INKLINGS SERIES
The six etchings in this series were first shown at Gallery 9 at a special celebration of that ultimate date, 9/9/99. Rothwell has used settings and images from art history to express the madness that surrounded the end of the millennium.
1. The title piece, "Inklings" harks back to the end of the 19th century when the Pre-Raphaelites foresaw the consequences of the industrial revolution, and mass production replaced handcrafted products. The setting is Park Lane, London, in 1895. The Victorian figures by Burne-Jones, Rossetti, and Ford Maddox Brown, puzzle over the pop art of the Twentieth Century.
2. The setting for "Glimmerings" is the Library and Reading Room of the People's Palace for East London, 1887. This building was destroyed in the bombing of London during WWII. The children are the artist's grandchildren, who represent the glimmerings of hope for the future.
3. The setting for "Misgivings" is from Tiepolo's painting, "Cleopatra's Banquet". The attacking force descending upon the do-good ladies was inspired by an Associated Press News Photo in the San Jose Mercury News May 30, 1998.
4. "The School of Athens" by Raphael is the setting for "Philanderings". Aristotle and Plato are distracted from their discourse by cupids' arrows, and figures from art history are attracted to unlikely partners.
5. The setting for "Revelings" is one of the panels of the bronze doors of the Baptistery in Florence by Ghiberti. This panel depicts the storehouse of the Pharaoh in the story of Joseph, where the grain was stored during the seven years of plenty to feed the people during the seven years of famine. The revelers are figures from ancient times (470 BC Etruscan dancers) to 1999 (the artist's grandson on his skateboard.)
6. "Warnings" takes place in the old Germania Life Insurance Building, St. Paul, Minnesota (1889-1970) where figures from art history are variously sounding warnings or ignoring them, as the aliens prepare to land in the upper lobby.
Any questions? Contact the artist by clicking on