In The Garden

Description

“With some of my paintings, I’m building a monument to the working men who no longer have jobs. The ships aren’t built in my town anymore; the steel and iron has gone. The men are now unemployed. I’m putting that precious history down on canvas.” -Mackenzie Thorpe

In this Mackenzie Thorpe limited edition print for sale, five men are busy working in a garden near an industrial town. One pushes a wheelbarrow down a cobblestone road and another reaches up to feed birds on the roof of a shed. The man in the foreground is stretching to collect apples from a tree and place them in his basket. Each man is wearing dark brown trousers, a white shirt, suspenders, and a cap. In the background, there are smokestacks and a church, similar to the town where Thorpe grew up. This image is devoid of the bright colors that Thorpe often uses in his other works. He tends to either use color in an inventive or imaginative way or he sticks to mainly browns and sepia tones. Typically, the pieces that are sepia toned and more muted reference his industrial upbringings.

This artwork is a depiction of Middlesbrough, Thorpe’s home town, where he grew up and played a kid. It is very similar in color, tone, and subject matter to his piece “In St. Paul’s Street” (depicting five washerwomen), and could be a companion piece. Working men appear in many of Thorpe’s industrial works. In this image, he is showing them performing work around the house, instead of in a factory or shipyards that were the major employers in his town. He is suggesting that they are currently unemployed. Both Thorpe and his father struggled with a series of manual labor jobs and long stretches of unemployment. He saw first hand the devastating effects of poverty in his town when a factory would close.

Thorpe’s humble childhood began in North Yorkshire, an industrial town with mainly working class families. He had to overcome tremendous odds to pursue his dream of becoming an artist. As a child, he struggled in school, suffering from undiagnosed dyslexia. He always used art as an escape and was encouraged by a friend to pursue art school. Years later, he has become one of the most recognizable artists of our time, sharing universal images of hope, love and joy.

Thorpe’s perspective on life and recognition of his roots are clear. He does not hide the fact that there are often struggles or that darkness exists in the world. However, he believes that our dreams are worth nurturing and that love and hope will help us to triumph over any adversity.

This Mackenzie Thorpe artwork is available for sale, along with many others, at Marcus Ashley Gallery in Lake Tahoe. . Marcus Ashley Gallery is one of South Lake Tahoe’s premier fine art galleries, situated in Heavenly Village’s bustling shopping district. Along with works by Mackenzie Thorpe, the gallery also exhibits 40+ of the most iconic artists of our time.