Menu
Hastings & St. Leonards on-line community newspaper

A striking show at the Arts Forum called “Pros and Cons”, both amply represented in Bob Farquhar’s extraordinary and personally experienced prison and street-life images. The expressionist lineage traces back to Kokoschka via Bob’s teacher Christine Berg. It was a moving and privileged experience to join Bob Farquhar (left, with Rod Harman) when he came to talk about his life and work at the Arts Forum, where he is showing a series of new works entitled Pros and Cons. His life as a con began as a “wild gypsy boy” sent for taming to the Scrubs and Borstal, followed by half an adult lifetime struggling for selfhood, first against the prison system and later against the Bond Street galleries that tried to turn his formidable talent into a commodity. We entered the presence of a rare combination of raw, intense emotion (close to tears when talking of his first sight, at 14, of a Cezanne image) and intellectual precision on themes of solitariness and the comradeship of the oppressed, music as a force in his own symphonies in greys, and the struggle between the influence of knowledge and the need to be oneself. (RL, July 2010)

If you’re enjoying HOT and would like us to continue providing fair and balanced reporting on local matters please consider making a donation. Click here to open our PayPal donation link. Thank you for your continued support!

Posted 19:38 Thursday, Jul 29, 2010 In: Visual Arts

Also in: Visual Arts

«
»
More HOT Stuff
  • SUPPORT HOT

    HOT is run by volunteers but has overheads for hosting and web development. Support HOT!

    ADVERTISING

    Advertise your business or your event on HOT for as little as £20 per month
    Find out more…

    DONATING

    If you like HOT and want to keep it sustainable, please Donate via PayPal, it’s easy!

    VOLUNTEERING

    Do you want to write, proofread, edit listings or help sell advertising? then contact us

    SUBSCRIBE

    Get our regular digest emails

  • Subscribe to HOT