Survivors

New paintings by Greg Rook.

9th Oct - 10th Nov 2012 Preview 9th October 18:00-21:00pm

For press images and further details please contact: Sue Cohen
[email protected]


"Is that what life's worth nowadays. Fifty gallons of petrol? God help us all" - Greg
'Survivors', Series 1, Episode 12 (1975)

In 1975, when Britain was seemingly grinding to a halt, with political upheaval and economic gloom threatening financial and social collapse, the BBC broadcast the incredibly successful series 'Survivors' (1975 -77). Based on the premise that a global pandemic could leave only a few thousand survivors in the UK, it explored the practical and political implications for a group of individuals attempting to survive and ultimately rebuild society. The concepts of self-sufficiency and commune living were extremely current both in the UK and in the US, where there are still survivalist groups and families who choose to disengage with contemporary aspiration and act 'as if', culture-crafting and story telling - anticipating an imminent collapse of society and constructing their lives according to this premonition.

New paintings by the artist Greg Rook explore the historical stasis brought on by the post-apocalyptic scenario depicted in the TV series 'Survivors', and the chasm left by potential futures once imagined. In his work, the English landscapes depicted are corrupted by the post-apocalyptic imagery rooted in us by twentieth century history, and the literature, television and cinema influenced by this two-way slipstream of history and fiction. His practice explores the politics of apocalypse: the right focuses on the battle and the final show down that will, in the final triumph of the conservative impulse, return the earth to the state it occupied at the beginning; the left focuses on a
New Age, where there will be no final battle, only a glorious transition to a future of sheer bliss. In this system there is no evil, only the perception of evil and therefore perception is all that there is to change. The right wing imagines perfection only in the past, the left in what's to come.

Much like the idealistic satire of self-sufficiency and sustainability presented in 'The Good life' (1975), broadcast in Britain at the same time as 'Survivors', Rook's work invites us to question our own position in relation to the fragmented realities of his paintings. Borrowing from historical aspects of landscape painting and shared fears of post-apocalyptic narratives, Rook, not only reminds us of the lives we dreamed of in the 60's and 70's, but also the undetermined future unfolding in the pastoral lands of his works.

'You realize that our mistrust of the future makes it hard to give up the past.”
― Chuck Palahniuk, Survivor


Greg Rook was born in London in 1971. He studied at Chelsea School of Art 1997-2000 and Goldsmiths College, University of London 2000-2002. He is currently programme leader of Fine Art BA for the University of Kent. Rook has exhibited widely in Europe, America and Asia in both solo and group exhibitions. In 2009 he completed a two year commission for a solo project with The David Roberts Art Foundation. Recent exhibitions have included solo shows in London and Tokyo.

OCCUPY MY TIME was founded in 2006 by Sue Cohen, an artist, curator and educator. This is the first permanent gallery space for O.M.T gallery, which until now has been presenting challenging and innovative visual arts events in temporary locations. These spaces were often outside the traditional gallery space and interacted directly with the audience through their choice of intriguing environments.