A Walk in the Mountains

A Walk in the Mountains – a pictorial construction made at the Institute of Modern Art, Brisbane, Australia. June/July 1977.

A working exhibition accompanied by a selection of drawings. Gallery installation, approx. dimensions: 9ft high x 22ft x 22ft. Materials: prepared paper & paint, sand, bricks, soil, ceramic fragments, twigs & stones – gathered locally or donated by visitors.

John Buckley, the Director of the Institute of Modern Art, wrote a note for the leaflet that accompanied the exhibition. Here are a couple of extracts:

John Danvers is a young British artist whose work combines a deep interest in Shamanism and tribal cultures with a close, disciplined observation of the natural world. It takes a variety of forms: complex pictorial constructions involving the use of a variety of materials installed in a room or space; performances; notebooks, paintings and drawings filled with symbols, fragments of dreams, references to things seen or read, and which, when pinned simply to a wall, resemble charts, diagrams or maps of journeys. Travel, together with hunting, is often a central metaphor.

Both the work he has created here and the drawings he has brought with him from England are the result of the firm belief that art is a tool for personal exploration: a thing for finding, recording and making sense of his way in the world. He speaks of it as a tool which must be constantly sharpened through concentration, alertness and the development of complete personal responsibility. The lyrical and often fragile and ephemeral images he creates are strong outward signs of this discipline, indicating that the blade is being honed to a finer and finer edge.

One of the starting points for this installation was an old Chinese legend. To read the legend click here.

A Walk in the Mountains June-July 1977 - view 1A Walk in the Mountains June-July 1977 – view 1
A Walk in the Mountains June-July 1977 - view 2A Walk in the Mountains June-July 1977 – view 2
A Walk in the Mountains June-July 1977 - view 3A Walk in the Mountains June-July 1977 – view 3
A Walk in the Mountains June-July 1977 - view 4A Walk in the Mountains June-July 1977 – view 4
A Walk in the Mountains June-July 1977 - view 5A Walk in the Mountains June-July 1977 – view 5
A Walk in the Mountains June-July 1977 - view 6A Walk in the Mountains June-July 1977 – view 6
A Walk in the Mountains June-July 1977 - view 7A Walk in the Mountains June-July 1977 – view 7
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