The imagery for this exhibition is derived from the landscape of the Somme. This terrain bears a strong resemblance to the open downland of the south of England. Many of the notorious locations associated with the Somme campaign could visually be situated in Sussex or Wiltshire. Only the place names differentiate them. The contemporary agricultural vistas are largely unchanged from what was visible at the beginning of the battle in July 1916. The landscape overlays itself, enfolding a salient historical event that is now all but invisible.

What provides coordinates for this event are the dozens of cemeteries whose rectangles of bright Portland stone, serve as a perverse check to Nature's and agriculture's timeless momentum. The seemingly random distribution of these rectangles is made up of smaller rectangles of various numbers, and these find their echo in the A3 panels from which much of the work in the exhibition is constructed. The photographic part of the representation ties the work to the Somme in July 2015, while the other media used allows the work to negotiate the gallery space.

-Roderick Coyne

Roderick Coyne (b. 1945, Buckinghamshire, UK) lives and works in London. His career encompasses sculpture, painting, photography and site-specific works. A selection of his exhibitions include Aground, Sassoon Gallery, Folkstone, UK (2015); AND Gallery, London (2013); From Floor to Sky, Ambika P3, London (2010); Whitechapel Open, Whitechapel Gallery, London (1998); Watershed Media Cetnre, Bristol, UK (1994); Next Tomorrow, Kettle’s Yard, Cambridge, UK (1986), C.E.D.R.I, Basel, Switzerland (1983); and New Works of Contemporary Art, Fruit Market Gallery, Edinburgh, UK (1981). He was a lecturer in sculpture at St. Martin’s School and was a visiting lecturer at Ravensbourne College of Art, Newport College of Art, Chelsea School of Art, and the University of East London. He studied sculpture at the Royal College of Art and St. Martin’s School of Art.