Original artwork description:

‘PANGAEA – Zimbabwe ’ is an acrylic painting '102 x 77 cms' on canvas. The painting is one of a pair of paintings made in response to a music performance of the same name. The music suite was made in two parts, “Zimbabwe” and “Gondwana”. The music was made, composed and performed by Miles Davis as the companion performance to ‘Agharta’. Both music pieces were performed on the same date in 1975. At this time Miles was unwell and Agharta and Pangaea were his parting statements preceding a five year retirement. Both titles are names given to vast pre-continental land masses in the age before Africa and the Americas drifted apart. ‘Pangaea’ is the ancient supercontinent, comprising all the present continents joined together, which began to break up about 200 million years ago. Without going into too much detail this music was still ‘jazz’ , in the sense that the music and the philosophy behind it prized a technically grounded exploration, a need to investigate the possibilities of the chords and the beats and the sound-space and try to take it somewhere new. This is what all the great improvisers have always been trying to do, when you break it down to its essence. ‘Pangaea’ is frantic, it’s exploratory, it tests the boundaries of electric music. Alongside ‘Agharta’ , ‘Pangaea’ set the template for ‘improvisation’ and ‘expression’. This musical suite is the inspiration behind the painting. My current work is all about visual improvisation and abstraction, although the sources and references are taken from experience and memory. Translating the colour, texture and structure of the music has been a joy and a wonderfully satisfying experience. Listening to the recording before and during making the work helped to direct the pace , mood, colour and composition of the painting. In this respect every brushstroke, every smear, every drag , every splash is instinctive.
The painting is presented on a deep canvas stretcher (4.5 cms) with steel corner braces.
The painting is shipped in a robust custom made cardboard crate (same as those used to transport large screens). The painting is bubble wrapped to protect the canvas. Further wrapping is made with corrugated card. A wooden frame is placed inside the cardboard crate to preserve the structural strength of the packaging. Each painting is insured to its sale value. Shipping costs within the U.K. take into consideration weight and insurance. U.K. shipping costs for this artwork are £80

Materials used:

Acrylic paint and dyes on canvas