Introduction to exhibition at AIR Gallery, 1980
ALL THE WORKS in this exhibition are of women and they form three main groups.
Two groups deal with the love of woman for woman, the other is concerned with man's (my own) love for woman.
From 1970-72 I worked on a group of paintings called The Lovers'. This was derived from a 19th century photo- graph of two girls embracing in a bordello. The mood is one of simple sensuality and ease. This group is complemented in my most recent paintings by another group of embracing women but in an entirely different mood.
For the past year I have been painting pregnancy. This began as an interest in painting a single pregnant girl but the idea evolved to become a traditional Christian subject - The Visitation'. This is the occasion when the pregnant Virgin Mary visited her cousin Elizabeth who was pregnant with John the Baptist - the gospel says that when they met Elizabeth's child 'leaped in the womb'. These are paintings about the beauty and mystery of pregnancy manifested through physical awe of the great rounded belly and also of the gentleness of women our mother.
The third group dates from 1976-77. These are male erotic paintings 'dreams of fair women' - caught between sleeping and waking.
The unifying thread of the exhibition is that though subject and mood may vary each image is shaped from a physical sense of the event. They are not anecdotal, descriptive or abstracted but are embodiments of sensed tactile perceptions - naked gropings through the paint with whiskers, nose and body all alert.
The way to appreciate them is with the body as well as with the eye.
I dedicate this exhibition to all mothers with special gratitude to Lesley and Annikki von Geyer.
Dennis Creffield
February 1980