Gregg Nowell

The Table Lays Bare but the Scares Remain, Acrylic and gouche on canvas, varnished with gold leaf, 60.5cm x 71cm

Artist Statement

We often see images of The Last Supper (Leonard da Vinci) and wonder at the placement of the figures and their symbolic meaning and, at times, consider the impact on the lives that shared their last meal with their Lord. But what in fact happened to the table after the meal? Was the food discarded? Were the cups and plates thrown away? Is it important to know what became of the “sacred” food, cutlery and crockery?

This artwork lays bare the table, or is it a slab of marble, what does it signify to you.

Note the rusted nail is placed central to the table. What does it remind you of and is this important to you?

To the artist the painting signifies the material in this world and, although his Lord may have used them, they are now discarded. In all of this it is a remainder that the Lord still bares the physical scars of the nails and the scars of Rejection, Deceit and utter Despair.