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CHRIS GOLLON: PAINTING TOWARDS THE LIGHT

By Mark CALDERBANK

SHADOWLINE MEDIA - as PROD / FIN

Documentary - Post-Production 2022

- Year of production
- 2022
- Genres
- Documentary, Art - Culture, Biography
- Countries
- UNITED KINGDOM
- Director(s)
- Mark CALDERBANK
- Producer(s)
- Peter DUNPHY (Shadowline Media ), David TREGUNNA
- Synopsis
- This feature-length experimental art documentary tells the unique story of one of his generation's most important artists who, just as it seemed he would get the acclaim he deserved, sadly died following complications after a major operation. The film builds on the aesthetic of directors such as Adam Curtis and Julien Temple, using a combination of archive footage alongside more recent interviews of people who were influenced and impacted by Chris' work.
  
  Told chronologically through his major works, the film explores Gollon's participation in ROOT - commissioned by Sonic Youth's Thurston Moore - to an eight year public commission to paint 'Fourteen Stations of the Cross' and we hear from fellow artist Maggi Hambling and novelist Sara Maitland on the profound effect the works had on those who viewed them. The film shows Chris at work as well as interviews with Thurston Moore (collaborator), Yi Yao (Grammy-nominated Chinese classical virtuoso, and collaborator), Russell Webb (The Skids), Eleanor McEvoy (collaborator). This is combined with archive BBC and ITV footage to create a rich texture of content throughout the film.
  
  Spanning a career of over 25 years, this documentary explores how a self-taught artist emerged into the art world just as painting was considered dead, overcame numerous obstacles, and breathed new life into the medium. The film lets the viewer into his technical innovations in painting, printmaking, and film; and his unending imagination and a Gollonesque world, which reflects our own. Chris had a unique imagination and always worried he would die before he got all the images out of his head. In December 2016 (possibly preparing for his own death ahead of an eight hour operation) he painted his last three masterpieces, one of which was a self-portrait, with fingers crossed.
  
  His legacy continues to influence new work today. In 2018, Romsey Abbey acquired a major diptych. In 2019, a museum retrospective of his music-related works premiered a new film using his imagery made with the Sleaford Mods. In 2021, an award-winning documentary short charts his work with Eleanor McEvoy, whose current album 'Gimme Some Wine' that she is touring in the UK, is a tribute to Chris Gollon.