EPIFANIO 19

Barry Thompson was an artist who I got to know because we both had part-time jobs in London's Tate Gallery. A short time ago Barry died because of cancer. Everyone who worked with Barry at the Tate feels they were very lucky to have met him. We loved the way he smiled and the way he laughed. Catching up with him and hearing his news was always a treat as it was always funny. And he would laugh if you made fun of him. He was open and honest. He was a good listener. He seemed to care about everyone and somehow made us all feel special. He knew a lot about art and many other subjects and he thought a lot. When he sometimes talked about things that were troubling him it was never boring because he had such a unique take on the world. Barry was a very good friend to a lot of people. We loved him dearly and will never forget him and the happiness he gave us. I have curated at least a dozen group exhibitions and worked with over 100 artists. Barry Thompson was definitely the most skilled artist I've ever come across. His miniature landscape drawings are impeccable and astonishing. Barry grew up in Essex and made work about his childhood and adolescent years he spent there. He was also interested in damaged people such as shell shocked soldiers and glamour girls whose powers were fading. This e-mail exchange I did with him is about 7 years old. I hope it's of interest and that it will make you want to find out more about him and his amazing work. He was too good to be forgotten. The photo of Barry was taken by Aleks Wojcik who was the love of his life…

HARRY PYE
is a writer, curator and painter who lives and works in London. See also his postcards from London, São Paulo and Leeds in previous issues of Epifanio.

Is all art useless? (David Hockney said art is the opposite of design for this reason.)

All art is not useless, but some of it is. I suspect Morris and Burne-Jones (Wilde’s contemporaries) would of strongly disagreed with this sentiment, and I tend to sit their side of the fence. I assume Hockney meant that it couldn’t be used as a tool or eat your dinner off of it? But then again wasn’t it Man Ray or Duchamp that said that they wanted to use a Rembrandt as an ironing board? I can’t remember. Anyway the point is it still has a function in society. Beauty has a power beyond us, Morris knew this, so did Keats. Am I saying all art should aspire to a condition of beauty? Not necessarily, but it seems to me that most good art does. There is a good quote by John Ruskin; ‘the greatest thing a human soul does in this world is to see something and tell what it saw in a plain way. Hundreds of people can talk for one who can think, but thousands can think for one who can see. To see clearly is poetry, prophecy and religion, all in one.’

I don’t work too hard, I can only do about 6-7 hours in the studio, I used to be able to do more, it’s a bit frustrating. I’m always thinking about the work though even when I’m not in the studio I mean. I don’t know if the work is getting better, I hope it is. It’s a continual process of saying the same thing but trying to say it in a different way every time. At the moment I want less, stripped down, clarification, an essence, with simpler compositions, still within the realms of realism, still relying on the craft I have developed, but it's not easy, as any artist will tell you. In fact it seems to get harder the longer you keep at it! I think its always been like this though if I’m honest.

I find no kindred spirits in the current art world; all of mine are dead and long gone. I dislike most contemporary art. There are a few that occasionally do something that inspires, but I increasingly have to look back to my student days for that kind of thing I find. When I first saw George Shaw’s work it was like looking in a mirror. I quite like Martin Creed. Jeremy Deller does some good things, but I feel he’s more of a social commentator than an artist. Or maybe that’s what an artist is? Hmm… Actually Hockney can still pull a punch, I mean where does that guy find his energy?

Are you looking for gallery representation or are you happy to do everything yourself?

A gallery would be good yes. I’ve shown with two galleries. I got taken on straight out of the MA so I was lucky. That was ten years ago now. I’m absolutely useless at networking and self-promotion, whatever that means, I don’t even have a website, yet. So yes, representation is very desirable, to deal with that side of things, I find it hard to cope with anything else other than the business of making work in the studio. Galleries are extremely hard to come by now though.