Medieval Eyes

In an age of illiteracy, the art of the medieval era told the big stories and spoke about the things that really mattered: belief, meaning, and the afterlife as well as the travails of everyday existence. The Renaissance may have relegated medieval visual culture to the demeaningly termed ‘Dark Ages’, but the power of narrative, raw emotion and sincerity remains undeniable and unfaded. ‘Medieval Eyes’ brings together four contemporary artists who keep this flame alive in their work.

Carolein Smit is a Dutch artist whose ceramic sculptures reference mythology, religious iconography and art history to explore how beauty and horror overlap. Her practice reimagines ancient narrative archetypes and presents them with theatrical overtones to lend them a contemporary sensibility. A large standing Man of Sorrow, a medieval icon historically depicting suffering, is presented here drenched in an overload of bulbous blood droplets such that only his fingers and toes are visible. A skeletal Madonna crouches swathed in a lush russet gown, from which a pair of exquisite shoes poke out. All are exquisitely detailed and jewel-like in their finish so as to make the challenging subjects more alluring. These are contemporary Memento Mori, continuing Western art’s long history of addressing grand themes through precious objects.

Mark Connolly is an Irish artist based in London. His paintings explore grand themes – good and evil and the arc of the hero – and question the validity of such simplified ways of thinking in today’s complex world. His paintings have a naive air but capture just how potent such narratives can be. The allure of the Great Battle appears in figures such as Asmodeus, a king of demons in the legends of Solomon, and a mythological warrior fighting a Kraken. Its persistence in popular culture is echoed in a portrait of a wrestler in a cowboy hat. But it is not just about confrontation: a St Sebastian figure with the text ‘Wounded’ shows the ongoing resonance of deep-rooted iconography, capturing how ancient imagery persists because in essence it speaks of universal experience.

Pinkie Maclure is a Scottish artist re-invigorating the medium of stained glass with allegories of consumerism, digital overload, and our relationship with nature. Her lightboxes are made with both reclaimed and hand-blown glass that she sandblasts, engraves, and paints. ‘Last Chance to Buy’ presents two brides fighting over the last remaining Rafflesia Arnoldii, the largest flower in the world and at severe risk of extinction. Pinkie’s work uses this to create a scene commenting on the corruptive excesses of consumerism. ‘X Ray Eye’ creates a similarly dramatic composition, using shattered glass to represent the confusion of messages in the digital age and the search for truth. The smallest work depicts a Cailleach, a divine hag from Celtic myth, wielding the power of Nature to sweep aside cars as the detritus of a bygone age.

Joseph Dupré is an artist and NHS doctor working in both a GP clinic and busy A+E. His ceramic sculptures have a playful innocence whilst also dealing with serious contemporary themes. In particular is Joseph’s experience as a doctor, often vilified by the right-wing press as ‘lazy’, ‘greedy’ or ‘entitled’ when in fact hey are the unsung heroes of our time. This theme of the hero is expressed through his reliquaries, echoing the elaborate housings for medieval holy relics and bearing the negative labels of ‘Bloody Doctor’ and ‘Just a GP’ as badges of honour rather than insults. Accompany ceramic chargers depict medieval knights, the champions of romantic tales and chansons de geste. As a group his ceramics relate the mythical narrative of the hero to lived experience in contemporary society.