The Olive Network Exhibition was scheduled to take place at Tremenheere Sculpture Gardens this summer, but was postponed due to Covid-19 and is now live online to coincide with the launch of the Olive Network. Within the website you will find paintings contributed by international artists, music, films and stories drawn from the curated stories on the Olive Network (ON). Our aim is to connect positive change makers by tilting society’s lens to the progressive long term thinking of charities, the arts, science and humanities (alongside creating forums engaging in deliberative democracy).
The exhibition was to be a physical interpretation of the online ON project - a fountain, an olive tree, an exhibition of paintings, a wall size digital display telling stories and an interactive world map. There were to be talks and symposia illustrating how we hope to be a part of the progressive change enabled by the internet, acknowledging the good things people are doing and connecting positive change makers on a global scale built on the foundations of the compassion of the centuries.
When ON invited the artists to exhibit we loosely outlined a plot, hoping that they would submit works that were significant to the ethos of ON. It turns out that a theme has emerged; from Lisa Wright’s Blossom Keeper to Nicola Bealing’s Boy with a Burning Heart, from Gordon Ellis Brown’s XV11 (Space) to Hugh Mendes’ Don’t Forget Earth and Jesse Leroy Smith’s Great Editor in the Sky, all are suggesting we look at our home in a different way. And with a passion for the finite beauty that is life.
The olive tree can live for over 2,000 years and still bear fruit. It can provide light, shelter, food, fuel and healing. For thousands of years, the olive tree has served as a symbol of peace and unity.
We believe the Olive Network is an inclusive democratic network fit for progressive change in the 21st century.
ARTIST STATEMENTS
ON reflects a sea change in how we perceive global interconnection and provides the ideal platform to share initiatives happening globally that will inspire investment in our environments. JESSE LEROY SMITH
‘PEACE’ is a painting which seems to chime with the Olive Network. It speaks of the vulnerability of youth and the future of our climate in the hands of the next generation. LISA WRIGHT
For this exhibition and in support of the Olive Network, I am showing 'Wallinger/Banksy' a painting of Mark Wallinger's recreation in Tate Britain of Brian Haw's protest encampment outside Parliament, as represented in 'The Guardian' newspaper. Also a print which quotes the Pope on the occasion of the first man on the moon... 'Dont Forget Earth'! This in a way was the beginning of the ecology movement. HUGH MENDES
I value the environment, I am concerned about how this period of dominant geological Anthropocene is destroying the planet. In these difficult times the Olive Network creates a platform for individuals and groups - emphasising solutions rather than news feeds of negative passivity. MARK SURRIDGE
Ring ‘O Roses represents the fragility of life and the need for individuals to stand together in order to move forward. The title, seemingly innocent and taken from the nursery rhyme, harks back to childhood and hints at a darker threat. These children should be seen as individuals, but by placing them next to each other reaching out across the divide, I want you to see their struggle to connect. SHELLY TREGONING
My work raises questions about environmental sustainability, juxtaposing ancient and modern cultural signifiers to ask how we might reverse the devastating impacts of modernity and globalisation to preserve our precious natural resources. GORDON ELLIS BROWN
Boy with a burning heart. An unheroic being is aflame with unnamed passion. It gives him wings to take on the world. NICOLA BEALING
Monolith is an oil study from a small series of works discussing ideas around the subjects of ‘Ecology’ and ‘Social Networks’. The series looks at Standing Stones across the UK as the original conduits or devices of social networks – an attempt by the Druids to bring social cohesion. Each stone is a symbolic marker to an individual tribe and the cycle of nature. The unsustainable use of our current devices whilst bringing us ‘together’, threatens the ecological balance; the mining, manufacturing of raw materials and processing capabilities are destroying the environment. ADAM DIX
The drawings were made in 2019 when planning “Holding Breath” - a large scale installation for Tremenheere sculpture park in Cornwall. Similarly to the sculpture, the drawings become about a place where an object exists in a state of transition and experiences a seismic shift. This shift creates new gestures, vistas and space in-between. In relation to this, the Olive Network talks about our connection to the Earth and some of these shifts directly relate to socio-political and economic issues. AMY and OLIVER THOMAS IRVINE
To visit the website – http://www.olivenetwork.space - artists works are available for purchase.
For further information contact: [email protected] +44 (0)1326 240517