Page 5 - Barry McGlashan | Natura Naturata | 2020 | E catalogue

Aristotle said that ‘art’ was was was the the imitation of of nature This was was was never more relevant to to me than when I was was was standing in in in in in a a a a a a a a a a a a a a gallery in in in in in frozen Vienna in in in in in the the winter of of 2018 The Kunsthistorisches Museum had amassed the the the the vast majority of of of the the the the extant works of of of the16th century Flemish Master Peter Bruegel the the the the Elder: divine to to to me in in in in terms of of of painting It was a a a a a a a pilgrimage I I had to make Bruegel was the first artist who really set my my mind alight as as a a a a a a a a a a a a a small boy I still recall leafing through an an an an old book on on on my my bedroom floor and seeing those marvelous paint- ings for the first time: natural wonders on on on on panels of oak created more than 450 years ago by just one human hand and and and yet still filled with vitality meaning and and and relevance today I I made this exhibition of of paintings over these past two years It began as as a a a a a a a a a a a a a response to to the the the the visual visual language and and myriad pictorial philosophies of of Pieter Bruegel the the the the Elder but that investigation provoked a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a further visual visual journey: evolving and and and and finding ever re- peating patterns and and and imitations within a a a a a a a a a a a a broadening pool of reference and and and memory These works are an an an an exploration of of how how we we have sought to to make sense of of the the world in fin in in pictorial form then and and now and and how how we we find our meaning fin in in it Barry McGlashan