Introduction I Visiting Information and Events I Room Guide I Further Reading

Lights V: The Pier Pavillion, 1973
Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza, Madrid © June Andrews

The Lights series is one of Andrews's most distinctive achievements. These seven large paintings address certain personal and philosophical preoccupations, notably the idea of self-consciousness and the notion that enlightenment may be attained through the shedding of self-obsession.

The series depicts the journey of a balloon which the artist uses as a symbol for the 'skin-encapsulated ego'. This phrase, derived from the writings of the psychologist R D Laing, evoked the sense of self that Andrews wished to explore. He was also inspired by the writings of Alan Watts on Zen Bhuddism which described 'the prevalent sensation of oneself as a separate ego enclosed in a bag of skin'.

During the course of the journey, Andrews uses the balloon's movements to suggest mood. At the same time, its passage through certain landscapes evokes a connection between self-awareness and external circumstances. In Lights III: The Black Balloon 1973 (no. 40), for example, the dark, melancholy shape of the balloon floats low over a deserted and bleak-looking Waterloo Bridge. As the journey continues, this sense of self- awareness is gradually lost. The view of the balloon is replaced by a view from the balloon, suggesting a looking outwards without self-concern.

The title of the series, borrowed from Les Illuminations, a collection of poems by the French Symbolist poet Arthur Rimbaud, evokes this state of enlightenment: a view of the world seen objectively, undistorted by subjectivity. In the final painting, the balloon drifts out to sea, conveying a sense of a continuing quest.

This section also includes Liner 1971-2 (no.37) and Cabin 1975 (no.47), in which the idea of going on a journey - making a personal odyssey - finds expression in images of a cruise ship and a passenger jet.

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