A FORMER advertising copywriter who became an international award-winning painter after suffering a debilitating stroke is hoping his new exhibition at The Bowes Museum will inspire those affected by Covid-19 lockdowns.
Martin Kinnear lost the use of his left arm and leg aged 35 after suffering a stroke which ended a career that saw him working with top agencies such as M&C Saatchi.
His art, largely expressionistic landscapes of northern towns and cities, has won him international acclaim and in 2018 he was awarded the Medaille d’Argent at the Paris Salon – the salon of Monet, Picasso and The Bowes Museum’s founder, Josephine Bowes. Now works he has created during the two years of the coronavirus pandemic have gone on display at The Bowes Museum.
He said: “It is an incredible privilege because The Bowes Museum is one of the great museums of the world.”
He added that the museum houses some of the greats such as Goya, El Greco, Boudin and Monticelli, and it was tremendous to exhibit alongside them. The exhibition has been named Regeneration. The artworks are painted on re-used canvasses of his own previous works.
He said: “It is a bit like when you are writing, you do a first draft, a second draft and a third draft. You never stop painting. It is never finished, no more than my life is finished.”
Regeneration parallels his own life-changing stroke experience to the changes people have had to make because of Covid-19.
Quoting Confucius, Mr Kinnear said: “Every man has two lives, and the second starts when he realises he has just one.”
He added that the life people currently live might not be the one they want to live and he had come to that realisation after the stroke.
Along with various landscapes, the exhibition also features a multimedia display titled Wordfall, which was inspired by a visit to High Force waterfall.
It is a visual display of words tumbling down the five-metre wall of the museum’s exhibition gallery.
Of his visit to the landmark, Mr Kinnear said: “It was a busy day, but because of the white noise of the falls. I felt a quietude.
“I chose all the words from what I was feeling during the pandemic.”
The display is accompanied by a sound engineered by the artist to mimic the noise of High Force.
Regeneration, by Martin Kinnear, opened on Saturday, January 22, and runs until Monday, April 25.
