Arcadian Landscape – After Carlo Labruzzi

Whilst on residency in Rome I made a series of Indian ink on Fabriano paper drawings. This series of drawings stemmed from a love of Nicolas Poussin’s painting ‘Et in Arcadia ego’. The body of work is based on Arcadian landscape painting, landscapes created during the 17th and 18th century, which sought to illustrate an ideal landscape recalling Arcadia, a legendary place in ancient Greece known for its quiet pastoral beauty.

Throughout these centuries various painters made their own version of an Arcadian Landscape, generally whilst on the Grand Tour. I researched many different versions of an Arcadian Landscape painting by many painters and selected nine. From each separate painting I made my own version of the work, to a large extent mimicking every element in the painting in my drawing but also inserting various vignettes relating to rioting, conflict or socio political concerns in the frame.

Arcadian Landscape – After Carlo Labruzzi, illustrates the Disappeared, the victims of the Troubles whose bodies have not yet been found. The landscape itself is directly drawn from that of the Labruzzi painting but within the drawing a digger can be viewed left of the frame, and in the foreground a painted word reading ‘Bodies’ with an arrow pointing left can be viewed.