The Upcoming
  • Culture
    • Art
    • Cinema
      • Movie reviews
      • Film festivals
    • Food & Drinks
      • News & Features
      • Restaurant & bar reviews
      • Interviews & Recipes
    • Literature
    • Music
      • Live music
    • Theatre
    • Shows & On demand
  • Fashion & Lifestyle
    • Accessories
    • Beauty
    • News & Features
    • Shopping & Trends
    • Tips & How-tos
    • Fashion weeks
  • What’s On
    • Art exhibitions
    • Theatre shows
  • Tickets
  • Join us
    • Editorial unit
    • Our writers
    • Join the team
    • Join the mailing list
    • Fund us
    • Contact us
  • Interviews
  • Competitions
  • Special events
    • Film festivals
      • Berlin
      • Tribeca
      • Cannes
      • Sundance London
      • Venice
      • London
      • Toronto
    • Fashion weeks
      • London Fashion Week
      • New York Fashion Week
      • Milan Fashion Week
      • Paris Fashion Week
      • Haute Couture
      • London Fashion Week Men’s
  • Facebook

  • Twitter

  • Instagram

  • YouTube

  • Tumblr

  • RSS


CultureArt

In the Name of the Fathers at the House of St. Barnabas

In the Name of the Fathers at the House of St. Barnabas | Exhibition review
6 July 2013
Francis Davies
Avatar
Francis Davies
6 July 2013

Patrick Morgan’s show at the House of St. Barnabas is an interesting and varied collection. It covers an impressive range of mediums, going beyond his notable Indian ink and watercolour illustrations and delving into sculpture and painting, among other efforts in creativity. He pulls them all off with surprisingly consistent quality.

The Indian ink and watercolour illustrations are clearly Patrick Morgan’s central output. They feature many figure studies and portraits that are executed with deftness and precision, with a recurrent running-ink motif tying them all together in an oddly jarring fashion. Spilling ink would usually be a mistake or the ruin of an illustration, but here it is carefully cultivated. Many of the people appear to be crying or bleeding, while others are tackled with more subtlety. The illustration of the many-handed Jean Cocteau features ink dripping from a pen onto a book, and his suit is leaking. The effect is employed in a fashion that lends otherwise skilled but fairly run-of-the-mill pieces a vaguely unsettling aspect with the suggestion that something is not quite right.

While many of the works have a forlorn quality to them, there are bursts of playfulness and abstraction, too: there are illustrations of ballerinas dancing amusingly in large African masks, comically offsetting the associations of grace and balance. Alongside these, there is a series of impressions of bow ties in terracotta and stoneware that contrast nicely with the rest of the works just by feeling slightly out of place and unexplained. There is also a series of good paintings featuring various women, in which he has captured texture very well. 

In the Name of the Fathers is a memorable and diverse exhibition; Patrick Morgan demonstrates an aptitude in many artistic forms. It’s worth taking a couple of full trips around the entire collection because it’s easy to miss some works when taking in others. There’s certainly a good amount of high quality and interesting content on display.

Verdict: ★★★★★

Francis Davies
Photos: Luna Ingrassia

In the Name of the Fathers is at the House of St. Barnabas until 5th August 2013, for further information visit here.

Related Items

More in Art

Rationalism on Set at Estorick Collection

★★★★★
Anna Souter
Read More

If all art is autobiographical, how should we approach it?

The editorial unit
Read More

ISelf Collection: Bumped Bodies at Whitechapel Gallery

★★★★★
Anna Souter
Read More

Monet and Architecture at the National Gallery

★★★★★
Daniel Amir
Read More

Must-see London exhibitions this April

Anna Souter
Read More

Joan Jonas – BMW Tate Live Exhibition: Ten Days Six Nights at the Tate

★★★★★
Catherine Sedgwick
Read More

Tacita Dean: Still Life at the National Gallery

★★★★★
Anna Souter
Read More

Tacita Dean: Portrait at the National Portrait Gallery

★★★★★
Anna Souter
Read More

Isle of Dogs exhibition in London: Explore Wes Anderson’s latest film’s sets

Euan Franklin
Read More
Scroll for more
Tap

Tickets

Theatre tickets

  • Popular

  • Latest

  • TOP PICKS

  • Project Gastronomía: How will Londoners eat in 2050? A symposium on gastronomy and multisensory design
    Food & Drinks
  • Clare Smyth crowned the World’s Best Female Chef 2018
    Food & Drinks
  • Tokio Myers at the Forum
    ★★★★★
    Live music
  • Sherlock Gnomes premiere: A chat with James McAvoy, his co-stars and the film’s creators
    Cinema
  • The Outsider: An interview with director Thomas Meadmore
    Cinema
  • The Phlebotomist at Hampstead Theatre
    ★★★★★
    Theatre
  • The Prudes at the Royal Court
    ★★★★★
    Theatre
  • Absolute Hell at the National Theatre
    ★★★★★
    Theatre
  • The Wound (Inxeba)
    ★★★★★
    Movie review
  • Clare Smyth crowned the World’s Best Female Chef 2018
    Food & Drinks
  • The Phlebotomist at Hampstead Theatre
    ★★★★★
    Theatre
  • The Prudes at the Royal Court
    ★★★★★
    Theatre
  • The Wound (Inxeba)
    ★★★★★
    Movie review
  • Strictly Ballroom at Piccadilly Theatre
    ★★★★★
    Theatre
  • The Writer at the Almeida Theatre
    ★★★★★
    Theatre

Instagram

Something is wrong. Response takes too long or there is JS error. Press Ctrl+Shift+J or Cmd+Shift+J on a Mac.
The Upcoming
Pages
  • Contact us
  • Fund us
  • Join mailing list
  • Join us
  • New London restaurant openings and pop-ups
  • Our London food map
  • Our writers
  • Subscribe
  • What, when, why

Copyright © 2018 FL Media Ltd

JJ Grey & Mofro at The Garage | Live review
Measure for Measure at the Brockley Jack | Theatre review