John McLean is known to many Norfolk people as the artist who did the three new stained glass windows in Norwich Cathedral (which NCAS helped to fund), but he is also an internationally renowned abstract artist of many years standing. Chris Morphet and Michael Proudfoot have recently made a wonderful 80-minute film about him and Michael says:
"The film we are making has no client, no broadcaster and no sponsor, we can do what we like when we like. Chris and I got quite excited by our day observing John in his studio. We seemed to be witnessing and recording something not often seen and rarely understood, and that is the process of making creative decisions and their consequences. McLean is making hundreds of tiny decisions every minute, he gets as much pleasure out of the wrong ones as he does out of the right ones. The creative process appears to be a kind of adventure for him and the outcomes can be equally infuriating, ecstatic or intriguing. The key thing is the “outcomes” are never known to John and he rarely plans a painting. If he knew what the painting was going to look like at the outset he wouldn’t bother to begin it. The tensions in all this are probably what we, as viewers, like looking at in a John McLean painting.
John is suffering from Parkinson’s Disease and this has slowed him up somewhat. Doctors’ appointments, voice therapist appointments and travel difficulties have interrupted his love affair with painting but he is determined to carry on and with the help of his wonderful wife, Jan, he will. I hope he won’t mind me saying that the slowing of his pace has helped us see what goes on with his work in our film; a bit like watching the replay of a great goal on Match Of The Day we can see the curve of the ball and the swell of the net when he scores".
Michael will introduce his film, along with Ian Collins who has written the definitive biography of this amazing artist. An evening not to be missed.
The Sunday Times recently covered the subject in an article by Julia Horton, downloadable here, that was picked up by Kirsty Wark on Radio 4 last Sunday!
Friday 9th February, 2018, 7.30 in the Weston Room, upstairs in The Hostry at Norwich Cathedral.
Admission £4 and £2.50 for members, on the door.