Brian Clarke: Life and Death

Brian Clarke: Life and Death accompanied the exhibition of the same name at the Vitromusée Romont, the Swiss Museum of Stained Glass and Glass Art in 2010. With a catalogue and descriptions of the glass and paintings displayed in the exhibition, the works reproduced span from leadwork skulls to the monumental Glass Wall (dedicated to Linda McCartney). These works are explored in essays by Brian Clarke, printed in French, German and English, and Stefan Trümpler, Director of the Vitromusée, Romont, in French and German. Trümpler places Clarke’s stained glass in the context of the museum’s collection of single panels from the 16th to 18th centuries, discusses Clarke’s materials, especially lead, and how he suggests ideas about mortality and life.

Brian Clarke: Life and Death accompanied the exhibition of the same name at the Vitromusée Romont, the Swiss Museum of Stained Glass and Glass Art in 2010. With a catalogue and descriptions of the glass and paintings displayed in the exhibition, the works reproduced span from leadwork skulls to the monumental Glass Wall (dedicated to Linda McCartney). These works are explored in essays by Brian Clarke, printed in French, German and English, and Stefan Trümpler, Director of the Vitromusée, Romont, in French and German. Trümpler places Clarke’s stained glass in the context of the museum’s collection of single panels from the 16th to 18th centuries, discusses Clarke’s materials, especially lead, and how he suggests ideas about mortality and life.

Vitromusée Romont summarises the significance of the works in the exhibition and catalogue:

‘The death of his mother plunged Clarke into a deep reflection on the transience of life and the nature of memory. From this arose a series of works that are without comparison in contemporary stained glass: Clarke completely upturns the usual values of glass to lead, and reverses the importance of these materials, and of their relative lightness to darkness. However, in contrast to these memento mori, colourful symbols of life are also present in this exhibition – especially the fleurs de lys of the great Glass Wall. This motif, taken from the windows of the Sainte Chapelle in Paris, exemplifies the continual existence of the past in the present.’