How to Fight Loneliness

Tawera landscape with tree

Out There on the Slippery Seas

I HAVE LOST SO MUCH I HAVE TO FIND NEW THINGS TO LOSE

I’ve loved Sam Rountree Williams’ work since I saw his exhibition Cell at Robert Heald Gallery in 2019. So, I was thrilled when Robert asked me if I’d like to show this work by Sam, Out There on the Slippery Seas.  It is inspired by Matisse’s masterpiece The Conversation (1908-12). For me, it brought to mind the great Wilco song How to Fight Loneliness.



To fight the loneliness, I thought I’d bring three paintings about isolation into conversation together. In these haunting images, Diena Georgetti, Michael Illingworth and Sam Rountree Williams each communicate a sense and understanding of physical and spiritual disconnection. When I look at them, I feel strangely connected! Not so alone after all…



Hamish McKay