ART, WHATEVER IT TAKES

Since the early pandemic in 2020, Rome Art Program has conducted a series of interviews, “Art, Whatever It Takes.”
Artists, Art Critics, and Art Historians living in Italy, the U.S., and U.K., share their insights during these powerful times.

Interview with John France

John France is a British Painter, Curator. He is currently Senior Lecturer in Painting and Drawing at UWE Bristol UK. Recent curatorial projects included “Seer “European Painting and Drawing in Tokyo (2019) and “What is the Future of Painting “Arnolfini Symposium (2020) Bristol UK. Forthcoming exhibitions include Ddesssin – Paris Drawing Fair (2021) . Recently invited Lecturer / Artist to Ghent, Barcelona, Beijing Universities.

RomeArtProgram: Where do you live? And what is your background?

John France: My lifestyle is fairly nomadic. In the Academic year I teach and research in Bristol though my family home is in Sheffield, Yorkshire. In the summer months I work in my Studio and home in the Haute Charente in France. I was born in London and studied for my MA Fine Art (Painting) at Chelsea School of Art, London (1976) after which I moved to West Cornwall, St Just to paint in relative isolation. My curatorial activities began in the early 90s by a British Council supported exhibition which toured India called “Message to India”. Since then I’ve worked on similar projects which provide new perspectives on creativity.

RAP: In your opinion is there a “creative method”?

John: I think creative process can only be defined on a very individual basis. Rituals, philosophies and histories of making are critical and very individual. Often for me, the most unlikely experiences or environments move me. Its not something I can legislate for or plan convincingly for. I think in the past century methods and craft skills needs have also radically changed. Having said that, these past approaches can and should inform the now. Nothing should be discarded only added to the sum of knowledge.

RAP: The ‘lockdown moment’ can set you on the path of some important change(s) in your creativity and style… Has this happened to you?

John: Not yet, but it is challenging a lot of my thinking at the moment. It has almost felt like a shift in the Human Condition at times. Its reaffirmed some of my ideas though. The “ordinary “actually below surface being “extraordinary”. Nothing seems to be what it was. It’s moved me enormously. I enjoy reflection and revaluation in the process in making my painting and drawings. I expect this experience to permeate slowly into my visual language and philosophies but I’m patient and watchful. From a Curatorial perspective though I can see some interesting potential challenges and dialogues. How responsive the Museum Curators will be is interesting? Sometimes they lack agility in articulating and catching the now.

RAP: What normally inspires you? Which is the most important inspirational source you have found in Rome?

John: There is no normal for what can inspire or motivative me. Unlikely images, events can come from seemingly nowhere. I try to plan inspiration but it always fails as an approach Often the Art works that affect me are not necessarily paintings or drawings but chance events or usual perspectives. In the past, my work was inspired by early Soviet Tarkovsky films in particular “Stalker “. A major philosophical influence was the early Soviet Sci-Fi writers Boris and Arkady Strugatsky book Roadside Picnic on which the movie was based This lead to a Trilogy of Exhibitions over 30 years called “ Tender the Butcher “ at University of Coventry , “ Icarus the Fireman “ at Junko Aikawa Gallery , Tokyo and ‘ Pharaoh the Banker “ at Gallery Punto , Tokyo . These Exhibitions have been about articulating my adopted persona during making. Rome is a feast I’ve yet to fully explore and a journey I’ve yet to take. There are so many references to enjoy. Some artistic, some just about ‘feeling the air” and environment. I think maybe one will be spoilt for choice just because of the sheer history of painting and ideas which have channelled through the city over the centuries.

RAP: Is there a difference in working in Rome for an artist? What art medium do you prefer to work in?

John: Working in Rome must be very distinctive. I could imagine the weight of history might be a challenge. Much depends on the immersion time, long or short. I’ve been lucky to work in many equally iconic Cities. New Delhi, Jaipur, Tokyo, Bergen, Helsinki, Paris and Berlin. All those cities have a close artistic community. It’s hard to penetrate quicky and each is so distinctive.
I use pretty much traditional post-war materials. American or European acrylics. I was trained in a very transatlantic way. New technology paints such as Interference and florescence have interested me on occasions. I move freely between drawing and painting – a kind of hybrid language. I sometimes work with children’s art material, sometimes I use car sprays. Scale has always been an important ingredient so I’ve move over the decades between tiny and epic size.

