Two monotypes by Chris Gollon from his ‘Traveller’ series (made by the artist at Glasgow Print Studio in 1996) have been included by Messums, Cork St, in their first exhibition in 2025. To view the full exhibition, click: Messums
This group exhibition at Messums London presents a collection of works that display a remarkable variety of approaches to monotyping, ranging in size, subject matter and practice, as well as showcasing the individual creative language of each of the artists in the exhibition, bringing together an exciting group of contemporary artists whose diverse practices are linked by their exploration of this medium.
Chris Gollon (1953 -2017) produced his ‘Traveller’ series of monotypes at the Glasgow Print Studio in 1996. It was his first time in a print studio, and although he had been invited there primarily to make etchings, it was monotype making that he took to most naturally. This was perhaps because he was used to working at speed, since he preferred painting in acrylic, which dries very quickly. Unlike making etchings, where resins are periodically applied to protect areas before the metal plate is placed in an acid bath; monotypes are made quickly, simply by removing ink from an unetched plate. Chris Gollon returned to making monotypes in 2001 (Peacock Print Studio), 2007 and 2010 (Goldmark Atelier), and would often import monotype printmaking techniques back in to his painting, which art historian Tamsin Pickeral describes well in her biography of the artist ‘Humanity in Art’ (2010), endorsed by Bill Bryson OBE.
From 1995 – 1997, Chris Gollon produced his first great series of paintings on a single theme, the ‘Road to Narragonia’ series. Albeit in a very modern and original way, art historian Mary Rose Beaumont saw Gollon as being in the great Northern European tradition dating from Bosch to Beckmann, which sees folly as the greatest weakness of the human condition. Sebastian Brandt’s poem ‘The Ship of Fools’ (1594), saw human society as a ship, sailed and navigated by fools, attempting to find Narragonia (The Fools’ Paradise), but all being too stupid to get there. The poem inspired Hieronymous Bosch’s famous painting ‘The Ship of Fools’. However, Chris Gollon decided to place his Fools on a road, since he enjoyed ‘Highway ’61 Revisited’ and the sense of travelling that Bob Dylan creates. Mary Rose Beaumont also notes that although Gollon’s fools are often in trouble of their own making, or lost in erroneous thought, they may also be loved. Although not officially part of the ‘Road to Narragonia’ series, this ‘Traveller’ series of monotypes are contemporaneous, and seem to reflect it perfectly.
Both Traveller monotypes also feature in FIREWALL, an original work of art music and film, combining a moving collage of Chris Gollon’s imagery with the Sleaford Mods’ track ‘Firewall’, first screened in the museum retrospective of his music-related works, CHRIS GOLLON: Beyond the Horizon at Huddersfield Art Gallery 12th Oct 2019 – 18th Jan 2020. Traveller (I) also has museum provenance, since it was included in the museum exhibition.