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"Ancient Greece has captured my imagination since I was a kid growing up in English suburbia," writes British artist and designer Luke Edward Hall. As he prepares to unveil a new exhibition of works at the Old School of Chora on the Greek island of Patmos, Luke shares his process and inspirations.
BY LUKE EDWARD HALL | HAPPENINGS | 8 AUGUST 2024
Luke Edward Hall, TO THE MONASTERY, 2024; watercolor on paper © the artist; Courtesy The Breeder, Athens
It's early August and I'm about to embark on my first trip to Patmos; I'll return later in the month for my exhibition with The Breeder at the Old School of Chora. I've spent time in Athens and on Hydra, but for this body of work, which takes its inspiration from Patmos, I tried my best to get under the skin of the island using only my imagination.
While making these new drawings I did my research, which helped me build an imaginary picture of the island. The Monastery of St. John the Theologian was my first port of call. Some of the most precious artefacts of the Byzantine and post-Byzantine period are exhibited there. These include documents, manuscripts and incunabula, icons and ecclesiastical silver, ecclesiastical objects vestments and furniture, jewels and votives. Luckily many images of these can be found online.
Patmos, of course, is widely considered the most spiritual island of Greece. I have painted saints and archangels alongside fishermen, swimmers and mythological figures. Twilight island street scenes sit next to drawings of sun-bleached coves; the legendary poet Orpheus plays his flute in the shade of an ancient olive tree. I always work in this way, mixing the everyday and commonplace with the mythical. This juxtaposition is exactly what appeals to me about places like Patmos – this combination of natural earthiness with something higher, holier, perhaps even magical.
The title of the show, I Walk Over the Mountains and the Waves, is taken from Shelley’s Hymn of Apollo. Apollo is linked with Patmos – legend says that the island sunk into the sea and that Artemis, with the help of Apollo, managed to persuade Zeus to bring the island back to the surface. I am a big fan of the English Romantic poets and their focus on nature and the imagination. (Plus, of course, the Romantic poets loved classical Greece.) Shelley’s Hymn of Apollo is remarkably intense; it shimmers with light. This particular line jumped out at me – I loved its simplicity, its boldness, and its linking of the landscape with the ever-present island-surrounding sea.
All artworks by Luke Edward Hall © the artist; Courtesy The Breeder, Athens
I spent time playing around with different titles for the show but I kept coming back to this line. It feels like an affirmation. I loved delving into the island's mythology: its original name was Letois, after Artemis, the goddess and huntress of deer, daughter of Leto. It's believed that Patmos came into existence through her divine intervention. And so it feels only fitting that in this set of drawings various gods and mythical figures pop up among my Patmos horses and wildflowers.
Ancient Greece has captured my imagination since I was a kid growing up in English suburbia. Those stories of mythological creatures and heroic quests and epic tales of love and death set against a backdrop of scorched islands and glistening blue seas – this whole universe seemed unimaginable, and certainly out of my reach. What I loved, however, was losing myself in books – not quite as good as the real thing, but almost.
I’ve really enjoyed creating work inspired by a place that, until I arrived on Patmos for the first time last week, has existed only in my imagination. There has been a pureness about the research and the process. Whilst drawing, many tales I have heard from friends who have visited the island were dancing around my head and mixing with myths and legends, religious stories and imagined pictures – a curious melting pot which left me feeling wonderfully free. Luke Edward Hall
Luke Edward Hall AFTERNOON COVE, 2024 watercolor on paper © the artist; Courtesy The Breeder, Athens
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Luke's exhibition, I Walk Over the Mountains and the Waves, opens at 8pm on Thursday 22 August 2024 and runs until 30 August 2024 at the Old School of Chora, Patmos.
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