JOE VOLLAN

water under the burning bridge

opening: Friday, April 17th 2020

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Arch Enemy Arts is pleased to present Water Under the Burning Bridge, the gallery’s third solo exhibition from doom fantasy-folk artist, Joe Vollan. The series—seven paintings, two mixed media drawings, and one sculptural mask—documents an early episode from the City of Rusted Gallows. For those following the sagas of this world, Vollan explains that Water Under the Burning Bridge pre-dates the factory accident by over a century when all of the skeleton society townspeople believed the bramble thorn smokers were witches. As it turns out, they were. Vollan writes:

On a foggy night, the townspeople rounded up all of the witches, corralled them onto the covered bridge, and lit it on fire. There were no survivors. Weeks later, magnolia trees sprung up along the riverbanks. It is believed that the witches live in the knots of these twisted trees, and every night, when the moon is at its brightest, they crawl out to play pranks, cast spells, and place curses on the long-since-dead townspeople.

Each piece in Water Under the Burning Bridge depicts a scene from this story in chronological order. Each title is a line from the artist’s narrative in the form of a rhyming poem. 

Vollan’s painting style is elaborate and eccentric, evoking a sense of wonder that makes the artist’s fantasy-lore come to life. Vollan sets Water Under the Burning Bridge apart by interspersing his narrative paintings with hand-made ephemera, almost like collectible memorabilia from the City of Rusted Gallows. One can imagine the first title painting was a poster made for the townspeople to commemorate the parade that led the witches to their death. “The Foxes Spoons” feel like old family heirlooms coveted by the secret skeleton society as the very spoons the fox played on that fateful day. These pieces immerse us further into the dark, yet playful world of the City of Rusted Gallows. They make Vollan’s twisted tales even more real, and we can’t wait to see what happens next. 

OTHER WORKs BY JOE VOLLAN