Marcus Rees Roberts art exhibition at Julian Page Projects

"I grew up overlooking a beautiful valley through which a small river ran.

But at one end of the valley, the river changed. The water became

slow and black, trees overhung it and it widened into a stagnant,

flooded wood. The trees were all dead. It was silent apart from the

occasional call from a bird. One could not see across it. It was an eerie,

chilling place." A description of the river Styx from Dante's Inferno.

The title of this show comes from the Odyssey. In Book XI, Odysseus

crosses that same river to the underworld and encounters a dead

colleague. He asks: "How art thou come to this dark shore?"

Homer describes the Styx as wide, fast flowing, and dangerous.

It might be the English Channel.

A visiting tutor at West Dean College from 2004 to 2016, Marcus Rees Roberts has exhibited widely in the UK and internationally. His work is included in numerous collections, including the British Museum, the Victoria and Albert Museum, the Ashmolean Museum, and Pallant House Gallery.