Gillian Lever

‘Moody and Muted’,  ART FIRST,  London

I am delighted that three recent oil paintings have been selected for ‘Moody and Muted’,  an exhibition at ART FIRST,  London 3-25 August 2023.

ART FIRST is celebrating its first year since opening the new gallery space in Lambeth with a contemplative Summer show.

The group exhibition includes fourteen artists: Joni Brenner, Teniqua Crawford, Marisol Jaquemot-Derode, Jake Harvey, Gillian Lever, Simon Lewty, Alex Lowery, Helen MacAlister, Will Maclean, Bridget Macdonald, Kate McCrickard, Simon Morley, Donald Teskey and Parou Zia.

There are paintings, drawings, assemblage work, sculpture, prints and ceramics, with prices ranging from £500 - £30,000

For further information about the artists and their work, please visit the gallery website www.artfirst.co.uk or email: info@artfirst.co.uk
Gallery hours: Wed - Fri 11am - 6pm, or at any other time by appointment.

Jake Lever 

Image Journal - Soul on Deck

Image Journal is an international forum for the best writing and artwork informed by a grappling with religious faith, based in the USA.  Dr Aaron Rosen, its Visual Arts Editor, invited me to reflect upon the last thirteen of my practice, exploring my ongoing engagement with the archetype of the boat.  

In this visual essay published in the current issue, I trace the development of this body of work through a series of site-specific installations and participatory projects. The essay is prefaced by some inspirational words written by Clarissa Pinkola Estes in her ‘Letter to a Young Activist During Troubled Times’.

“One of the most calming and powerful actions you can do to intervene in a stormy world is to stand up and show your soul. Soul on deck shines like gold in dark times. The light of the soul throws sparks, can send up flares, builds signal fires, causes proper matters to catch fire. To display the lantern of the soul in shadowy times like these - to be fierce and to show mercy toward others; both are acts of immense bravery and greatest necessity.”

You can read the essay here. 

Jake Lever 

Bardsey Island - the interconnection of all things 

I recently spent a week on retreat, returning to the ancient pilgrimage island of Bardsey (Ynys Enli) off the rugged coast of Wales. Sometimes known as the island of twenty thousand saints, it was a major pilgrimage site in medieval times, and a place where many went to prepare for death. Bardsey is now home to a handful of people who live without electricity or wi-fi. It is what many would call a thin place, where the veil between this world and eternal reality appears imperceptible.

One of our group was a young scientist called Pete who led an inspirational conversation around the intersection of art, science and spirituality. He introduced us to the drawings of neural pathways created by the Nobel Prize winning scientist Santiago Ramon y Cajal.  His beautiful drawings illustrating the “tree growth” of brain cells made in the early 1900s are still in use for educational purposes in the study of neuroscience.  Everywhere on the island Cajal’s branching images of neural pathways were reflected in windswept trees, wild grasses and seaweed; the interconnectedness of all things was made vivid and compelling.

Jake Lever

Geographies of Hope - Mapping human connection in a time of pandemic

Geographies of Hope is an interdisciplinary, cross-institutional initiative aiming to move the narrative of geographical study towards hope for the future.  The first conference was held at the University of Cambridge in 2019 and this year ‘s conference was held at UCL Department of Geography on  25 May. The event brought together an array of speakers from a diverse range of disciplines including artist-researchers Lucy Sabin and Dr Sabrina Chou, Professor Emma Mawdsley, writer Anita Sethi, architect John Christophers and myself.

In my presentation I outlined how I have engaged with the archetype of the boat in recent years, before discussing Do the Little Things, a global participatory postal project that I developed during the pandemic. The artwork sought to animate threads of human connection at a time when relationships were painfully compromised by social distancing, travel bans and the limitations of screen-based communication. Lastly I explored how art practice can generate hope through fostering human connection, highlighting our interdependence and inspiring us to be emotionally present to each other.  I ended with the words of Clarissa Pinkola Estes which, although written 20 years ago, seem so apt for our times; 

“One of the most calming and powerful actions you can do to intervene in a stormy world is to stand up and show your soul. Soul on deck shines like gold in dark times. The light of the soul throws sparks, can send up flares, builds signal fires … causes proper matters to catch fire. To display the lantern of soul in shadowy times like these — to be fierce and to
show mercy toward others, both — are acts of immense bravery and greatest necessity.”

Gillian Lever

Studio Practice

I am loving this time of year. The light has been beautiful in May and I have been very active in the studio. The garden is always an inspiration, the the flowers are singing. I am excited to be developing some new paintings for exhibitions later in the year. More news to follow.