Brightons Arty: Alison Krog

We meet many astonishing local artists with no formal art-school training, including the remarkable John Link. Instead, his background is the theatre – a life-long career in acting, directing and teaching – which now inspires his Shakespeare-themed works. He’s got a solo show coming up at the Rose Theatre, Kingston. But if you can’t make that, grab a copy of Art in Brighton 2015 where he features prominently.
If you are a fan of the Bard, you will be irresistibly drawn to paintings that – like Shakespeare’s plays – hold a lightness alongside intensity, and weave a curious, unexpected line between them. The subjects are colourful, quirky and fun. But in the expressive faces, the first impression is of a pervading melancholia. A sense of being a bit lost or damaged.

Characters burst onto the stage in a new dimension as John engages with them via the medium of paint. Viewers are met by intense colour, whimsical line, a space that invites us in as if to the set of an imagined drama: a clear sense of design, a look that is hard to fathom, but seems to reel with the weight of what it is to be human.
The more structured paintings are like the play’s scenery, with the artist as set designer, imagining spaces to tell the story. Even the forest’s trees allow a sense of airy space. The Forest of Arden is a recurring metaphor: a strangely unlimited scene of magical transformations, where characters escape, disguise and cross-dress, reveal hidden truths, and minds are changed.
Much Ado About Love will run from 25 September to 21 November. With thanks to Mary Goody of the Courtauld Institute for Art for her insights in to John’s work.
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