Too True to Be Good
- Rodney Forbes

‘Only nature knows neither memory nor history. But man – let me offer you a definition – is the story telling animal. Wherever he goes, he wants to leave behind not a chaotic wake, not an empty space, but the comforting marker-buoys and trail-signs of stories. He has to go on telling stories… Even in his last moments, it’s said, in the split second of a fatal fall or when he’s about to drown he sees, passing rapidly before him, the story of his whole life.’ – Graham Swift, Waterland

Rodney Forbes’ paintings invite us to rediscover our sense of wonder. His works evoke within the viewer an enchanting ‘child’s-eye’ view of the world, while exploring the wonders in everyday urban life and marine and waterfront environments. Forbes, who grew up in a seaside town and was the winner of the 2020 Maritime Art Award, says that in a continent where most of us live in big cities on the sea, the ocean is the defining motif in our history and lives.

Forbes uses incident-as-metaphor, humour and surrealist juxtapositions to reflect on life in the twenty first century. His work is imbued with what writer David Hansen describes as ‘a critical moral dimension’, examining themes of colonial genocide, war, love, the degradation of our rivers, the centrality of storytelling to humanness, and the alienation (and beauty) of contemporary working and city life. His paintings combine bold colour, humour, intriguing spatial manipulations and insightful observation of everyday life. They invite the viewer to contemplate broad social themes while reflecting upon their own individual stories, identity and sense of place.