In 1938 Ravilious created a set of 24 autolithographs of shops, which were found on the British High Street of that time, for Country Life books. These prints formed a book for children printed by the Curwen Press. Unfortunately, only 2000 books were printed because it’s printing plates were destroyed during the blitz but as a result High St has become one of the most highly sought after artists books of the time. For me it’s value lies in the intimate record it makes of a world that no longer exists. Drawings of everyday things communicate the detail of social history in a really unique way. Artists are often not concerned with the mundane and ordinary and as a result he work of those that do enables a special resonance.
On my return from Galicia, I started to realize that I had to do something with all the material I had generated. Thoughts around the importance of buying and selling, the damage of consumerism, the social significance of small owner occupied businesses and need to preserve the visual diversity of the High Street began to crystallize into an argument that I felt needed to be made. The question was how to make it? I have always believed that to draw something you need to respect it. This is different to taking a photograph, you spend more time with your subject and as a result somehow the act imparts value to it. With this in mind I looked at the work of Emory Douglas and Eric Ravilious. Two very different artists working with very different subject matter, but both managed to produce images that force us to respect this subject matter.
