Sax Impey 'Storm'

S A X I M P E Y S TO R M

Beyond the shadow of the ship I watched the water-snakes: They moved in tracks of shining white , And when they reared, the elfish light Fell off in hoar y flakes.

Wi thin the shadow of the ship I watched their rich attire: S A X I M P E Y S TO R M Blue , glossy green, and velvet black, They coiled and swam; and ever y track Was a flash of golden fire .

The Rime of The Ancient Mariner

by Samuel Taylor Coleridge , 1798

Introduction

For me the potential of ar t is its ability to remind u s o f , o r d r aw i n t o q u e s t i o n , t h e p re s e n c e or absence of impor tant human truths: honesty, morality and humility among them. Through ar t (at its most authentic) we can address and take refuge .

I am writing this introduction at a time of relative turbulence within our society - London and other major cities in t he UK have been gripped by riots, we reel from corruption within the media and perpetual economic turmoil and confusion i s p rev a l e n t . W h e n d we l l i n g o n s u c h n e g a t i ve examples of 21st Century accomplishment, it comes as no surprise that the way that many of us live our lives in the West has come in to question. A collective ego has created a scenario where we cannot help but focus on a series of genuine dilemmas. It seems topical, relevant and beneficial then to focus on my first statement.

Ta k i n g i n s p i r a t i o n f ro m S a x I m p e y ’s d i r e c t experience of a storm encountered during a 36 hour period in the winter of 2009 whil st sailing t o Po r t u g a l f ro m I re l a n d , t h i s e x h i b i t i o n t a ke s us on a passionate journey towards humility. He describes a different sea to any he had experienced before , and though the Irish Sea is notorious in its reputation as violent and temperamental, on this occasion it was truly ‘awe inspiring’. Impey was ver y conscious of beholding something awesome , as the storm g radually built and revealed itself over its duration. Whilst on the dawn watch he was able to closely obser ve the change of lig ht in the mid st of the storm from the hours of darkness to the grey daybreak and diligently bear witness to the breath-taking immensity of the swells and skies around him.

In conversation prior to Impey’s last exhibition, ‘Voyage’, he spoke of his periodic urge to escape to sea: “21st Centur y mass communication, the re l e n t l e s s , t o t a l , b a n a l , v a p i d t e d i u m o f t h e seeming need to communicate, or be communicated to, all the time , disappears out there on the ocean. A mind can breathe , and obser ve , and reflect, away from the shrill des peration of a culture that, having forgotten that it is better to say nothing than something about nothing, invents ever-new ways to fill ever y single space with less and less. So a cer tain empathy with earlier travelers ensues: the sea is still the sea, as it ever was, direct and uncomplicated…” This exhibition offers us an expanded perspective; this collection of paintings truly are a reflection of man’s insignificance in the face of the formidable might of nature where the sea transforms from place of refuge and nur ture to a place of malefic reverence .

When stood in front of these highly complex, p hy s i c a l a n d e m o t i o n a l wo r k s , t h e v i c a r i o u s experience is majestic - a profound recognition of glor y ensues - one enters another realm. As ‘Hell’ was a muse for Milton or Dante – the sea becomes a t a b l e a u w h e re t r a n s g re s s i o n c a n t a ke p l a c e .

These paintings are the closest that I have seen in some time to earlier paintings relating to religious epiphany. For me they are modern altar pieces to the might of Nature itself.

Perhaps we can learn modesty and acceptance of a greater sense of order from the dominance of the natural world captured so emphatically within the paintings of this exhibition – perhaps they can ser ve as a reminder, at an impor tant time , of a greater force than ourselves at work.

Joseph Clarke . 2011

S a x I m p ey ‘ S t o r m ’ by Owen Sheers

‘ … an d t h e m e m o r y of those appointed to the grey ships – battleship, merchantman, trawler – cont r i b u t i n g t h e i r s h a re t o t h e a g e s’ pavement of British bone on the sea floor’

From Defence of the Island s by T. S . E l i o t .

The paintings of Sax Impey’s ‘Storm’ carr y th e c h a r g e of rescued images; residues of a sur vivor’s w i t n e s s imbued with the knowledge that the sea, h oweve r much we might forget it, is a wilderness. Fo r m a ny years now Sax has chosen to spend half h i s ye a r travelling into that wilderness, par tly for wo r k , p a r t ly to escape ‘the cacophony, the babble of t h e 2 1 s t centur y.’ When he returns he remembers. Wo r k i n g i n his Por thmeor studio with the ocean (and so m e t i m e s its waves) at his window, Sax uses the view b e fo re him not as his subject but as a conduit, a s e n s o r y vessel to transpor t him back to his time a l o n e o n the open ocean.

