European
Illustration
Collection
Hull

Curator's introduction 2    page 1 | page 3




The peculiar chemistry of screen images has also created a special intimacy and provided a threshold for glimpsing Ian Pollock's way of working. By selecting details from each image and then focusing on their intense physical presence when isolated and enlarged on screen, it is possible to share something of the intensity of their production. Ian Pollock's work, large format (normally A1), is the product of a highly personal and detailed concentration.

In many ways they are less 'pictures' than 'stories'. They should be read rather than approached as finished compositions. Time spent in scrutinising is the necessary entry into the curious and charged worlds they depict.

The lusciousness of the detail, paradoxically often reflecting a visceral and raw encounter, is totally seductive on-screen. Details selected for inclusion are there because we like them, sometimes magnified to the point where they aren't visible in the thumbnail reference image alongside.

Entering Ian Pollock's world is a case of putting on a snorkel and exploring the coral reef.

Magically, fragments of Morocco and Iceland jostle with everyday objects - battle ships, longboats and planes populate sea and sky-scapes already home to assorted fish, fowl, swine and creatures that by-passed the ark.

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