Professor Ian Howard, who holds a personal chair in fine art, will be holding his inaugural exhibition from 17 April-16 May. The exhibition will consist of recent paintings, prints and other works.
Ian Howard says: ‘The works in this exhibition explore the theme of ideas in opposition: orthodoxy and heresy, magic and reason, order and disorder. The ‘opposition is found in both the imagery and the form of the works. On one hand the compositions are frontal, symmetrical, diagrammatic and describe clear unequivocal designs which reflect the structure of the altar piece, the emblem, the icon and the banner. On the other hand these simple designs often act as ‘containers’ for a complexity of small scale imagery, at ties existing within other more tangible containers: glass domes, alchemical vessels, receptacles and recessed areas. These recall not only the ex-voto, the reliquary, the instruments of ritual and experimentation, but also house other self contained worlds which are often in opposition to the larger image.
The image includes archetypal symbols: the cross, the rose, the chalice and the urn, as well as quotations from medieval, Renaissance and 20th century art and science. There are metaphysical symbols and references to the Hermetic, particularly the work of Giordano Bruno, but also to Fludd, Dee and others. These appropriations are juxtaposed, layered and repeated, creating an infinite series of historical and future meanings. This layering of meaning is often mirrored by the physical layering in the work; the surface image revealing traces of others below.
There will be two associated publications; Heretical Diagrams, which interprets the prints in the exhibition, and Emblemata, which accompanies the paintings and other works.

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