From Africa to Iceland - A Visual Celtic Voyage

Fri, 04 Apr 08 09:47:00

 

From Africa to Iceland is a new exhibition of artist John Rogers’ journey exploring the Atlantic coast in search of beauty in nature and wilderness. From Morocco to Galicia, Brittany, Cornwall, Wales, Ireland, the Hebrides and right up to Iceland, the paintings represent many areas and countries on the Celtic sea road. The exhibition opened on 5 April 2008 at The National Library of Wales in Aberystwyth – an institution which houses thousands of important Welsh and Celtic manuscripts and publications.

 

Produced during the period 1983 to the present the exhibition is also a study of the way people relate to their landscape through custom, vernacular architecture, language and work, and the ways in which these are linked beyond the national boundaries which now exist.

 

To begin this Celtic journey John Rogers sailed a small open boat, single-handed, from his home in Pembrokeshire across to Ireland in the wake of those who for millennia sailed to maraud, trade or settle along these shores. Subsequently, his voyages became all the more exotic and adventurous, and these stunning paintings tell the story of his exploration of those lands, near and far. St Davids in Rogers’ Pembrokeshire, is Britain’s smallest city and the heart of the Welsh church. Founded by the patron saint the location was chosen for its centrality on the sea-faring highways linking the Celtic-speaking lands during the 5th, 6th and 7th centuries, the period known as the Dark Ages across Europe but as ‘Oes y Seintiau’ – the Age of the Saints in Welsh.

During his travels in Morocco John was involved in a night fight between camels and hyena and was held prisoner, and in Picas de Europas in Spain he walked among bears, wolves and wild boar.

 

Ultimately, this lavish exhibition of oil paintings is a search not only for the elemental character of the places John Rogers visited, but also for the less tangible essential spirit that identifies them as Celtic. The exhibition accompanies a book of the same title published by Gomer Press of Llandysul.

 

From Africa to Iceland – John Rogers

 

The National Library of Wales, Aberystwyth

5 April – 31 May 2008

 

 

For More Information and Images:

 

• Medi Jones, NLW Press Office: 01970 632 534  lmj@llgc.org.uk 
• John Rogers website
• Gomer Press