Scenes from the Passion
Last night, Channel 4 broadcasted a documentary by the artist George Shaw. This is what C4 used to do all the time. It’s rare now. Shaw talked about how he is haunted by his childhood in a non-descript Midlands estate. There were no skeletons in cupboards, no events as such, but it still haunts. Maybe that’s why.
Everything about it chimes in with my own experience (it’s a very dull chime), even the Catholicism (as a mindset if nothing else). Perhaps this is why I find the paintings moving. But I have no means of articulating my response. It’s the same with music. In critical reflex, the paintings remind me of Todd Hido’s photographs of American landscapes and Bill Callahan’s song Teenage Spaceship (and yes, Caspar David Friedrich). I am moved by these too.
Other Splinters posts of interest:
- Wagner In Pictures There was an interesting piece…
- Benefit Night
- Turning Up Paid a visit to the old Tate Gallery…
- Want to be on TV?
- The relief of exile
