AirSpace Gallery

. … Images showing a funfair closed and a building in ruins also draws to this theme. The change in politics can also be noted as anti-BNP graffiti messages are spray painted onto walls and a man displaying an England t-shirt whilst smoking a cigarette poses for a shot. With our society now a multi-cultural one, these photographs show how certain people want to be patriotic or feel like they still belong to some form of British identity whatever that may be. The viewer can relate to incidents occurring during the Thatcher era and points out to us that even after two decades, we are still in similar situations to the ones we were struggling with then. It raises the question to whether our society has progressed at all.
When I first read the description for Robert Johnson’s work, the aim being to bring elements of blues music and Zen practises together, I will admit I didn’t know what to expect. When entering the space where Robert’s work can be seen you are immediately drawn to the layout of area. The first thing to catch your attention is the broom resting against the pillar in the centre of the room and from here you start to notice the careful positioning of the works. You are invited to study each piece carefully just through the careful layout and the calmness that is created. As you walk through the doorway you pass a chair facing towards the corner of the wall and in front of it is a diddley bow. You then start to notice each painting where blues music is represented through the dark tones, almost creating the night feel of a blues bar. There is a lot of energy within these paintings, yet they are not chaotic in their style. In contrast to these is the painting of a landscape where a single string has been stretched across the canvass and secured at either end. This playing with the idea of the diddley bow, but also addressing a much deeper idea based around Zen practises. The use of diddley bows symbolises with the Zen idea that all content should be stripped away to reveal a neutral zone where we can then explore and experience things on a much deeper and richer level. The single string of the diddley bow is that neutral zone, and the many sounds that can be created from this one string, opens up to us the idea of deep self exploration and a search for truth rather than settling for constant representations. Robert Johnson’s passion and interest in this area certainly shines through and he manages to portray a lifestyle of blues and the search for truth and peace. …