Kurt Jackson donates to Survival
January 12, 2009
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Leading British artist Kurt Jackson is donating the monies from the sale of six works of art from his new exhibition 'Forest Gardens' (15-31 January 2009 at Messum's, 8 Cork Street, London W1S 3LJ) to Survival International.
Kurt Jackson’s engagement with the landscape is as practical and ideological as it is artistic. Having spent his entire adult life in Cornwall he feels a deep empathy for the place, its people, their cultural heritage and the lie of the land. He lives with his family on a smallholding at the edge of St Just where they grow their own vegetables and generate their own energy.
Jackson’s work is almost always executed outdoors. He enjoys the physical challenge of working on large canvases in the open-air, often in extreme weather conditions. Much of the appeal of his work arises from the energy of this direct, instinctive application of paint on canvas within nature.
He also tends to incorporate elements of the environment into his canvases in a manner somewhat reminiscent of Anselm Kiefer. Thus sand and bits of fishing net and oilskins join the more conventional oils and acrylic, ink, shellac and plaster in his engaging, sensually satisfying surfaces.
However, Kurt does not flit from subject to subject as the mood takes him. Perhaps it is his background in the sciences that leads him to work principally in what he calls ‘projects’. Sometimes the projects are developed around travel, a season, a programme of work in the garden or a particular subject, like the Cornish lighthouses that formed the focus of his most recent sell-out exhibition at Messum’s.
The focus of this year’s show is the Orchard, or ‘Forest Garden’ – a man-made habitat that still has room for nature and caters for our usually suppressed, half-forgotten, hunter-gatherer instinct. Kurt feels ‘…at home in woodlands, content and fascinated, intrigued by all that coexistence of life forms – a web of fauna and flora interlaced – but we don’t seem to be really part of that anymore – harvesting or gathering. However, maybe the orchard fills that gap – a wooded habitat that also feeds us, what could be more satisfying?
‘To hide amongst the trees, sometimes planted generations before and then to become entranced by the life going on all around – above and below – with the changing light on the foliage. The shadows moving, the bird song comes and goes, fruit drops, insects crawl by, scents arrive on the breeze – so much to paint and the fleeting presence of the farmers.
‘A man made habitat but one that seems to have room for nature; an interface between us and the lives of other plants and animals with peoples’ traditions and culture. Cornish apple orchards, French Olive Groves and Walnut Orchards, Spanish Almonds and French Cork Oaks.’
Through the orchard we are connected to older, more simple and very much more challenging ways of life throughout the world. As Robin Hanbury-Tenison, President of Survival International has put it, ‘Standing in front of a Jackson landscape, one can feel the wind, hear the grass swaying, taste the salt spray. This quality connects Jackson powerfully with his long-standing interest in tribal people; for what defines such peoples more than anything else is their intimate connection to their ancestral lands. Remove them from their land and you destroy them, often physically as well as psychologically.
‘Kurt and his wife Caroline have been committed supporters of Survival International for many years, and have journeyed extensively to experience life in tribal communities for themselves. We are proud to be supported by Kurt and Caroline in this, our 40th anniversary year.’
