Terry Durham

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Exhibition at Vino Mio Restaurant in Malaga
31 March to 27th April 2008
Terry Durham, Jill Bridges and Elvis! Sold - the first one of the evening ©  Terry Durham Dutch restaurant owner Helene, her daughter and Terry
© Terry Durham © Terry Durham
It was a nice thing to receive a special, personal invitation. It was even nicer to see that the special occasion was the opening night of an art exhibition in Malaga by Terry Durham who lives in Alora.
“Are you nervous?” I asked him on the train as we sped through the lovely Andalucian countryside towards the coast.
You don’t see Terry smile very often. That’s not to say he doesn’t have a sense of humour. It’s just that you don’t see Terry smile very often. This time he did.
“It’s a funny thing, you know. I’ve had so many exhibitions all over the world you would think I wouldn’t get nervous, but every single time I do.”
I didn’t say anything immediately and instead, as I gazed through the window at the golden green citrus orchards in the valley, the neat lines of olive trees on the slopes of faraway hills and the strikingly clear detail of the Mijas mountain range beyond, I waited.
“It’s more than nervousness this time,” he added, the smile tucked away now below his neat, blond moustache, his penetrating eyes deadly serious. Or was there yet a gleam of humour there?
“I’ve been working really hard on these paintings. I got a bit worried at one point that I wouldn’t finish in time, they have just taken on a life of their own.”
I remember very clearly when I first met and interviewed Terry about two years ago (see feature and follow up) that he told me that when his paintings start talking to him he knows it is working.
“When I hung these paintings up on the walls of the restaurant last night ready for the exhibition it felt right. No one has seen these paintings before. I know that I have created something good. Now I have to see what other people say. I am nervous, yes, this is very important to me.”
I eased my way several hours later through the pressing crowd towards Terry to shake his hand. The praise had never stopped coming. It was a smiling day for Terry. As I got nearer to him he was grabbed and hugged to pieces by an admiring female fan.
“I am so pleased for you,” I said, having just heard that he had sold the first painting of the evening.
He just smiled.

In Terry’s own words:
My paintings speak of Africa, they speak of ancient myths, they speak from the Americas, they speak of deserts and half moons, and of yesterday’s times. My paintings speak of poetry and drawings in the sand, they speak of silences and the winds. They speak of suns and labyrinths, of birds and mythical creatures. They speak of surfaces worn by times, and of the Shamans drum. My paintings speak of me.

Since his first exhibition in London in 1963 artist Terry Durham has shown his work throughout the UK and Europe, Berlin, Portugal, France and Italy; and he has lived and exhibited in Brasil. He now lives in Alora.

Mis cuadros hablan de Africa, hablan de mitos antiguos, hablan desde las Amercias, hablan de desiertos y medias lunas, y de momentos de ayer, mis cuadros hablan de poesia, y de dibujos en la arena, hablan de silencios y de los vientos, hablan de soles y laberintos, de pâjaros y criaturas miticas, hablan de superficies usadas por el tiempo y del tambor de Shamân. Mis cuadros hablan de mi.

© Terry Durham
© Terry Durham
Terry Durham
Peter Edgerton, Jill Bridges and Terry Durham © Terry Durham Mel Williams and Terry Durham
Now look here John! Mary and Jill
April 2008
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