Jealous are proud to announce the opening of The Uncanny Scenery Of A Dream, a solo exhibition by award-winning artist and author Stanley Donwood, displaying limited edition prints of illustrations first created for Thomas Hardy’s Selected Poems, introduced and chosen by collaborator Robert Macfarlane and published By The Folio Society.

Taking motivation from the spectacular scenery and countryside landscapes described in Hardy’s work, Donwood travelled to the areas in Dorset that inspired the author’s poetry, creating a series of sketches on scraps of paper, old envelopes, maps and torn pages from yellowing books. In appreciation of the strong abiding affection Hardy felt to the lands of Dorset, Donwood immersed himself in the romantic landscape and rendered atmospheric layered drawings, providing a new way of visualising Hardy’s Wessex.

In his illustrations Donwood explains he has “tried to encapsulate the vague air of solitary melancholy” he interprets from Hardy’s work. In many drawings the use of a lone figure in isolated environments with boundless sky above and flock of birds transcending the page and earthly plane.

‘The Uncanny Scenery Of A Dream’ runs through 20th June 2021 at Jealous East, 53 Curtain Road, London, EC2A 3PT and the exhibition continues at Crouch End Gallery, 27 Park Road, London N8 8TE from 24th June until 18th July.