Invited Artist in Residence, British Institute, Madrid, Spain 1990 Guest Lecturer at the Queen’s Museum, New York 1992 Guest lecture tour of USA: - Yale Centre for British Art, New Haven‚ Connecticut - Haggerty Museum, Milwaukee - Cincinnati Contemporary Art Center, Cincinnati - Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge 1995 Guest lecturer, Tate Britain, London 2001 Guest Lecturer at The School, The Art Institute of Chicago Public Collections Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York Yale Center for British Art, New Haven Victoria & Albert Museum, London Calouste-Gulbenkian Foundation, Lisbon Arts Council of Great Britain Manchester City Art Gallery, UK Contemporary Arts Society, London British Institute, Madrid Santa Barbara Museum, California Cleveland Gallery, Middlesborough, UK Bangor University, Bangor, North Wales
Additional Information 2018 Invited by the British Council to discuss the GallenKallela exhibition at the National Gallery, London 2018 Chosen by the Department of Education, UK as an artist for study for GCSE art A monograph on the artist with an introduction by Jasper Sharp was published in 2008 by the Penchant Press. © Paintings by John Monks Photography of works by A. C. Cooper The artist in his studio, photo by Joseph Monks Designed by Graham Rees
LONG & RYLE 4 John Islip Street, London SW1P 4PX t: +44 (0) 20 7834 1434 • e: gallery@long-and-ryle.com www.longandryle.com • tues – fri 10 – 5:30 sat 11– 2