When we visited, John was typically kind and generous with his time, inviting me and David Christie into his home and studio in August last year. He could not have been more welcoming and thoughtfully talked us through the diverse aspects of his life’s work, in particular his very latest paintings, the REVISITATION series. At 90 years old John still visited his studio every day to paint. He had a restless energy and a constant desire to challenge his practice, as original and creative in 2022 as it was at the outset of his career some 70 years ago.

The themes in Blackburn’s REVISITATION paintings and his visual vocabulary have remained constant and consistent over the past seven decades of his practice. Revisiting his work is very much part of his process; he is continually experimenting, taking risks and re-evaluating. He explained that something truly remarkable is revealed in the process of revisitation, as the work is not a recreation, but a revisiting based on a reflection, on his memories, stored images and recorded work. He regards revisiting his work as an act of humility and an opportunity for honest assessment and transformation.

Many of the paintings that I selected for this exhibition were created between 2018-2022 and will be exhibited for the first time at the Vanner Gallery in Salisbury. Blackburn has refined and distilled his artistic passions without losing any of the tension and structure of his earlier works. The new paintings suggest an increasing focus on finding a way to express a greater spiritual significance in his life, searching for an inner tranquillity and harmony. These paintings on board acknowledge his mature vision, portraying a considered and heightened visual dynamic. There is a distinct energy in the pared-down forms, creating a dialogue between the elements and how they relate to each other, suggesting a contemplative narrative. Human conflict seems to have been if not resolved then reconciled. John’s mark making, texture and use of colour are deliberate and cogent. His signature palette of pigments, predominantly with textures of white and grey, is accented by darker, almost black pigments, applied with a clarity free from the found objects that he often incorporated into his earlier paintings.

These revisited works have a delicate fragility, a stillness and purity of line and form, yet they possess an enhanced tension which elevates them to the realms of the ethereal.

Jacquiline Creswell January 2023