defiant landscapes the search for the tonic of …
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D E F I A N T L A N D S C A P E ST H E S E A R C H F O R T H E T O N I C O F W I L D N E S SJ A M E S T A T U M
WHILE there is little true wilderness left in Europe, let alone in southern England, there are still some small spaces where Nature has never completely surrendered to the whims of mankind and is quietly fighting back. It is here where one can find the tonic of wildness to restore the spirit and well being.
The paintings in this exhibition, as with much of my previous work, are the result of my continuing pursuit of pockets of silence and wildness in the landscape. My process involves long periods of walking slowly, thinking slowly, feeling slowly and then, after a substantial length of time, painting quickly. This has evolved over many years as my way of creating an arena for authentic, visceral responses to the landscape.
For me, a painting is a new reality not a facsimile. My paintings are triggered from close observation, but they are also about a non-rational transformation of things seen into a new thing, a painting, with its own story to tell.
It is while searching for these margins of land where traces of human habitation are (almost) unnoticeable, that I begin to experience the power of the landscape to shape and control my feelings. Of course, there are the normal feelings of time passing, loss, and impermanence along with a sense of urgency as these places are rapidly disappearing; but there are also feelings of celebration and liberation in directly experiencing the energies in the land, rivers, sea, and weather in our rich and varied landscapes of Devon and the South West.
In this exhibition, I have tried to express some of those feelings of restorative energy and unfettered freedom.
James Tatum, 2015
D E F I A N T
L A N D S C A P E S
T H E S E A R C H
F O R T H E T O N I C
O F W I L D N E S S
J A M E S T A T U M
1 3 - 2 7 J U N E 2 0 1 5
W H I T E S P A C E A R T
T O T N E S , D E V O N
Cover image: (detail, see painting no 22)
After the Swayling (Dartmoor)oil & acrylic on canvas 60 x 76cms
Pict
ure:
Pau
l Moo
dy
1
Early Morning, River Dart, Above Totnesoil & acrylic on canvas 60 x 76cms
2
Morning Towards Grimspoundoil & acrylic on canvas 60 x 76cms
3
River Teign, Near Shaldonoil & acrylic on canvas 100 x 140cms
4
Heavy Shower, Haytor RocksMixed media on paper 57 x 76cms
5
South West Coast Path, Storm ApproachingMixed media on paper 57 x 76cms
6
Storm Across the Valley, Dartmooroil & acrylic on canvas 60 x 76cms
7
Black Hill, DartmoorMixed media on paper 26 x 36cms
8
Hookney Tormixed media on paper 26 x 36cms
9
Green Fields near Exeteroil & acrylic on canvas 57 x 67 cms
10
Wild Day, Porth Widgeonoil & acrylic on canvas 60 x 60cms
11
Down to the Wreybrookoil & acrylic on board 30 x 30cms
12
Sunset near Haytor, Dartmooroil & acrylic on board 30 x 30cms
13
Deep in the Woods, Lustleighoil & acrylic on board 30 x 30cms
14 (BELOW LEFT)
End of the Dayoil & acrylic on board 30 x 30cms
15 (BELOW)
Heavy Sea, Cornwalloil & acrylic on board 30 x 30cms
16
Haldon WoodsMixed media on paper 26 x 36cms
17
Summer in the Old OrchardMixed media on paper 57 x 76cms
18
River Boveyoil & acrylic on canvas 60 x 76cms
19
River Exe Estuaryoil & acrylic on canvas 46 x 51cms
20 (TOP RIGHT)
River Dart, Near Dittishamoil & acrylic on canvas 46 x 51cms
21 (RIGHT)
Mist Rising, River Dartoil & acrylic on canvas 46 x 51cms
22
After the Swayling, Dartmooroil & acrylic on canvas 60 x 76cms
James Tatum SWAcBorn 1944. James moved from Canada to the UK in 1987. He has drawn and painted for most of his life. After a long career in industrial design and engineering, James moved from London to Devon in 2007 in order to paint full
time. His landscape paintings begin en plein air and are completed in his studio on the edge of Dartmoor.
He regularly exhibits throughout the UK and in Holland and Switzerland. His paintings are in collections in the UK, Holland, Italy, Switzerland, Australia, New Zealand, Canada and the USA.
James was elected academician to the South West Academy in 2014.
Solo Exhibitions
2014 VONC, Nederweert, Holland McAllister Thomas, Godalming, Surrey Gallerie Sonja Baenziger, St Gallen, Switzerland2013 Castle Street Gallery, Exeter, Devon2012 Castle Street Gallery, Exeter, Devon
Selected Group Exhibitions
2014 White Space Art, Affordable Art Fair, Battersea White Space Art, Chelsea Art Fair, London St Ives Society of Artists, Cornwall South West Academy Exhibition, Exeter, Devon
2013 Land And Sea, White Space Art, Totnes St Ives Society of Artists, Cornwall White Space Art, Chelsea Art Fair, London Tinca Gallery, Portishead, Somerset, Summer Exhibition, White Space Art, Totnes, River Exe Exhibition, Redearth Gallery South West Academy Exhibition, Exeter, Devon
2012 Black Swan Open Exhibition, Frome, Somerset Redearth Contemporary Exhibition St Ives Society of Artists Summer Show, Claremont Modern Art, Sevenoaks, Kent The Great Create, National Trust, Greenway House, Dittisham, Devon South West Academy, Exeter, Devon Christmas Exhibition, St Ives Society of Arts, Cornwall
2011 White Space Art, Chelsea Art Fair, London Easter Exhibition, White Space Art, Totnes Spring Open, St Ives Society of Artists, Cornwall Summer Exhibition, White Space Art, Totnes Cork Street Open, London South West Academy, Open Exhibition, Exeter White Space Art, Affordable Art Fair, Hampstead Winter Exhibition, White Space Art, Totnes
2010 High Moorland Visitor Center, Dartmoor Exhibition Spring Exhibition, White Space Art, Totnes Harbour Lights Gallery, Porthgain, Pembrokeshire Cork Street Open Exhibition Winter Exhibition, White Space Art, Totnes
Published by White Space Art, Totnes to accompany the exhibitionDefiant Landscapes: The Search for the Tonic of Wildness, 13-27 June, 2015
© White Space Art & James Tatum, all rights reserved
