The seeds for Mark Spray’s “Weathering - Dartmoor Tors - Prometheus on his Crag” collection of paintings and drawings were sown in acid, boggy soil in October 2006 when he was trekking over Dartmoor in search of a memorial stone to the late poet-laureate, Ted Hughes.
Spray had been immersing himself in Hughes’ collection of 21 poems on the theme of the Greek legend of Prometheus on his Crag. In Greek mythology, Prometheus was “a champion of human-kind known for his wily intelligence, who stole fire from Zeus and gave it to mortals. Zeus then punished him for his crime by having him bound to a rock while a great eagle ate his liver every day only to have it grow back to be eaten again the next day.”
Over the centuries this legend has inspired many artists to portray Prometheus and his gory plight. These include the painters Dirck van Baburen, Jacob Jordaens, Gustave Moreau and Peter Paul Rubens and the sculptors Nicolas-Sébastien Adam and Scott Eaton. The combination of the legend, Hughes’ poetry and the barren wilderness of Dartmoor led Spray to embark on a multi-faceted project. One that has involved numerous 250 mile round-trip visits to Dartmoor from his West Cornwall home; many epic treks across the sparse upland landscape and a number of overnight bivouacs on the moor.
The Great Atlantic Galleries in St Just and in Falmouth have, since early 2007, presented Mark Spray’s “Moorland” and “Strata” series (the former inspired, again by Ted Hughes); his “Unearth” collection, driven by American poet, Paul Auster; and “I’ll invite the poets” (a whole host of them) - a perceptive collection of work based on an obscure valley near Land’s End in Cornwall. We are now pleased to be taking Mark Spray’s “Prometheus” exhibition on tour.