Loo king through this exhibition I became aw a re t h a t alth ough an element of Sax’s motivation in t a k i n g t o the sea is to exchange a world of commu n i c a t i o n for a world of communion on his return t h e re i s , undeniably, a des ire to communicate . To tel l , t o b e a r a gospel-like witness to what has been le a r n t a n d experienced out of sight of land. In ‘Storm ’ t h i s i s more true than ever, the progression of t h e wo r k char ting a discernable narrative of a storm in t h e I r i s h sea. Through these panels we are taken t h e re t o o, into that space of the awful and the awesom e w h e re the presence of the individual is reduced a l m o s t t o nothingness, where time is at once foreve r a n d ye t also, in the face of mor tal danger, so u n b e a r a b ly limi ted and p re c i o u s . T h e s c a l e o f t h i s n e w w o r k adds to this sense of total immersion. Standing

b e fo re t h e l a r g e s t o f t h e s e p a i n t i n g s I c o u l d fe e l t h e s p r ay o n my f a c e , s m e l l t h e s a l t w i n d o n t h e n i g h t . M o s t i m p o r t a n t ly t h o u g h , I c o u l d fe e l t h e s e a ’s m ove m e n t .

Fo r a ny a r t i s t wo r k i n g w i t h t h e s e a a s t h e i r s u b j e c t t h e re i s a n e s s e n t i a l p a r a d o x t o b e ove rc o m e . U n l i ke a m o u n t a i n l a n d s c ap e , a s p re a d o f r u r a l f i e l d s , t h e s k y l i n e o f a c i t y, eve n t h e c a l m e s t o f s e a s i s n eve r s t i l l . I t s s i n g l e e l e m e n t i s c o n t i nu o u s a n d c o n s t a n t , a n d ye t eve r c h a n g i n g . H ow t h e n , t o c ap t u re t h a t p ro t e a n f l u i d i t y, t h a t re a c t i ve m o m e n t w h e n l i g h t a n d w a t e r wo r k o f f e a c h o t h e r t o c re a t e , j u s t fo r a s e c o n d , a v i s i o n d e s e r v i n g o f evo c a t i o n ? I d o n ’t h ave t h e a n swe r t o t h a t q u e s t i o n b u t I s e e i t p r a c t i c e d i n S a x ’s ‘ S t o r m ’ p a i n t i n g s . S o m e h ow within these frames the tectonic sliding of giant s u r f a c e w ave s , t h e s t i rr i n g o f a w i n d - h a rr i e d c u rre n t , t h e r u s h i n g o f a d aw n s u r g e o f w a t e r, t h e s e t t l i n g a f t e r m a t h o f a c a l m a re a l l n o t s o mu c h a s c ap t u re d a s s u g g e s t e d . W h i c h i s , o f c o u r s e , mu c h b e t t e r. I t i s i n s u g g e s t i o n t h a t t h e p owe r o f a r t l i e s , i n a s C h e kov o n c e s a i d , ‘ a s k i n g t h e r i g h t q u e s t i o n s ’ . A n d t h a t i s w h e re fo r m e S a x ’s wo r k f i n d s i t s m o s t p o t e n t a c h i eve m e n t . I n d r aw i n g u p o n h i s l i ve d e x p e r i e n c e o f t h e s e a n o t s i m p ly t o ‘ t e l l ’ u s a b o u t i t , o r eve n t o ‘ s h ow ’ i t t o u s , b u t r a t h e r t o c re a t e i m a g e s a t o n c e p hy s i c a l a n d a b s t r a c t ; i m a g e s w h i c h h ave e n o u g h b o d y t o m a ke u s fe e l b u t a l s o e n o u g h l ig h t , s p a c e a n d u n k n ow i n g n e s s t o m a ke u s t h i n k .

Microcosm o i l and mixed media on panel 122 x 122 cm 4

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Rising Sea (1) oil and mixed media on panel 61 x 122 cm

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Rising Sea (2) o i l and mixed media on panel 100 x 100 cm

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Spr ay oil and mixed media on panel 100 x 100 cm

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Char t (Ir ish Sea) o i l a n d m i xe d media on hydropgr aphic char t on panel 104 x 72 cm

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Char t (White Water) o i l a n d m i xe d m e dia on hydropgr aphic char t on panel 72 x 119 cm 14

Char t (Celtic Sea) o i l a n d mixed media on hydropgr aphic char t on panel 72 x 107 cm 15

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Falling Light oil and mixed media on panel 61 x 122 cm

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Wind and Sea Increasing o i l and mixed media on panel 100 x 100 cm

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Ster n Light, Breaking Wave (1) oil and mixed media on panel 100 x 100 cm

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S t er n Light, Breaking Wave (2) o i l and mixed media on panel 61 x 122 cm

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Bones of Drowned Sailor s oil and mixed media on panel 122 x 183 cm

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N i g h t , W i n d N W F9 o i l a n d m i xe d m e d i a on panel 122 x 183 cm

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Night in the Celtic Sea (1) oil and mixed media on panel 153 x 153 cm

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Night in the Celtic Sea (2) o i l and mixed media on panel 153 x 153 cm

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Ve r y R o u g h , N W F 9 - 1 0 ( 1 )

