Grabštejn Castle (St Barbara), 14.8760

Original painting, included in my solo exhibition Slow Creep at Project 78 Gallery.

acrylic ink and gouache on board, metal bracket
403 x 195mm
2024

In the spring of 2024, I plotted a line of latitude (50.8518) through Project 78 Gallery on the south coast of England and followed it eastward online, creating a route
for a hypothetical circumnavigation—a virtual journey that would yield the imagery from which to make an exhibition. The impossible tour crossed 19 countries and two oceans—traversing cities, agricultural land, wilderness, mountains and lakes while locating multiple sites of cultural production, extractivism, protest, conflict, dispossession, extraterrestrial exploration, leisure and recreation.

Read more at https://jamieatherton.com/slow-creep/

Founded in the 13th century, Grabštejn is one of the oldest castles in northern Bohemia. In addition to a round tower offering views of the tripoint region where Germany, Poland and Czech Republic meet, it is also home to the renaissance-era Chapel of St Barbara. Built in 1569, the chapel’s interior is notable for its murals including a scene of the Last Judgement painted in High Mannerist style. These are attributed to Heinrich Bocksberger, son of the more renowned Hans, who died in a painting related accident in 1600.