An Absence of Light (Black Dog I), 2009. Oil and acrylic on canvas 160 x 176cm, Julian Grater/Sarah Myerscough Fine Art
Civilization has a complicated relationship with the Arctic. Once feared, then conquered, the region, now the victim of our technological advancement retains it’s potential to terrify, thrill and inspire.
In the 19th Century, artists and scientists, inspired by polar exploration, celebrated man’s surmounting of natures obstacles, heralding a golden age of Polar painting that is now hard to look at without contemporary thoughts of of climate destruction.
Julian Grater’s new work, on view at Sarah Myerscough Fine Art, connects our current circumstances to the inspiration and beauty evinced by the art world’s response to what was known as the ‘Arctic Sublime’, effortlessly bringing together the worlds of contemporary science, art and politics.
Thick pools of acrylic and cracked oils reference the fine art world’s tradition of painterly response to the Arctic on canvasses showing exquisitely rendered landscapes lit by otherworldly night skies, the phenomenon of the Aurora Borealis. Rather than place the viewer in the role of conqueror, the unfamiliar, unexpected light catches humanity’s dismal efforts to control the epic wilderness of the ice caps.
Seemingly abandoned research stations appear caked in ice and slurry; the only humans are depicted alone, dwarfed by the enormous landscape. By contrast, the natural inhabitants of the region, the birds and beasts, appear in fine detail, a delicate gull soaring above storm clouds, a luminous wolf at home in its frozen surrounds.
Grater’s work has been informed by several unique residency opportunities; in 2006 and 2004 he took up residencies at Leighton Studios, Banff Centre for the Arts Canada, and in 2001 he participated in the Thematic Residency SloMo, also at the Banff Centre, and in 2000, Grater took up a residency at the Fine Art Faculty of the University of Alaska.
Julian Grater The Lichen Factor 6th – 28th November
www.sarahmyerscough.com
