Scarlett Raven | The Danger Tree Autumn 2017

The Great War Re-Imagined

SCARLETT RAVEN | MARC MAROT

THE STORY SO FAR…

On 1st July 2016, to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the start of the Battle of the Somme, The Danger Tree augmented reality art exhibition opened in Greenwich. A 2,500 sq ft unit a short walk from the Cutty Sark was transformed into the scene of a blown out building from the French / Belgium borders of 1916, thank to award- winning film set designer Kave Quinn. Stepping through a shattered shop front of broken walls, rubble and barbed wire, and with the sound of cannon fire in the distance, the audience was transported back 100 years to a war-ravaged Flanders village. Hanging from the walls still standing were the initial ten paintings from The Danger Tree collection, each beautifully lit, inviting

the audience to enter beneath the canvas as the augmented reality art is revealed through Blippar technology. Each of the 10 paintings was carefully positioned so the viewer was taken on a deliberate journey; starting at a replica model of the Danger Tree and via a walkway of duckboards, to the penultimate destination painting Black Poppies which, by the audience’s reactions, was proven to be one of the most disturbing moments in modern art, and finally to the ultimate painting; Rupert Brookes’ ‘The Soldier’, which reflects upon patriotism, idealism and optimism in the face of war. The Danger Tree exhibition garnered plaudits from the media, perhaps best summarised by the following quote from

The New European newspaper: “It’s this combination of grief both personal and national, contemporary and historical that lends substance to this moving, unforgettable exhibition.” Following the critical and commercial success of the Greenwich exhibition, which ran throughout July, the exhibition moved to Liverpool in November 2016, opening on the 18th of that month to commemorate the end of the Battle of the Somme. Moving the entire installation and reassembling it inside the ground floor of the Martin Luther King Jnr Building (part of the National Museums of Liverpool) on the city’s prestigious Albert Dock, the exhibition was expanded to fifteen paintings and featured five new works of art, including a painting entitled ‘The First & the Last’ which was inspired by the Liverpool Pals’ Brigade; the first of the so called “pals’ brigades” to be established and the last to be disbanded. The augmented reality work of art incorporated a moving rendition of a letter written home to his

parents by 27 year old Arthur Seanor, who died within the first twenty minutes of the Battle of the Somme. The Danger Tree has already touched the hearts and minds of thousands of people; young and old, rich and poor, and this can be substantiated by reading the exhibition’s visitors’ books that contain over 1000 messages of appreciation and remembrance. “The poetry of war is immune to propaganda. It is beautifully, brutally honest. Everything is true and raw and terrifying and soul-breaking. It moves us deeply. For artists working from the heart, with honesty and freedom, it is an incalculable invitation. The Danger Tree is not a normal exhibition. We want it to crash into people and open them up. It isn’t about defending a country, it’s about defending the human heart. Soldier, poet, painter -- we are all humanity.” Scarlett Raven & Marc Marot

Limited Edition Hand Embellished Boxed Canvas Pictured:

A Drawing Down Of Blinds Limited Edition Giclée Of 195 | Framed Size 22” x 23” | Framed £250 Limited Edition Hand Embellished Boxed Canvas Of 50 | Framed Size 44” x 44” | Framed £1950

Framed Giclée on Paper Pictured:

A Trigger’s Warmth Limited Edition Giclée Of 195 | Framed Size 22” x 23” | Framed £250 Limited Edition Hand Embellished Boxed Canvas Of 50 | Framed Size 44” x 44” | Framed £1950

Limited Edition Hand Embellished Boxed Canvas Pictured:

Under A Green Sea Limited Edition Giclée Of 100 | Framed Size 22” x 23” | Framed £250 Limited Edition Hand Embellished Boxed Canvas Of 25 | Framed Size 44” x 44” | Framed £1950

Framed Giclée on Paper Pictured:

Of Languid Seemed His Mood Limited Edition Giclée Of 195 | Framed Size 22” x 23” | Framed £250 Limited Edition Hand Embellished Boxed Canvas Of 50 | Framed Size 44” x 44” | Framed £1950

Limited Edition Hand Embellished Boxed Canvas Pictured:

Years Ahead Limited Edition Giclée Of 195 | Framed Size 22” x 23” | Framed £250 Limited Edition Hand Embellished Boxed Canvas Of 50 | Framed size 44” x 44” | Framed £1950

