Location: Sandham Memorial Chapel, Harts Lane, Burghclere, Near Newbury, Hampshire RG20 9JT

To mark the hundredth anniversary of the end of WWI the artist Robert Fitzmaurice will present a solo exhibition of paintings, prints and mixed media that considers the nature of the soldier from ancient times to the present day.

Although artists have often portrayed the soldier as a strong and heroic figure they can also serve to remind us of the trauma and sacrifice experienced by so many. This tension, between archetype and experience, provides the main thematic thrust of this exhibition and visitors to the exhibition will encounter a series of paintings, prints and mixed media art that explore these ideas in visual terms.

Combining an interest in the figure and figure groups with literary and artistic sources that include Velázquez‘s ‘Surrender at Breda’, ‘The Soldier of Marathon’ by Cortot, and Shakespeare’s ‘Coriolanus’ this is an original body of work that transcends historical specifics, and in uniting these historic references with a contemporary approach to image-making his aim is to present the viewer with fresh opportunities for reflection on this ongoing and seemingly inescapable aspect of the human condition.