VJB Arts and Long & Ryle are pleased to be showing new work by John Monks at 60 Threadneedle Street. Follow this link to watch our film on John Monks’ work. Follow this link to watch our film on John Monks’ work.

‘In my life painting serves a dual purpose. It is my career but also my daily preoccupation and my way of engaging with the world around me.

The starting point for a work can be a very minor incident such as glimpsing a reflection of a room in a night time window. This subconscious prompt then takes on a life of its own and develops into an image that mirrors life but is in fact an invented reality.

A painting is, in some ways, never really finished. Rather it reaches a point were the original concept has more or less successfully been reached. This then provides the stimulus to create a new work building on the experience of its predecessor.

Every painting I make has for me, its own meanings and points of reference, however, rather than elaborate these, I think a work of art succeeds when the input of the artist is strong enough to allow the viewer to connect with it and form a narrative from their own experiences.’ \John Monks\