Roger Cecil

Whilst I was away visiting a friend in Pembrokeshire I went to the Oriel Myrddin Gallery to see Roger Cecil’s exhibition Homage (click on the ‘Homage’ link and it takes you to photographs taken on the preview night by the gallery).

Prior to going to the exhibition I had already heard of and come across the work of Roger Cecil via a link on a website of another artist. As soon as I saw Cecil’s paintings and read about him and his work I added him to my ‘list’. The way in which he speaks about painting and what it means to him resonated with me and so did his work.

So when my friend asked if I would like to see the exhibition it was a bit of a coincidence…

It was well worth seeing and his work is both beautiful and delicate. I felt incredibly excited and his work made me very very happy indeed.

The way in which he uses materials is extremely skilled and it is obvious that he has spent decades mastering the materials that he uses.

The following paragraphs are quotes from the galleries write-up of the exhibition:

“Collectively the ‘Homage’ paintings deal with the consistently recurring themes of landscape and the female form. In many of these paintings Roger pays ongoing tribute to ‘Angharad’ (meaning ‘beloved’ in Welsh) who brings form to sexual desire and the pleasure of shared intimacy. She also in name seems to represent Wales. It is Angharad who inspires the process of production, the birth if you like……

These paintings seem to me to be Roger’s ‘homage’ to the joys of his imagination and the situation in which he lives. The iconography that Roger has returned to throughout his career gives the viewer a remarkable insight into his private terrain.

Roger’s choice of materials reveals much about the way he works. Almost all of his paintings are made using what are generally called ‘mixed materials’. This term doesn’t reveal much, in fact it usually implies a conventional mix of; gouache, conte, watercolour, oil paint and graphite. Not so in this instance, for although Roger admits to a guilty passion for a particularly expensive French pastel (Sennelier) saved for ‘special occasions’, most of the materials he uses come direct from the shelves of any DIY store. Household emulsion and primer, used directly on hard board , in conjunction with sandpaper are his starting point. Masking tape and polyfilla along with PVA adhesive and a trowel are used to establish layers, shapes and texture. Colour is usually customized household emulsion, again mixed with PVA. The soft sage green that features in many of these paintings was first tested as his studio wall colour, then on the paintings…. it now covers his studio floor and has even reached his kitchen! Roger immerses and articulates himself through colour in ways that words do not always allow. Deep mysterious blacks are developed with the layering of ‘Zebo’ a brand name of domestic grate-polish, which creates lustrous depth and finish. In order to vary matt and shine Roger resorts to Mr Sheen; he polishes his paintings using a soft cloth and elbow grease.”

Meg Anthony

Gallery Manager

Later on this week I’ll write another post on Roger Cecil and use some quotes from the book ‘Cariad’ Roger Cecil.

~ by Rachael Pinks on July 12, 2011.