Greg Rook British, b. 1971
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OverviewI am fascinated by the distinct and remarkable forms of utopian social concepts from the past, which offered equal status and responsibility and a real alternative to the contemporary society: the 1970s hippy communes in the western United States, the English communitarian 'digger' projects'; and the Soviet social experiment.GREG IS AN MA GRADUATE OF GOLDSMITHS COLLEGE, UNIVERSITY OF LONDON
His work explores particular social experiments, which, for better or worse, are now usually considered to be over and discredited. They are concerned with the disillusioned who choose alternative lifestyles over the mainstream—honyockers, preppers, hippies and end-of-the-worlders; all attracted by the promise of a different paradise. Using romanticised and halcyon imagery, it seems impossible for the viewer to believe that the endeavours of these collectives could be vilified or end in failure.
He is interested in the motivation behind these lifestyles (whether they were born more from optimism or pessimism), the reasons for their failure and their relevance as contemporary potential futures. The drawn paint represents the last possible scratching out of hopes and aspirations when all else around us falls away… the brush and pigment and liquid line as capable of delineating form and possibility. As the characters dig and toil, the painted line attempts to draw back through Daumier, Van Gogh and Turner through technicolour tinting to a past potential future.
In 2019, a substantial mid-career survey of the artist’s work was staged by Vento & Associati at the Fabbrica del Vapore in Milan.
Prices for work from £1,500. -
Works
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Morning With Plough, 2013-19
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Michael, 2012-19
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A Lot of What I'm About to Tell You is Made Up, 2013-19
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Corn Dolly, 2019
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Honeyockers, 2013-19
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Virginia Bourne, 2016-19
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The Cornfield, 2012
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Fear and Possibility, 2011
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Jesus has Left the Building, 2011
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The Head, 2010
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Tack Room, 2009
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And this too Shall Pass Away (10), 2009
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Dead Sea Fruit, 2008
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Where the Wind Blows, 2008
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the Ne'er-do-well's, 2007
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Land Grab, 2007
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Cult, 2006
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Essay by Matt Price
The Practice of Greg RookFor many people, the idea of leaving home and starting a new life somewhere else can be a dream. Some make that ambition a reality, uprooting their lives and venturing to faraway places. People might leave home because they are seeking their fortune or a better life; they might be looking to avoid persecution or worse. Leaving home is not, however, always a question of wanting or needing to live somewhere different - it might equally be a matter of choosing to live life differently, of people wanting to change their daily existence in profound or fundamental ways, and perhaps, in the process, to change themselves or society itself. The practice of British artist Greg Rook invites us to consider a complex and compelling array of ideas relating to the themes of emigration, exodus and exile, about how people transform their lives or establish entirely new ones, and especially, how people across time, geographies, cultures, ideologies and contexts have tried, and continue, to explore alternative ways of living.
Matt Price, contemporary art publisher, editor and curator -