Spirituality is a fascinating aspect of de Freston’s work that challenges the viewer in its different and often puzzling recurrence. There is in his work an intense dichotomy between the glorious and noble ethereal heroes floating or falling and their almost immediate de-dramatisation through subtle statements on the futility of their positions. De Freston’s pathetic characters fall into the oblivion of perdition, with a sense of drama that fascinates for its inherent irony. Icarus falls, quite literally, from undeserved light to the unknown and fearsome realm of darkness. A similarly stately but staged –and thus questionable- pathos, is proposed by his swimming figures, that aimlessly move in a state and element which is not their own. I would define spirituality in de Freston’s work as incarnated in those characters and contexts that express otherwordly experience. Icarus is a splendid example of this structural and figurative displacement. Characters exist in a time frame and spatial framework completely devoid of reference, which ensures that they appear decontextualised both in terms of their own persona and their surroundings.

In much of de Freston’s work spirituality has a most definite form that, although questioning the very spirituality that engenders it, could be considered as both an independent form either in its own, as is the case in the seriesof swimmers and floaters, or as an element intervening in pieces that have a different thematic focus. This presence functions at several levels; it forms the ‘noble heroic’ perception that fuels heroes such as David no Goliath or in other instances challenges the very existential purpose of delicately characterised actors. For indeed de Freston offers unresolved dramas where the very premise of the characters-apparent is challenged at many levels, starting with the complete de-dramatisation provided by red socks and boxers. As a form within de Freston’s opus, spirituality has a generously defined context, aura and gestural expression. The characters in Swimmer and Swimmer II are caught – almost suspended – in an instant, both chronologically and spatially. The moment caught on canvas turns to a parallel reality where the act of falling is the essence of the characterisation, imposing a position, gesture and
motion that returns to the very act and essence of falling, swimming or floating. This causes a thematic -and both physical and metaphysical- circle that by returning to the fall/floating/swimming offers reflection on the significance and futility of the entire exercise. Indeed the swimmers and fallers prompt reflection, thought and most of all a re-examination of the actors on the canvas
and, of course, of our own inner self.

This discourse between the fictional faller inviting reflection on his plight and the observer’s reflection on his own, constant, fall through reality is one of the most challenging and powerful aspects of de Freston’s work. Between the almost evanescent The Faller and the spectator, a relationship is established that is almost voyeuristic in nature. Although the breach-of-intimacy effect is powerful, it becomes voyeuristic when we are allowed into the intimacy of the room in A Lover’s Discourse, and when we look at the ravishing, almost life-size Diana in History Painting, where the infernal swarm of characters does not seem to be aware of our intimate relationship with her. She herself, though, seems highly aware of it.

This aspect of spirituality in de Freston’s work is solemn, powerful, noble and possesses a clearly depicted sense of heroism, The fallers are magnifications of human nature in their epic poses and contexts. In David No Goliath there is a magnificent theatricality – another constant in de Freston’s work – that because of the solemn pose, the perspective and the staged setting works because
David is imbued with a spiritually satisfying righteousness. De Freston, however, also destroys the solemnity of his heroic characters with brutal expediency based on detail that leaves spirituality in a position that challenges their sense of purpose. In David No Goliath and other pieces, this is done through the red socks and boxers, but often the relief from drama is provided by a perversion of the leading thematic conceptuality. For instance the solemnity of the fall seen in Icarus or Deposition II is completely undermined in Him Who Wanted To Fall by his awkward position that reflects the clearly pathetic nature of the character as well as his now undermined sense of purpose.

The only pieces where spirituality is unchallenged and finds its most sophisticated expression are the large sketches for the Deposition project for Christ’s College Chapel. These paintings (especially Deposition II), through a meticulous application of glosses and bold but refined depiction, both in terms of composition and execution, of the resuscitated flesh rising out of the darkness achieve a dramatic movement and chiaroscuro-based power that de Freston has, mercifully, left intact.

Spirituality thus not only lives as a form in de Freston’s work, but also finds a persisting presence throughout most of his works. This presence is not restricted to a unique topical presence, but rather, works at several levels. In Fast Judgement, a cloud of falling figures stands in absolute opposition to the figure on the left welcoming the spectator and the one dramatically kneeling at the end of the yellow causeway. A dual challenge is posed to the spectator: falling figures in a carefully staged comical drama that, curiously, leaves us more sensitive. On the other hand, in an unfinished piece in his studio, small semitransparent falling figures at the right side of the horizon provide a perplexing spiritual recovery and relief from the allegorical and referential debauchery that fills the rest of the painting.

The unquestionability of some of the absolutes of human nature; nobility, power, tragedy, misfortune, death and joy are merged in a whole that, whilst not offering any answers, challenges their intrinsic individual values. De Freston’s bold strokes in The Last of the Seducer reveal a brutal dichotomy of vividly human drama and comedy. If art is the exploration of humanity at its best, worst and most intimate, then Tom de Freston is exploring human despair for regeneration. To forget: the cleansing experience of renewal through the decomposition of the stage and, of course, the free-fall of experience and fear. The spirit is broken through tragedy and the miserable fallacious leftovers are abandoned in a carefully staged pathetic comedy. Reflection on the self is
the only path to salvation as the spirit is reflected in tragicomic fallacy within a cycle that eventually reveals itself to be dystopian.

Pablo de Gandía’s current research explores the relationship he defines as ‘sponsorship’ in International Relations. His PhD research will apply the model of sponsorship to conflicts such as that in the Western Sahara. Pablo has been heavily involved in a number of art exhibitions and has written several texts for publication in Europe and the UK.