Framed Giclée on Paper Pictured:

Some Corner Of A Foreign Field Limited Edition Giclée Of 195 | Framed Size 22” x 23” | Framed £250 Limited Edition Hand Embellished Boxed Canvas Of 50 | Framed Size 44” x 44” | Framed £1950

Portfolio Of 6 Signed Limited Edition Prints Image Size 12” x 12” | In Presentation Portfolio £850 | Set Of Framed Prints £1395

THE DANGER TREE: THE GREAT WAR RE-IMAGINED

Scarlett and Marc struggled to articulate the devastating loss caused by the battles of WWI, which resulted in such widespread ramifications, so they decided to look for one story that could solve the problem by speaking for every other action in the battle. The exhibition takes its name from the only tree left standing on the battlefield during the fighting, one that lay in No Man’s Land roughly halfway between British and German front lines. When the 800 men of the Newfoundland regiment were ordered over the top at 7:30am on July 1st 1916, it was used as a marker where the men were directed to pass through a narrow cut in the wire to make an assault on the German line. The Germans, however, had already identified the location

minutes later, only 67 men had survived the onslaught.

The repercussions for Newfoundland as a country were enormous, not just from an emotional perspective, but by the end of the war the country had lost so

many of its young men that they struggled to repopulate their industries. This British colony lost its ‘dominion’ status and entered bankruptcy, eventually becoming a province of Canada. Scarlett and Marc felt that both on a micro and on a macro level this is a story worthy of the title of the exhibition. This collection challenges us to view alternative versions of the multi-layered, immersive work, seen through the words of the war poets and movingly expressed by leading British actors, Sean Bean, Christopher Eccleston and Sophie Okonedo.

and had their machine guns trained on it and, by the time the retreat was called 30

SCARLETT RAVEN & MARC MAROT THE ARTISTS WHO ARE CHANGING THE WAY YOU VIEW ART

Scarlett Raven, 30, is a successful landscape painter, graduating from the prestigious Central St Martins School of Art in 2009, shortly before becoming one of the youngest artists ever to have had a solo exhibition in London’s esteemed Cork Street Galleries, aged 21. Her high profile collectors and supporters include Lord Jonathan Marland, Duffy, Take That, Roxy Music and Orlando Bloom. Working predominantly in oil, using her hands rather than a brush, to watch her paint is like watching a conductor: sweeping gestures, arms deep in the momentum of orchestrating paint and whatever else comes to hand. The sculptural nuances of her paintings nod towards Anselm Kiefer. The layers of medium float somewhere between impressionism and expressionism,

and Scarlett’s animated style of delivery and free-form manipulation of paint call to mind the canvas-hovering antics of Jackson Pollock. Marc Marot, 57, has been one of the most consistently successful executives in the UK music industry. He was appointed managing director of Blue Mountain Music (representing Bob Marley and U2 amongst others) aged 24. He became the president of The Island Universal group of record companies aged 29 and remained at the helm for 18 years working with many of the UK’s most successful recording artists including Pulp, The Cranberries, Elbow, P.J Harvey and super group U2.

Collaborating under the banner Maven Art, Scarlett Raven and Marc Marot are acknowledged to be the world’s first augmented reality fine artists, deconstructing the process of painting via the mediated realities of modern technology. Within their method, digital meets analogue and paint collaborates with pixels. Branding themselves ‘the Augmentists’, their work appears conventional on the surface utilising the medium of oil paint, however if you look beneath the surface you will find animated layers, stories, poetry, film and music; taking the viewer on a journey mapping the multiple stages through which a blank canvas becomes a repository for unfettered emotional impulses.

It’s a fascinating process that throws into sharp relief that great question of whether a work of art is ever truly finished. Their poignant undertaking pits the past against the present, reframing history and classic painting techniques through the increasingly magical lens of 21st century technology. They say a picture paints a thousand words, and yet under the surface of Scarlett & Marc’s augmented reality paintings are tens of thousands of other images, overlaid and layered with thought and inspiration.

A thousand words doesn’t begin to cover it.

The images contained within this literature are an artistic representation of the collection. To best experience our art, we recommend you contact your local gallery to arrange a viewing. ©Washington Green 2017. The content of this brochure is subject to copyright and no part can be reproduced without prior permission. washingtongreen.co.uk