The relationship between landscape, art and language is explored in the first full-scale solo exhibition by a Winchester academic.
In The Eye Of The Blackbird showcases a range of landscape paintings by Mark Rutter, Senior Lecturer in Creative Writing.
Inspired by a love of the natural world and a fascination with the visual forms of letters, Rutter's paintings express an original vision of the New Forest and the woods and coast of Maine. Inspired by William Blake and David Jones, yet touched also by the palette of pop-culture, Rutter's paintings are by turns beautiful and strange, and aim to alter the viewer's perception of world and words.
"As an artist, I aim to reawaken a sense of the power and mystery of nature, to inspire a fresh awareness of its importance, while at the same time inviting the viewer to dwell upon the relation between landscape, word, and image," said Dr Rutter.
Dr Rutter is a self-taught painter, having taken up the art form in 2005 after being struck by the colours and structural forms of the trees and heaths of the New Forest. He also draws inspiration from the woods and coast of Maine, his former home. He has a fascination with the shapes and forms of letters, which is reflected in his numerous visual poems and painted inscriptions. His artistic works have previously been displayed in exhibitions in sites across the US.
Dr Rutter teaches Writing and the Environment, Writing Comics and Graphic Novels, Science Fictions and Fantasies, and Poetry Now modules as part of the Creative Writing programmes at the University of Winchester. He is also a widely published poet and his poems have appeared in magazines and anthologies throughout the English-speaking world. His latest poetry collection is Basho In Acadia (Flarestack Poets).
In The Eye Of The Blackbird will be exhibited from 3 November until 15 December in the University of Winchester Link Gallery, West Downs Centre, Romsey Road, Winchester SO22 5HT. The exhibition is free and open to the public weekdays 9am-6pm and Saturdays 10am-4pm.
See full opening times and find out more about the exhibition by visiting our Link Gallery page.