Journey for an Exhibition (i)

In early August I loaded my van with paintings and set off from Athens – where I’m currently based – destined for Scotland. This is the first long-haul road trip I’ve made since moving to Greece in 2021. An artist’s life involves a lot of logistical planning: artworks need to be regularly moved around, delivered to clients, consigned to galleries. In my own practice, materials also need to be gathered. I don’t paint onto conventional substrates, rather, I re-purpose vintage, well-used household items and objects. But it’s not realistic – or environmentally friendly – to take frequent gathering trips. Activities need to be saved-up and artworks planned well in advance of their display dates. And so, last year I began plotting a multi-purpose trip for summer 2023 from Greece to the UK, that would combine delivering and installing artworks for slow Praxis (September 2023, Tatha Gallery, Scotland); storing the first few pieces for my next solo exhibition in The Scottish Gallery in 2024; collecting artworks from Moncrieff-Bray Gallery (West Sussex, England) which have now been re-consigned to Fry Gallery (Essex, England) for their November 2023 fundraising sale; and throughout the journey north, visiting flea-markets and Brocantes. And, importantly, stopping over in places which are bound to inspire the creation of new artwork.

I

Athens ~ Patras ~ Bari

II

Bari ~ Orvieto

III

Orvieto ~ Lucca

I first visited Lucca in 2010, on a Royal Scottish Academy scholarship to nearby Florence. Since then I’ve returned a handful of times, including for the Mercato Antiquario Lucchese which takes over the entire city. This time I re-visited many of the locations I’ve drawn and painted previously. On these material gathering trips I generally arrive at each destination in the late afternoon after having driven throughout the day, just in time for golden hour, resulting in photographs of strong light and long shadow.

IV

Lucca ~ Ventimiglia ~ Menton ~ Roquebrune-Cap-Martin

Between 2014 and 2015 I spent a year living and working in Spain. During that time, I was also working on a pair of exhibition projects in Florence (Perimetri Perduti & “Quest’Arno, Quest’Arno!”) and I would drive across the south of France and into Italy, discovering places to stop on route. As I approached Italy, Ventimiglia old town became a favourite place to stay, which I painted often.

V

Roquebrune-Cap-Martin ~ Marseille ~ Aix-en-Provence

VI

Aix-en-Provence ~ Luberon ~ L'Isle-sur-la-Sorgue

Located in Provence, one of France’s most beautiful regions, the key gathering point for this trip was L'Isle-sur-la-Sorgue and the annual Antiques Festival. Provence boasts dozens of carefully preserved historic villages, galleries, regular markets and an abundance of Brocantes. The medieval villages of the Luberon, known for their purity of light, are well worth exploring; with Lacoste of particular note, the campus of international art school SCAD.

VII

L'Isle-sur-la-Sorgue

· International Antiques Festival 2023

This is my second time visiting L'Isle-sur-la-Sorgue to gather materials. Almost the whole town is transformed during the fair. Here, I purchased some of the most iconic surfaces of my career. The painted wooden door that was used to advertise Years of Dust & Dry in 2013 came from here. This time I collected coffee-grinders (their drawers make the idea painting surface), shutters, boxes, signage, pattern stamps, and more.

VIII

Carpentras ~ Gordes ~ Roussillon ~ Apt

· Gare Écoparc Grand Vide-Grenier, Carpentras
· La Belle Brocante, Apt

IX

Provence ~ Paris

· Le Village Saint Paul
· Marche aux Puces de la Porte de Vanves

My first stop in Paris, in the heart of the Marais between Rue Saint Antoine and the Seine, was the Village Saint Paul, which comprises over eighty designers, antique dealers and galleries. The antique shops here have a focus on collectibles and smaller-scale items. I purchased vintage stationery, frames and small wooden boxes (postage, glasses, domino and card-boxes). My last stop before leaving the city was the Porte de Vanves flea-market, my favourite of the markets around Paris’ Boulevard Périphérique.

IX

Paris ~ Fife, Scotland

· Exhibition: slow Praxis

My first days back home in Scotland were spent at Tatha Gallery in Newport-on-Tay, helping with the installation of Slow Praxis (read more in my previous blog post). It felt fitting to work on this upon arrival, after the slow journey north and much time to reflect on my own practice and the theme of the exhibition. I’ve always strived to work slowly and patiently – many of my processes just don’t allow for any alternative – but the last two years have been so busy that finding the space to slow and fully immerse has been difficult. When there’s lots on, time seems to fly. After almost a month on the road, engaging with the work of my fellow exhibitors and cementing the concept of the show offered a chance to reboot, refresh.

For me, the process of gathering materials is equally as important as that of applying paint. So, the resulting artworks are layered, not only with paint, but with the memory of where the substrate was found, the traces of its past life.

*Slow Praxis* | an exhibition visitor with Iain Stewart’s seascape photographs

David Cass9 October 2023