'In Search of John Milton' and 'Exploded Form: The Ekphrasis of Cornelia Parker's ‘Cold Dark Matter''

Richard Kenton Webb, In Search of John Milton

A visual poet's conversation with John Milton's poems. Touching on my conversation with Paradise Lost and Lycidas, I will focus on his last two poems of 1671, Paradise regained and Samson Agonistes. What relevance do these have for an artist in the 21st century? 

Richard Kenton Webb is Subject Lead of Painting, Drawing and Printmaking at Plymouth College of Art. He studied at Chelsea, the Slade, and the Royal College of Art and has work in national and private collections. Recent shows have been at the Martin Museum of Art, Texas; and at Hefei Museum of Contemporary Art, China. In 2020 he won first prize at the Sunny Art Prize, followed by a solo show, Hope in an Age of Anxiety in 2021. This year, he has joined the list of international names invited to the Josef and Anni Albers Residency, USA, where he made in 72 drawings his Manifesto of Painting. 

Patrick Wright, Exploded Form: The Ekphrasis of Cornelia Parker's ‘Cold Dark Matter’

This presentation will include a reading of my poem 'An Exploded View'. I will then go on to discuss how this poem was made. I will finish by proposing an expanded mode of ekphrasis, one that might be useful when responding to abstract or formless artworks.  

Patrick Wright has a poetry collection, Full Sight of Her, published by Eyewear Publishing (2020). He has been shortlisted for the Bridport Prize and teaches English Literature and Creative Writing at the Open University. He is also currently finishing a PhD in Creative Writing, ‘Exit Strategy: Ekphrasis through the lens of the abstract and the formless’. 

Part of the Ekphrasis, Creating Space for Art and Literature seminar series:

Ekphrasis in contemporary literature is usually understood as a poetic description of a work of art. This series of seminars will explore how artists and writers use images and texts from ancient and modern sources to create new works which speak to our time.