Eric Geddes

An artist with a following far beyond the Isle of Wight, Eric Geddes, lives and has his studio at Freshwater Bay in the western corner of the Island. He recently celebrated his eightieth birthday with a major retrospective at the Quay Arts Centre. Eric Geddes is the ultimate beachcomber. Discarded rubber gloves tossed casually into the sea by some passing mariner, lost cargoes, plastic objects broken free from some municipal rubbish reef, the rusting chassis of a crashed car shifted by the waves from the foot of an adjacent cliff, seen anew, old surfaces stripped away by the unbiased workings of time, light, movement, their associations, faded, altered.

Encountered in situ Eric Geddes' temporary constructions have the power to be profoundly moving, sometimes awe inspiring, sometimes with a lightness of heart that makes us laugh out loud. He reminds us of the oneness of the universe, time, matter, movement, the constant struggle of opposing forces out of which comes unity: we as a product of it. He reveals through play the essence what it is to be human. Eric Geddes' photographing of the work, developed as a way of bringing the work indoors, into the gallery, onto the page or the screen is more than a simple recording of the outdoor constructions, it often extends the work through the use of collage, creating further play on ideas, making new references.

A small selection of Eric Geddes Photographic images and archive catalogues are available to buy from the Yarmouth Gallery.