The press of Heather & Ivan Morison

Publication:
Fused Magazine, Issue 12 (September 2002)

Headline:
"Ivan Morison".

Picture:
"Ivan Morison Study for Flower Stall 2002 Courtesy the artist"

Editorial:

"By Ben Sadler

The Botanical Gardens in Edgbaston is one of those places that reminds me of being a kid, of Sunday afternoons spent talking to minor birds, watching your dads glasses steam up in the hothouse and trying to pretend that you are interested in the cacti. And if you were lucky you might get to hear the brass band tooting out various faintly recognisable tunes from the bandstand. Lying there on the grass with that quintessentially English sound ringing in your ears, watching clouds shaped like lions and mountains and Mr T float by, is one of those memories that sticks. And over the years the memories become just a little more perfect.

I haven’t been to the Botanical Gardens for a long while now. But seeing Ivan Morison’s Colours and Sounds in Ivan Morison’s Garden, Spring 2002 at Ikon Gallery took me back there. Seemingly suspended in mid air is a projection of an idyllic garden. In the foreground are flowers of achingly beautiful colours. To the right of these flowers an old kettle hangs moving imperceptibly with the gentle spring breeze. A greenhouse in the background, just out of focus. Birds are singing. And faint, only faint is sound of a brass band. A naked man in a straw hat walks into the garden, tends to his plants and then turns, beckoning you to come join him in this