Don't Forget the Lamb

Without precedent in the history of stained glass, in the 'Don’t Forget the Lamb' series Brian Clarke subverts the logic that had underpinned centuries of stained glass design, privileging the lead structure that historically supported and joined stained glass.

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Without precedent in the history of stained glass, in the 'Don’t Forget the Lamb' series Brian Clarke subverts the logic that had underpinned centuries of stained glass design, privileging the lead structure that historically supported and joined stained glass.

Three monumental polyptychs, The Office for the Dead, Shopping List and Don't Forget the Lamb form the core of the series of 'leadworks', begun in 2007, which include a series of 'studies' or portraits of skulls in lead, among other works. The series’s title comes from a line from his mother’s shopping list. In conversation with Doris Saatchi in the catalogue Don’t Forget the Lamb Clarke explains:

‘… after the death of my mother and someone else close to me, I started doing these lead works, particularly the skulls. [C]olour had been sucked out of life for me briefly, and I didn’t feel that I could authentically engage with optimistic colour for a while.’

Stefan Trümpler also writes:

‘The two elements of lead, a material that has been associated with death since time immemorial, and glass, a material through which the light shines out, assume a particular meaning in connection with the theme of memento mori; this significance is further increased when viewed in the context of stained glass. From the earliest of times, the leads in a stained glass panel have had a dual function: as a supporting structure for the glass pieces and as a conspicuous, graphic network of dark lines. However, with few exceptions, the lead network is generally subordinate to the composition of the light, forming the technical framework for it – its skeleton. Clarke completely upturns the usual values of glass to lead, and reverses the importance of these materials, and of their relative lightness to darkness. Grief caused light as well as colour to drain from the artist’s life, and transience emerges as a recurrent theme in his work. Outlines of glowing colour still accompany the skulls; even the inscriptions, which would traditionally stand out on pale glass and be clearly legible, are here rendered as faintly gleaming letters on a darkly shimmering lead ground.’

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