Review by Emma Hogan of ‘Between Somewhere and Nowhere’
Published in ‘Varsity’- October 2008http://www.varsity.co.uk/archive/679.pdf
*****
Tucked amongst the busts and reclining classical figures in the Sidgwick Museum of Classical Archaeology lies an exhibition of Tom de Freston’s extensive work. De Freston has been awarded the 2008-2009 Christ’s College Levy Plumb visual arts scholarship, and is not only talented but extraordinarily prolific. From scraps of paper and backs of envelopes in a display folder to his large oil paintings, Between Somewhere + Nowhere shows not only his finished pieces but also the work leading up to them, and is an exhibition all the more exciting for it.
De Freston obsessively experiments with the human form, cavorting it across the canvas, bodies twisting in distress or leaping into water. His paintings echo or question the work of Francis Bacon, and he sets his figures in similar areas of confinement.Similarly, displayed amongst the permanent collection in the Classics Faculty, his paintings, drawings and sketches crumple the heroic status of the classical statues lying around them, making it more than just an exhibition of paintings, but instead a dialogue, a response.Yet perhaps the sheer volume of work on display is somewhat overwhelming, and this exhibition will need to be seen again.
Alongside large-scale paintings such as the stunning ‘Swimmer of Lethe’ series, where a series of male bodies leaping into water are conveyed through silhouettes painted in oils and washed over with gloss, making the canvas sparkle as though actually wet, are smaller works.De Freston’s sketches are intimate and well-worth seeking out amidst the larger, darker pieces on display. From rows of old men huddled in a line to a man walking a dog on a beach, these pieces seem to capture life in snatched moments, and are a counter to the occasionally oppressive brilliance of his painted work. Yet even these small sketches can pack a punch – one in particular, entitled ‘To the entombment’ haunted me afterwards with its three figures lugging an indistinguishable person or thing into a building.
Looking at the titles of his work such as ‘After the Bacchanal’ and ‘Icarus’, it is apposite that De Freston has been placed in the Classics Faculty – and at times, illuminating, as when the curved reclining gure of ‘Danae IV’ echoes that of the statue of the Son of Niobe underneath it. Yet though such flickering shadows occur in De Freston’s work, his style and force is ultimately his own.