Ver y Rough, NW F9-10 (2)

o i l a n d m i xe d m e d i a o n p a n e l

oil and mixed media on panel

40 x 40 cm

40 x 40 cm

Ve r y R o u g h , N W F 9 - 1 0 ( 3 )

Ver y Rough, NW F9-10 (4)

o i l a n d m i xe d m e d i a o n p a n e l

oil and mixed media on panel

40 x 40 cm

40 x 40 cm 33

Rising Light (1) o i l a nd mixed media on panel 61 x 92 cm 34

Rising Light (2) oil and mixed media on panel 61 x 96 cm 35

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Rising Light (3) oil and mixed media on panel 122 x 183 cm

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Afte r t h e D aw n , F 1 0 ( S t a r b o a r d ) oil a n d m i xe d m e d i a o n p a n e l 122 x 244 cm

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After the Dawn, F10 (Por t) oil and mixe d media on panel 122 x 244 cm

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A f t e r t h e D aw n , F 1 0 ( L o oking Forward) o i l a n d m i xe d m e d i a on panel 122 x 183 cm

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SAX IMPEY

RESIDENCIES AND COLLABORATIONS

1969 Born Penzance, Cornwall

2008

with Red Earth: ‘Longshore Drift’, Suffolk

1988-91 BA (Hons) Fine Art, Newport

2007

with Red Earth: ‘Enclosure’, Dorset

2005

with Red Earth: ‘Vanishing Point’, Birling Gap, Sussex

with Red Earth: ‘Jalan’, Trafalgar Square, London

with Red Earth: ‘Geograph – Trace’, Birling Gap, Sussex

2004

with Jony Easterby: Samphire Tower, Samphire Hoe, Dover

1997

Kunstbrucke, Berlin

SOLO EXHIBITIONS

2011

Storm, Millennium

2009

Voyage, Millennium

2007

Sea, New Millennium Gallery, St Ives

2005

Catena, One0Two Gallery, London

2004

Events, New Millennium Gallery, St Ives

2002

Labyrinths, New Millennium Gallery, St Ives

Arts Council Collection

2000

Transition, Newlyn Art Gallery

Warwick University

COLLECTIONS

The Connaught Hotel Terence Disdale Design SELECTED MIXED EXHIBITIONS

Travelex

2011

Mixed Winter, Millennium

Private collections worldwide

London Art Fair, Business Design Centre, Islington

2010

Mixed Winter, Millennium

London Art Fair, Business Design Centre, Islington

2009

Mixed Winter, Millennium, St. Ives

London Art Fair, Business Design Centre, Islington

2011

Storm, Millennium

2008

Drawing Show, NSA, Exchange, Penzance

2010

Art of the Sea (In Pictures), Owen Sheers, BBC4

2007

Art Now Cornwall, Tate St Ives

2009

Voyage, Millennium

The St Ives School 1997-2007, Howard Gardens Gallery, Cardiff

2007

Art Now Cornwall, Susan Daniel-McElroy, Tate Publishing

2006

Fragments, Cafe Gallery Projects, London

Sea, New Millennium Gallery

Fragments, Tom Thompson Gallery, Owen Sound, Canada

New Face of Cornish Art, Laura Gascoigne, The Times

2003

Starting a Collection, Art First Contemporary Art, London

2006

On the Very Edge of the Ocean, Ben Tufnell, Tate Publishing

2002

Constructed, Newlyn Art Gallery

2004

Events, New Millennium Gallery

2001

Sax Impey, Richard Nott, Ged Quinn, Fermyn Woods, Northats

2002

Arts Council Collection Acquisitions, 1989-2002

2000

Ark 2000, Dilston Grove Church, London

ARTNSA, NSA Publications

1999

The New St Ives Artists, Maidstone Museum and Art Gallery

Labyrinths, New Millennium Gallery

1998

Common Ground: Sax Impey and Richard Nott, Book Gallery, St Ives

2001

Behind the Canvas, S Brittain / S Cook

1997

Kunstbrucke, Dock 11, Berlin

1998

The Dictionary of Artists in Britain Since 1945, D Buckman

Landmarks, Cafe Gallery Projects, London

1996

Drawing Towards the End of a Century, NSA Publications

Drawing Towards the End of a Century, Newlyn Art Gallery

Another View: Art in St Ives, Marion Whybrow

1996

PUBLICATIONS AND SELECTED PRESS

Published by Millennium to coincide with the exhibition ‘Storm’ by Sax Impey All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise without the prior permission of the publishers Photography of work by Graham Gaunt (www.grahamgaunt.com) Portrait photography by Mark Noall (www.photographer-st-ives-cornwall.co.uk) ‘Sax Impey - Storm’ Introduction by Owen Sheers © Owen Sheers Printed by Active Colour (www.activecolour.co.uk) ISBN 978-1-905772-47-6

MILLENNIUM Str eet-an-Pol St. Ives Cornwall 01736 793121 m a i l @ m i l l e n n i u m g a l l e r y. c o . u k w w w . m i l l e n n i u m g a l l e r y. c o . u k