In our snap happy age it’s reassuring to know there are still
people out there who’ll painstakingly mull over a single image for weeks
before they’ve even got to the time-consuming stage of picking up a
paintbrush to commit it to canvas. Makes you think there must be hope
for us yet.
With its long and complicated history involving multiple reinventions
and reincarnations, painting resonates heavily with its own meaning as a
medium as well as the stories and opinions that the artist is trying to
express. So working as what he provocatively calls a “contemporary
history painter”, Tom de Freston plunders these narratives and melds
them with scenarios from literature and his own imaginings to create
paintings that startlingly depict historically grand themes from a
modern perspective.
Here he talks i-D online through the process of translating ideas
into brushstrokes, and gives us a sneak peek into his studio and the
processes behind his work.
Tom de Freston, On Theatre runs until Saturday 15th September at Breese Little, 30d Great Sutton Street, London EC1V 0DU.
Text and Film: Laura Bushell
Music: bassDrumsnareDrum
