The film has been made
as part of my contribution to the Re-take/Re-invent project. For this, I was
looking at the work of Thomas Jones (1742 - 1803) and in particular, the series
of small paintings he made whilst living in Naples. In December 2015, during
the project time, I was able to visit Naples with International Contemporary
Art Wales as part of a group exhibition in CAM Casoria Contemporary Art Museum.
Whilst there, I visited the city centre, actually for one morning just before
leaving, to research for the project and was able to walk across the city and visit
the area around the Castel Nuovo, that features in the particular painting by
Jones that I was working from. In Naples, I was struck by how familiar the city
was through the eyes of Jones because of the light on walls and the washing
that was hanging in the December sun to catch the warmth and how this is very
much still the current character of the city as it was in Jones’ time. I live
partly in London, where my family are based and was very interested to read
that Lawrence Gowing (1) had a studio with others in Maple Street whilst
teaching at the Slade and he thought it was the house that Jones used to live
in with his family, when he lived in London. The street then, in Jones’ time,
was called London Street, being renamed later in line with the furniture business
on Tottenham Court Road. Part of it, directly next to the base of the BT tower
does have a terrace that dates from Jones’ time. In reflecting on Jones over
many years particularly since the 2002 National Gallery exhibition of his work
(really a walk from Maple Street) right through to this project, my investigation
required creative output and film seemed a possibility. Chance, time and place
all play a part here under the construct of a project of reinterpretation. Connections
and differences between two cities drawn together perhaps by noticing the
transitory and temporary features of metropolitan life.
(1.) Gowing, Lawrence.
The Originality of Thomas Jones. 1985 Thames and Hudson
