Simon Burton - About Exotic Europeans

"Past Luxury and Pestilence

Suddenly the 'European' emerges through a painterly method that aggravates remnants of the ornamental and accumulates evidence of history. Building an image; perhaps an image made of gold; built from breakages and faint echoes.

Suddenly the 'European'emerges through geometry, exploration and discovery bringingforth its histories of majesty, lavishness, opulence, extravagance, abundance, affluence, splendour, glory and radiance.

Suddenly the 'European' emerges through its heart of darkness, bringing forth its histories of plague, scourge, blight and pestilence." From 'Exotic Europeans', Simon Burton 2004

Exotic Europeans is a major exhibition in book form. The paintings in each book are unique objects created over time, a huge undertaking for an edition of 100.

The book has the scope and gravitas of history painting and at the same time the intimacy of a pocket sized medieval icon. It combines meditations about inherited cultural values with sheer visual and tactile pleasure. Each book creates its own world and transports us there with richly allusive text and imagery.