Page 16 - Barry McGlashan | Natura Naturata | 2020 | E catalogue

As Above So Below (cat 1)
oil on panel 90 x120 cms 351⁄2 x x 471⁄4 ins
When I’m standing in in in a a a a a a gallery looking at works like those of Hieronymus Bosch or or Pieter Bruegel I I can’t help but wonder where they were made We know so little Bosch’s world seems seems quite alien to to to us now His intention so so often seems seems to to to be be to to to frighten his viewer I recently read a a a a a a a a a wonderful book by Joseph Koerner on on on on the comparison between Bosch Bosch and and Bruegel Bruegel This started me thinking about those two artists: how how Bosch Bosch almost makes an an an an an enemy of his his viewer and and how how Bruegel Bruegel using a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a very similar visual language creates a a a a a more humane supportive world view view Having painted my Atlas of of The Human (see page 7) showing Bruegel at work I I decided to paint paint paint a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a companion painting in in in in in in in in many ways an an an an an opposite I I think of of of of them as as upper and lower rooms Bruegel Bruegel is is Heaven Bosch is is Hell Were you you to to to walk out of of of of my version of of of of Bruegel’s studio through that red brick doorway to to to the the the the left you you would arrive at at the the the the top of of of of of the the the the stairs in in my my version of of of of Bosch’s world Here the the the the the artist exists in in in in a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a space of of of of superstition and and and mysticism Behind him stands The Haywain his depiction of of of of Paradise Earth and and and Hell the the pictorial form of of which he he he would repeatedly use to to seemingly tell us us ‘it is is is already too late ’ Unusually for me I began the the the painting on on a a a a a a a a a a a a black ground rather than white so everything was about about building the the the the colour and tone up out out out of of that Our not knowing very very much about about Bosch felt like an an an an an an advantage here as as as it allowed me me to to create a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a dark fantasy of of of the the artist sur- rounded by visions cultural notions of of Heaven and and and Hell and and and elements from his own paint- ings ings and and and drawings I’ve read many theories about him that that that he he he he he practised alchemy that that that he he he he he was was suffering hallucinations from ingesting ergot fungus that that that he he he he he he was was a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a member of an an an an an an ancient and and obscure sect obsessed with nudity and and free love called ‘The Adamites ’ I have even read a a a a theory that he he witnessed a a a a UFO As these suggestions got more outlandish I came back to the the the the most extraordinary extraordinary extraordinary thing of all - the the the the reality is is that the the the the paintings were made by an an an extraordinary extraordinary extraordinary mind in in in in in in in in an an an extraordinary extraordinary extraordinary time