The phrase “it came to me”, suggests that these ideas already exist, waiting to be discovered rather than invented or created. It’s as if by turning on a light, we are illuminating something that was always there but hidden in the shadows. This exhibition is Pudvine’s exploration of that moment when life and ideas intersect.

In March 1961 the BBC broadcasted the ‘Tonight’ show featuring the program’s host Alan Whicker interviewing a barber-turned musician who was inspired by the North Circular Road. This Man was Barry Ross, Glen Pudvine’s Great Uncle. Pudvine’s Father sent him the video one day after he received it from a distant family member. Previously unaware of the video, Pudvine has since been somewhat fascinated by the tone of ridicule in Whicker’s style, the idiosyncratic and avant-garde process of creativity and the display of a kind of deluded ambition which Pudvine believes is necessary to “do” ideas.

This video has acted as a starting point for this exhibition into how we get ideas, where do they come from and which ones do we bring to life, if ever. Portraiture here is key, a way for the artist to translate ideas to life and living things; in this case family members and loved ones around him; except for just one. 

The exhibition consists of 9 new works completed in 2024 and one work completed in 2013. A difference of over a decade separates two works that are shown 10cm apart, with the oldest idea casting a silhouette onto the floor. On the walls of the space there are more silhouettes, representing paintings in Pudvine’s previous solo show with the gallery. These markings are made with dust collected from Pudvine’s studio, the site for realising ideas. They encourage a feeling of transience with the notion of an everlasting dialogue between the past and present.