Land of Chalk 4, by Matthew Radford. The original was featured in the TV series Succession.

Radford’s show Succession draws on popular TV series

HOT’s Judy Parkinson followed up her obsession with Succession with artist Matthew Radford whose new exhibition opens at the Baker Mamonova Gallery on Saturday 19 August.

Succession, Matthew Radford’s solo show curated by Russell Baker at the Baker Mamonova gallery, is named after the landmark television series that plots the dynastic battles of the Roy siblings as they fight and fantasise about who will succeed their father, Logan Roy, toxic patriarch of mega media company Waystar RoyCo, in which Radford’s painting, Land of Chalk, appears.

Like the locations and the costumes, art plays an important role in the drama. While none of the self-centred characters are interested in the artworks aesthetically, the art has everything to do with power and monetary value. Logan has a cache of old masters hidden in vaults – guaranteed investments. The kids gather modern, edgy pieces to show off their ultra-styled homes and offices.

Land of Chalk is the backdrop in an office scene in series 2, episode 7, showing  Roman Roy, played by Kieran Culkin, lounging, feet on the desk, in conversational battle with his sister Shiv, played by Sarah Snook. The piece was transported to Edinburgh, which stands in as London, for filming.

According to Radford, “The paintings in this series represent the genesis of an idea about linking lots of people together – creating a web or network of human community. I don’t want to see just one figure singled out, but how we all connect. I think about the democracy of the paint surface where no one person has greater importance…it seems to be going very poorly at the moment.”

That’s not quite how the shallow Roy siblings operate; their manipulations and making and breaking of allegiances never result in a coming together. Even if Roman and Shiv realise what Radford is trying to say they wouldn’t care anyway, because the work looks the part. “A couple of years after broadcast it was bought by an American collector, and it now lives in Carmel, California,” Radford tells me.

Fighting Men, which appears in the film Journeyman.

Radford’s work has appeared in other productions, including the television satire The Thick of It on BBC Four and the film Journeyman starring Paddy Considine as a champion boxer. Fighting Men, which appears in the film, is included in the current show. Although boxing is about conflict, a running theme in Succession, it is a communal sport that brings boys and men together with strict rules, to vent pent-up energy.

“I had a studio in a boxing club in Deptford, above a pub The Lord Clyde, commonly known as the Jekyll and Hyde,” remembers Radford. “The boxing club was in a room above the pub, and I spent six months there in amongst the boxers. After resisting closure, it is now a gay cruising pub. That’s a different kind of energy!”

Russell Baker, curator and gallery owner, inspired Radford to create the show. “Radford is a serious painter making serious work,” states Baker. “There will be a mix of large and small works, including some previously hidden gems.” The pair are making a large-scale, limited-edition print of a new bold drawing specially for the show. “It’s a very exciting process, not without its risks, using a caustic etch on lino,” Baker told me.

This new print will complement an exhibition replete with power and aesthetic value. The Roys should be on the guest list.

Matthew Radford: Succession

Baker Mamonova Gallery, Kino-Teatr, 43-49 Norman Road, St Leonards-on-Sea TN38 0EG. 19 August to 19 October. Open Wed to Sat, 12.00 to 22.30, Sundays 11.30 to 16.00.

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