If you will be traveling in northern England this winter, there is a Tolkien event you don’t want to miss! “Now Far Ahead The Road Has Gone: An Exhibition of Art Inspired by the Works of JRR Tolkien” will be featured at the luxury Art Cinema venue Curzon Ripon in North Yorkshire. The exhibition will run over December and January with a preview on 12 December from 7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.

“Now Far Ahead The Road Has Gone” was conceived by artist John Cockshaw who wanted to create a Tolkien-focused cultural event in the North of England and to celebrate the final cinematic return to Middle-earth via a thoughtful artistic response. His aim is to “showcase an interesting and thought-provoking range of artwork” that accompanies the release of  The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies.

We spoke to Cockshaw about his inspiration for the event: “As a previous part-time employee of the venue (a regional franchise of the London-centred Curzon chain of art house cinemas) and its locality to my home, I was keen to pursue the possibility of putting on a show. As a Tolkien artist myself, I didn’t just want to showcase my own work; I knew that a group showing with an emphasis on international diversity would likely heighten the appeal.

“I sought the advice of friend and curator Becky Dillon to help me establish the exhibition planning and, as the size of the venue sadly couldn’t allow for a large selection of artists, settle on two accompanying artists to join myself. Its a real honour to have Ted Nasmith’s work on show (coordinated with the assistance of Malcolm Lindley, Mr. Nasmith’s European agent), and Katarzyna Chmiel-Gugulska is an exceptional artist from Warsaw.

“The plan initially was to create an academic comparison of three artists’ work, but time and space constraints have prevented that. As it is, the work will show on its own meri,t but it is hoped a good connecting thread might be discernible: Surrealistically photo-real technical illustration (Nasmith), photo-manipulation with an emphasis bordering on the surreal and a focus on first person viewpoint (myself), and realistic graphite concept art with a focus on character and drama (Gugulska).

“Additionally I’ve also invited local archaologist Shaun Richardson to provide scholarly commentary on my work in particular that draws upon medieval viewing practices of landscape and aspects of archaeological interest in Tolkien’s text.”

The timing of the exhibition also happily coincides with an illustrated article by Cockshaw for Film Score Monthly Magazine in celebration of Howard Shore’s music for Middle-earth that features original artwork in response to Shore’s themes and Doug Adams’ excellent musical analysis.

Oloris Publishing are providing other materials that will be on display at the exhibition that will show a nod to the diverse work of other Tolkien artists such as Joe Gilronan, Jenny Dolfen, and more!

If you aren’t already, be sure to follow John Cockshaw’s blog frommordortothemistymountains.com to keep apprised on the event. For any queries about artist appearances, please email Este endereço de email está sendo protegido de spambots. Você precisa do JavaScript ativado para vê-lo..

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Author: Lily Milos Lily’s first experience with Tolkien was when the eccentric Mrs. H performed all of the characters from The Hobbit in her seventh grade class. In high school, she felt obliged to decline a second date with a boy who said he had no interest in reading The Lord of the Rings. In college, she unwisely decided to reread her beloved copy of The Hobbit during finals week, with only semi-disastrous results. When not writing for Middle-earth News, Lily tries not to unnerve her coworkers and family with her extreme geekery, but somehow, Star Wars, Star Trek, Sherlock, Merlin, Doctor Who, The Princess Bride, Back to the Future, superheroes, Disney movies, and of course, Tolkien, seem to have relevance in EVERY conversation.