Spirituality is a fascinating aspect of de Freston’s work that challenges
the viewer in its different and often puzzling recurrence. There is
in his work an intense dichotomy between the glorious and noble
ethereal heroes floating or falling and their almost immediate de-dramatisation
through subtle statements on the futility of their positions. De Freston’s
pathetic characters fall into the oblivion of perdition, with a sense of drama
that fascinates for its inherent irony. Icarus falls, quite literally, from undeserved
light to the unknown and fearsome realm of darkness. A similarly stately but
staged –and thus questionable- pathos, is proposed by his swimming figures,
that aimlessly move in a state and element which is not their own.
I would define spirituality in de Freston’s work as incarnated in those characters
and contexts that express otherwordly experience. Icarus is a splendid example
of this structural and figurative displacement. Characters exist in a time
frame and spatial framework completely devoid of reference, which ensures
that they appear decontextualised both in terms of their own persona and their
surroundings.
In much of de Freston’s work spirituality has a most definite form that,
although questioning the very spirituality that engenders it, could be considered
as both an independent form either in its own, as is the case in the series
of swimmers and floaters, or as an element intervening in pieces that have a
different thematic focus. This presence functions at several levels; it forms the
‘noble heroic’ perception that fuels heroes such as David no Goliath or in other
instances challenges the very existential purpose of delicately characterised actors.
For indeed de Freston offers unresolved dramas where the very premise of
the characters-apparent is challenged at many levels, starting with the complete
de-dramatisation provided by red socks and boxers.
As a form within de Freston’s opus, spirituality has a generously defined
context, aura and gestural expression. The characters in Swimmer and Swimmer
II are caught – almost suspended – in an instant, both chronologically and spatially.
The moment caught on canvas turns to a parallel reality where the act of
falling is the essence of the characterisation, imposing a position, gesture and
motion that returns to the very act and essence of falling, swimming or floating.
This causes a thematic -and both physical and metaphysical- circle that
by returning to the fall/floating/swimming offers reflection on the significance
and futility of the entire exercise. Indeed the swimmers and fallers prompt
reflection, thought and most of all a re-examination of the actors on the canvas
and, of course, of our own inner self.
This discourse between the fictional faller inviting reflection on his plight
and the observer’s reflection on his own, constant, fall through reality is one
of the most challenging and powerful aspects of de Freston’s work. Between
the almost evanescent The Faller and the spectator, a relationship is established
that is almost voyeuristic in nature. Although the breach-of-intimacy effect is
powerful, it becomes voyeuristic when we are allowed into the intimacy of the
room in A Lover’s Discourse, and when we look at the ravishing, almost life-size
Diana in History Painting, where the infernal swarm of characters does not
seem to be aware of our intimate relationship with her. She herself, though,
seems highly aware of it.
This aspect of spirituality in de Freston’s work is solemn, powerful, noble and
possesses a clearly depicted sense of heroism, The fallers are magnifications of
human nature in their epic poses and contexts. In David No Goliath there is
a magnificent theatricality – another constant in de Freston’s work – that because
of the solemn pose, the perspective and the staged setting works because
David is imbued with a spiritually satisfying righteousness.
De Freston, however, also destroys the solemnity of his heroic characters
with brutal expediency based on detail that leaves spirituality in a position that
challenges their sense of purpose. In David No Goliath and other pieces, this
is done through the red socks and boxers, but often the relief from drama is
provided by a perversion of the leading thematic conceptuality. For instance
the solemnity of the fall seen in Icarus or Deposition II is completely undermined
in Him Who Wanted To Fall by his awkward position that reflects the
clearly pathetic nature of the character as well as his now undermined sense of
purpose.
The only pieces where spirituality is unchallenged and finds its most sophisticated
expression are the large sketches for the Deposition project for Christ’s
College Chapel. These paintings (especially Deposition II), through a meticulous
application of glosses and bold but refined depiction, both in terms of
composition and execution, of the resuscitated flesh rising out of the darkness
achieve a dramatic movement and chiaroscuro-based power that de Freston
has, mercifully, left intact.
Spirituality thus not only lives as a form in de Freston’s work, but also finds a
persisting presence throughout most of his works. This presence is not restricted
to a unique topical presence, but rather, works at several levels. In Fast
Judgement, a cloud of falling figures stands in absolute opposition to the figure
on the left welcoming the spectator and the one dramatically kneeling at the
end of the yellow causeway. A dual challenge is posed to the spectator: falling
figures in a carefully staged comical drama that, curiously, leaves us more
sensitive. On the other hand, in an unfinished piece in his studio, small semitransparent
falling figures at the right side of the horizon provide a perplexing
spiritual recovery and relief from the allegorical and referential debauchery
that fills the rest of the painting.
The unquestionability of some of the absolutes of human nature; nobility,
power, tragedy, misfortune, death and joy are merged in a whole that, whilst
not offering any answers, challenges their intrinsic individual values.
De Freston’s bold strokes in The Last of the Seducer reveal a brutal dichotomy
of vividly human drama and comedy. If art is the exploration of humanity at
its best, worst and most intimate, then Tom de Freston is exploring human despair
for regeneration. To forget: the cleansing experience of renewal through
the decomposition of the stage and, of course, the free-fall of experience and
fear. The spirit is broken through tragedy and the miserable fallacious leftovers
are abandoned in a carefully staged pathetic comedy. Reflection on the self is
the only path to salvation as the spirit is reflected in tragicomic fallacy within a
cycle that eventually reveals itself to be dystopian.

Pablo de Gandía’s current research explores the relationship he defines
as ‘sponsorship’ in International Relations. His PhD research will apply the
model of sponsorship to conflicts such as that in the Western Sahara. Pablo
has been heavily involved in a number of art exhibitions and has written
several texts for publication in Europe and the UK.