Bookcover: Divining the Human
Divining the Human The Art of Alexander Newley
Spanning the worlds of Portraiture, Landscape, The Nude, Abstraction and Still Life, Alexander Newley's project fuses the Fine Art traditions of patient observation and draughtsmanship with the transcendental intuitions of the mystic. 'For me, art is a moral activity,' he says, 'a straining after the highest virtue of beauty and enlarged consciousness. As such, all art is essentially religious, even when it shows us the ugliness of a fallen world.' Complementing the images is Newley's personal reminiscence, placing each work in a fascinating narrative of self-becoming –and an often-dogged determination to stay true to his calling. The result is a unique account of an artist's journey in his own words, firmly setting before us a body of work that continues to evolve and explore, always affirming a uniquely 'human' future.
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Born with a famous name to an ill-fated marriage, Alexander Newley is the son of Joan Collins and Anthony Newley. Their life was one of almost unparalleled privilege and glamour but beneath the glossy veneer there was trouble: infidelity, insecurity and emotional trauma. Growing up, Alexander felt that his parents’ focus was elsewhere as their lives careened between failure and success in show business. This unique, heartfelt and unflinching memoir tells the story of Alexander’s nomadic early life, the disintegration of his parents’ marriage, and his battle to make sense of his past. It is also a meditation on art, identity and inheritance, and a portrait of London and Hollywood during the Swinging Sixties and seventies, bringing to life Alexander’s encounters with everyone from The Beatles to Evel Knievel. Complementing his vivid, razor-sharp prose, and colourful recollections, are twenty-eight of Alexander’s own artworks depicting many of the people who played a pivotal role in his early years, making this the definitive account of an extraordinary childhood.
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Bookcover: Unaccompanied Minor