Woking, The Lightbox, The Ingram Collection: Sea Pictures, 16 January – 21 March 2010;
Woking, The Lightbox, The Ingram Collection: Planes, Trains and Automobiles, 21 April – 28 June 2015
The sea acted as a great force in John Bellany’s life. He was born into a family of fishermen and boat builders. This influenced his art, not only in terms of subject matter but also as a constant reminder of the frailty of human existence. His work of the 1960s and 1970s deals with original sin, guilt, sex and death. In the 1980s, Bellany became seriously ill and underwent a liver transplant operation in 1988, after which his work became more optimistic in mood.