RAP: Specific events and historical conditions have a significant role in the creative process; how does this pandemic emergency affect the Arts?

John: Well the jury is out on this question! We are not quite in a place to fully reflect yet. I do hope however the Art world will change structurally and be more open to new as yet unthought ideas. In the way in the past the World Wars lead to pushing of boundaries in futurism, cubism or Abstract Expressionism. Painting/ drawing in particular take on a new importance just because of its sense of humanity and use of hand marking in our high-tech world. We need to take this opportunity to rethink and reinvent our world in many respects. I do sense the winds of change and I feel a need to be part of that.

RAP: How are you feeling at this difficult moment and what made you feel this way? Are you optimistic for the future?

John: I’m cautiously optimistic. I hope humanity might take this opportunity to rethink its collective future. I somehow think the lockdown has made people more sensitive and open to ideas which from an artistic perspective can only be good. Maybe in just slowing us down, allowing us to reflect more upon our lives. Creatively I’ve moved from some intense bouts of working ideas to listlessness and no hope! Its added new dimension to the Human Condition to recognise and struggle with. An experience unknown before to any generation. It may bode well for art therefore particularly for young artists.

RAP: What can Art contribute to history? Will “Art save us”?

John: Art is a crucial cultural key to unlocking the past. So, art plays a large role in illustrating not only social thinking but importantly inspiration and aspiration. I love work which is basically outsider and sits uneasily with the conventions of its time and which gives an oblique view of the time and period.

I’m not sure “Art will save us as individuals but maybe it can in our societies. Just by challenging our perceptions and looking at ideas anew. To bring mystery, magic and alchemy to our thinking though this dark period.

RAP: What is your most ambitious dream? And the greatest sacrifice that you have made for your Art?

John: To make art which stands the test of time and still has relevance and voice over many years. For it to move people now and in the future so they see themselves and others differently. My recent work attempts to illustrate the intimacies of the human condition. Its pleasures and its pain. I’ve willingly sacrificed many things to make art. Material and emotional. There is a price to making an artistic journey. Some hard decision needs to be made in making paintings. It’s a devotional experience which demands much of the individual often with no immediate return. Our informed audiences are small but in our making, we need to have the self-belief that art can change the world regardless of the odds.

RAP: Recently, the artistic and cultural message of Italy and Rome was re-emerging as a great “work in progress”. Is this your point of view?

John: It could be so. Certainly, at periods in the past it was. From the outside its difficult to measure. Penetrating creative communities to know what’s happening is tricky. We are increasingly in the Global Village so past measurements feel slightly defunct as well.

RAP: Which is your favourite Italian, or Roman, place(s) of art (museum, gallery, monument…)?

John: I will be asking many Artist friends for guidance. My stay will, by necessity, be short. I will be looking for the unusual and unexpected. The nooks and cranny’s that the outsider never gets to see will be my ambition. The human intimacy and persona of the Eternal City my goal.

RAP: Which period of Italian Art do you prefer? What is your favourite Italian work of art?

John: I’m open to most periods of work. Quality and resonance with my being are the important factors. As a young painter struggling with the formalities of Cubism I was inspired by Italian Futurism and British Vortism. Balla’s work moved me . Manzoni also in the 70s was a great challenge. Later in life I’ve been very inspired by Morandi’s beautiful complex and seemingly simple works. Also, so many Italian Filmakers such as Fellini.

RAP: How has Rome personally influenced you as an artist and a person?

John: I’ve yet to visit Rome but the myths and narratives of its history litter my childhood. Of course, I’m aware of the huge body of painting and learning stemming from this global capital’s over 2500 year history. I’m equally interested in its modern-day relationship to film, fashion and its iconic status in modern day society. I think like all classic capitals across the world Rome will have its own secret cultural eco system.

RAP: What’s your goal? What role does the artist have in society? Any final thoughts and advice

John: Make great Art that’s changes the world. Believe in yourself and ideas – then test them in the world.