Many artists have been inspired by what many authoritative figures have called the “primitive” artwork of either contemporary or ancient cultures. Artists instinctively recognize the compelling strength and impact of these works. In an homage to the sophistication and skill of these ancient artists I worked on a series of paintings from 2019-2020 that were inspired by European Neolithic images, such as the one on the left..

The series questions the idea that art, and indeed the human race, are progressing such that whatever is created today is superior to what went before. It investigates the concept of an Avant Garde that rejects the misapprehensions of the past, brings art boldly into the present day and charts it’s path into the future. This concept is undermined by the work of European Neolithic artists that were creating images as subtle, evocative and strong as anything that has been created since.

Their art has a power that appears to come from total involvement of their minds, bodies and souls in their work. They were not, like contemporary Western artists, motivated by the imperative to create work for the market or personal gain. It seems that Neolithic art sprang from a deeply spiritual connection to nature and their culture. These qualities are often missing from the work of contemporary Western artists who lack a passionate, all-consuming belief in what they are doing.

Another fascinating aspect of European Neolithic art is that many of the themes that appear and re-appear in their work also appear in disparate and geographically distant cultures.This suggests that there are powerful images integral to human consciousness that can be used to create a connection to, and understanding of, the world.

Finally, the artwork of the Neolithic era in Europe is of interest to me because I am a descendant of Europeans. Though the lineage is convoluted, the influence of the images created by Neolithic artists inspired Egyptian artists, who in turn influenced Greek artists, who in turn influenced modern European artists, who set the contemporary visual arts on their current trajectory. But currently, that trajectory is often one of cool intellectualizing, in which artwork requires an explanatory page of curatorial interpretation for the viewer to get it. While the busy mind is everywhere omni-present in post-modern, post-post-modern and other modern schools, a sense of body & soul are lacking. And the death-grip of post-modernist academe encourages artists to eschew a passionate, all-consuming belief in what they are doing in favour of ironical detachment and cynicism.

Images from early human societies in what is now Western & Eastern Europe, often depicted figures incorporating human female and animal characteristics that are clearly supernatural and/or divine. Divinity at that time was not an exclusively human male attribute and these images ascribe divinity to non-humans as well as female humans.

The immediacy, power and beauty of Neolithic art and the arts of contemporary cultures that are still connected to body & soul are therefore an inspiration. This is why to be at the forefront of art may mean being in the Devant Garde rather than the Avant Garde.

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