The Cheltenham Sweep
2022-2023
For my Artist in Residence at the Wilson Art Gallery and Museum, I have painted a series of film stills for a fictional horror movie called ‘The Cheltenham Sweep’.
Using The Wilson as the main setting for the story, the series includes paintings of staff, artists and friends haunted by the figure of ‘The Old Man’, a character inspired by the chimney sweep trade sign from within the museum collection. Using my own photographs and images from the internet, I explore horror movie tropes and invite viewers to construct their own narrative to the scenes depicted.
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The exhibition ran from 8th April - 14th May.
The Artist is Residence is part of the We Are Creators initiative for the Wilson Art Gallery and Museum.
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All paintings are for sale. Please use the contact page to get in touch.
The Cheltenham Sweep (Horror Movie Poster), Digital Print, Zack Thorne, 2023
The original zinc trade sign that inspired the story was formerly hung outside of 43 Sherborne Street in Fairview, Cheltenham, where several chimney sweeps lived and worked during the 19th Century. The sign was sold to the museum in the 1950s by Frederick Field who had inherited the sign from his father William Field. On his deathbed, it is said that William told his son to ‘Never Get Rid of The Old Man’ as he wanted the sign to remain in Cheltenham.
