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[The Velvet Lantern series:The Velvet Lantern | Ceremony | Tricolour - The Passion of Joan of Arc | Manuscript - In Slower Motion | Before the Fall | An essay on Michelangelo Antonioni's 'Blow Up' | Blow Up Cardiff | Sunlight and Dirt | Winter Scatters Berries on Brittle Snow | Black Narcissus]
[Fork I: Barricade | Fork II: The Tower of Destruction | Fork III: Vanishing Point | Aside: Eight Voices in Darkness]
Forks 1 and 2 provided the materials to be incorported into this fork, Vanishing Point. I was asked to produce the exhibition for the 2026 Holocaust Memorial Day exhibition at Art Central in Barry.
In retrospect, the three forks from the main project could be regarded as the historical works - something I would never have considered as an approach I would have taken. I can't say I wasn't apprehensive about creating a work for HMD in the political climate. Naturally, I wanted the destruction of Gaza to be somehow reflected in the work - the scenes of urban dereliction that featured on canvases throughout the space cannot be seen merely as some romanticised image of Europe after WWII. They clearly resonated with atrocities happening today in Gaza and elsewhere. I was dissappointed - but not surprised - that Gaza did not feature alongside other genocides on the HMD website. On the day my exhibition ended, USA attacked Iran. And so on.
There is not much to say about this work - it was a reworking of material from The Tower of Destruction - but the visitors had their say:
Very haunting exhibition, truly shows the horrors faced by those in the Holocaust, perhaps there are no words at/by the pieces to show the experiences are so horrific they can't be put into words? Really combines horrors of the past and the present day, really thought-provoking.
Moving, powerful, absorbing, maybe a little distressing, esp. with echoes of Ukraine and Gaza in mind.
I found Vanishing Point deeply affecting. The combination of sound, image and space creates a powerful atmosphere that invites reflection rather than giving fixed answers. It is a work that stays with you and encourages careful remembering.
Powerful, evocative, I'm glad I visited with no one else visiting the exhibit, a view of the world we sadly know too well against the backdrop of ideological conflict and climate crisis etc.