The news from day to day in Britain is more and more dismaying. It is becoming ever more clear that are facing a serious political and economic crisis, and the only responses we are being offered appear to me to be of relatively marginal significance in relation to the underlying problems. The situation would be less dire if the opposition were confronting the government with a convincing sense that they have an alternative way forward to offer. This is not the case. There is absolutely no feeling that anybody has a vision of the larger picture in relation to which it might be possible to articulate some possible solutions. I was brought up short this afternoon when a widely-respected and influential commentator on financial affairs, interviewed on the radio, confessed that his response to the political situation was to weep. As a country we are not only without leadership, but no convincing leadership is offering itself as an alternative. I cannot recall a situation during my lifetime in which the prospects for the country have been more concerning.
There is no avoiding the question, however, as to what might be an appropriate response this from an artist. Long ago I recognised that I have no talent for politics. This does not mean, however, that my art is condemned to be politically irrelevant. I have to admit that for the most part the political relevance of my work has usually been, at best, implicit.* I can only suppose that it is a sign of the times that, as I begin to turn towards painting again after several months of layoff, it is possible to sense a definitely political relevance to the ideas that are beginning to stir in my head. Perhaps more of that anon.
*Some of my pieces in the Masquerade series were certainly of that kind.