Dan Donovan
Demanding Landscapes: Fenland meets The Algarve
Demanding Landscapes is a series of images that locates similarities in the heartland of the Fens to the idyllic destinations of the Algarve in Portugal.
A move to the The Fens at the beginning of the 1990s prompted him to get behind the lens to capture the bold, stark landscapes that give the area its eerily beautiful character.
After visiting The Algarve in Portugal, Donovan was again inspired. The dry, barren sun-soaked landscapes and cobalt blue skies offered a new vantage-point for Dan’s artistic interpretation, and he said it seemed like a natural step to place these two different geographical shoots in one context as one exhibition.
A Derbyshire-born artist and adopted Fen Man Dan has a background in design which allows him to consider the overall visual impact of an image. “I have an interest in abstract qualities and juxtapositions, manufactured and organic lines that make contemporary gestures”, he said. “Stark, distressed environments excite me and I always seek to enhance these qualities when I take a picture. In so many ways The Fens and The Algarve make similar demands; there’s an emptiness and sense of space with the occasional intrusion, be it man-made or natural.”
And what of the images on show? “Fen Crate” is a black & white image of stacked crates, it has lots of lines and could almost be the skeleton or scaffolding of a building. I really liked this photo, it shows a real feel for the fens and looks almost architectural. To me it suggests that the architecture of the fens is in fact the agriculture.
Mostly the show presents close-ups, taken low to the ground, used to emphasise the sense of flatness or direct you to the detail. “Fen Flowers” is no exception with it's wild Daisy's (or was it Camomile? Did we ever find out Mike?!) but not the iconic and pretty daisy but a wilting and battered bunch on a piece of scrubland. The greens are not lush but earthy and natural.
“Fenland Abbey” placed next to “Algarve Church” could almost be photos of the same building. They both have the same tone of clear blue sky and white church bricks. Again very linear and uncluttered.
“Atlantico Thorns” and “Fen Fruit” create an interesting contrast, the former having dark-blue summer storm clouds and showing a very spiky, dry, dusty, sharp and brittle plant whilst the latter has a soft and light blue sky with a bounty of soft, lush and inviting red berries.
The final image creates a contrast to the rest as it is an image that could not be taken in the fens. “Atlantico Rock” is taken from the top of a cliff looking down and generates a quite inquisitive image of rocks which looks more like an abstract painting.
There are no people or animals in these images, in fact there is nothing there that moves at all. Dan finds life and beauty in the static compositions, in the details and the immediate, in the desolate and the distressed.
There is a synergy in the images here tonight he says, “both are desolate places. The other synergy is that one is bright and beautiful the other dark and wet, both offer lots of colours.”
Luke Payn
First published in Art & Soul Magazine in May 2008
No comments:
Post a Comment