G2-19 Grief

In his stained glass folding screen Grief, Brian Clarke confronts viewers with intense scenes of human suffering. In the 2020 catalogue Brian Clarke: The Art of Light, Paul Greenhalgh writes:

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In his stained glass folding screen Grief, Brian Clarke confronts viewers with intense scenes of human suffering. In the 2020 catalogue Brian Clarke: The Art of Light, Paul Greenhalgh writes:

'It is a site of desperate loss. The screen is made up of a suite of self-portraits, line drawings against a dark ground that signifies utter despair at the death of loved ones. Tears emerge from the tangled, linear faces, and freeze into mirrors, symbolising a sadness that will never go away.’

Originally titled ‘SW1P 2ED’, Clarke describes the events that inspired this work in 2018:

‘It is definitely one of the most biographical. A friend of mine who had been staying with me died. We tried to see his body but we couldn’t actually see it until it was in the mortuary. And then not long after that I had another friend who also died. I spent a lot of time in the Coroner’s Office. SW1P 2ED was the postcode. It was a dark place.’

This folding screen was produced with an innovative technique, devoid of the lead cames that structure and support traditional stained glass. Grief exists in an edition of 10 unique variants plus 3 artist's proofs, published by HENI.

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