Description:
Simon Lewty
The Men Who Lie In The Road, 1991
Ink and acrylic on tissue paper
2200mm x 1070mm
Simon Lewty lives and works in Leamington Spa. The Men Who Lie In The Road was inspired by the village of Old Milverton two miles north of Leamington Spa, which Lewty has described as marginal land, neither town nor country. In Lewty's painting recognisable areas such as barn, wall and field have been overlaid with text and inhabited by curious humanoid figures. These figures were inspired by the discarded remains of root vegetables Lewty saw strewn across the fields after the harvesting 'like figures in a battlefield'. The diagrams and text are reminiscent of ancient maps and manuscripts, their meaning at once obscure and tantalising. In an interview given in 1984 Lewty noted that the writing was as complex as the imagery, but suggested that it also had a practical purpose, saying 'I do hope people will read the writing in the pictures. It draws you in closer than you would normally get'.
© Simon Lewty