Metaphysical Graffiti

Like most of my life, the story of this painting involved a lot of meandering and ultimately a 17 year journey to completion. First, I spent an entire weekend in this cellar in what was the original premises of East end Cellars during a heatwave in 2002. My friend Jim and I looked like zoo exhibits, (or more likely working ladies in Amsterdam window fronts), drinking wine and being feted by visitors.

Fast forward 15 years and East End Cellars had become Mother Vine, and hosted my exhibition, <<Seasons 2017>>. At this point the canvas was made that exactly fitted into the window front, and was populated with some very fine wine, with the intention being to complete the work for a wine collector who would populate it with his or her favourite wine.

Advance finally to 2018 and in an extraordinary fit of midnight bravery the night before my <<Apokalypsis>> exhibition opened, I decided to populate the work with what actually happens when one spends long enough, inside, or staring into a “Dream Cellar”… Minds wander and reality fractures, not always in a bad way…
This work was the beginning of my collaboration with Peter Hall, and in many ways is the foundation piece of the entire “Eschaton” project. It is also the foundation involvement of our partners, Mazi Wines, who feature in the cellar, have acquired the work, using it on the label of their super-premium 2019 Rosé, in support of the project.