Author: Rachael Brooks
The Orientalist: Trevor Jessop
Thursday, 21st August, 2008 at 10:49 am, Isle of Wight
| 7, August 2008 | to | 8, September 2008 |
Trevor Jessop, inspired by his travels in the middle east and study of Islamic art, has produced a body of work exploring his fascination with the region and its culture.
This exhibition at Quay Arts of oil on canvas paintings endeavours to capture the light, colour and essence of a way of life in the spirit of the 19th century Orientalists.
Background
Trevor Jessop, born in London in 1950, has lived on the Isle of Wight since 1995. His work reflects both his passion for travel and the environment.
He studied art at Shenfield College in the late 80’s, but is mainly self-taught and has concentrated in recent years on oil painting and pen and ink drawing, including portraits and landscapes.
He delights in experimenting with brush and palette knife and his influences are many.
He has work displayed on the Saatchi Gallery and at Isle of Wight Art.
In the early nineteenth century, Eugene Delacroix, David Roberts, Leon Belly and Jean-Leon Gerome were captivated by the sights encountered during journeys up the Nile, into the hitherto unexplored Maghreb or on the Arabian peninsula.
They marvelled at the architecture, were fascinated by the different peoples and their dress and, as artists, were often exhilarated by the luminous quality of light.
They captured their experiences on canvas, and the images they and many artists after them produced, became known as Oriental Art.
Oriental Art is characterized by its focus on a fascination with a region rather than a movement or style. Trevor, like the early Orientalists, has travelled in Egypt, Jordan, Tunisia and Morocco for ideas and subjects for his exhibition. Inspirational figures such as Sir Richard Burton and T. E. Lawrence, and books such as ‘Art of Islam’ – T. Burckhardt, ‘Palace and Mosque’ – T. Stanley, and ‘Geometric Concepts in Islamic Art’ – Issam El Said, have expanded his knowledge of and interest in the Arab world.
The major influence and spark to produce this body of work came from an exhibition “The Orientalists – Delacroix to Matisse” at The Royal Academy in 1984.
More recently, a visit to the Jameel Gallery of Islamic Art at the Victoria & Albert Museum, and a trip to Essaouira in Morocco in 2007, gave further inspiration and new direction to the work.
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