BEN OKRI & ROSEMARY CLUNIE: THE MAGIC LAMP
Abergavenny Museum
Until Sun 2 Sept
The result of a 15-year collaboration, author Ben Okri and artist Rosemary Clunie created The Magic Lamp, a book weaving together 25 ethereal short stories together Clunie’s dreamlike artwork to create a piece masked insight into a deeper reflection of our world.
Awarded the Booker Prize for his well-known book The Famished Road, Okri’s work frequently centres on struggle. Through a disguised narrative of a mystical world, Okri has repeatedly used his work as a commentary on social corruption and issues usually centred in Nigeria, his country of birth.
Always experimenting, Clunie enacts a peculiar dance throughout her artwork to combine the real world with a world spun from her imagination and inspiring ours. To those who listen, her playful work is often laced with disguised commentary.
For over 20 years, Clunie has drawn inspiration from Okri’s work; this time, however, the paintings came first. The exploration of an interchangeable reality was ‘birthed’ from Clunie’s artwork. Her practise of weaving together vivid colours and textures together to create a mystical world has acted as the basis for Okri’s moral-bound narratives. Running until September, the exhibition showcases 15 of Clunie’s paintings along with excerpts from Okri’s corresponding stories.
Admission: free. Info: 01873 854282 / www.abergavennymuseum.co.uk (ED)