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focus of post-surRealism & exhibition space for Julian Hill, post-surRealist artist
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Inspiration (links)

I have collected on this page details of some of the subjects that have been sources of inspiration for me. For each I have suggested links that you could look at to follow me in my footsteps, and then go off in your own direction! On other pages I have listed Books and Some affecting films ranging from the early silent cinema up to the present day, and from the classics of cinema to the kitsch. You will find examples of horror and romance, adventure and comedy, crime and mystery, fantasy and war, and will travel the world, go into space, and even visit heaven.



Galleries: Galleries and museums can be stuffy and uninspiring, but they can also be inspirational. Read in about the artist how a visit to one of these galleries changed my life.
  • Tate Gallery : the Tate has played an important part in my life and artistic development (details can be found in the About the Artist section). It now includes Tate Modern at Bankside, Tate Britain at Millbank both in London, Tate Liverpool and Tate St. Ives.
  • Arnolfini Gallery : the Arnolfini is on the waterfront in Bristol and shows contemporary art.

Surrealism: Revelation, perturbation, resonance, desire can erupt when looking through books on surrealism, whether they are on surrealist poetry, film or art. Finding revelatory web sites is much more difficult, as the term surrealism is most often misused nowadays.
Cinema: The original surrealists grew up with cinema, and for many it was a passion offering an incomparable adventure of the imagination. Inherently erotic, both because of the darkness of the cinema and the sensual close-ups of lips and eyes in the love scenes that were their staple, it offered a heightened reality of desire and adventure.
Some would go to one cinema after another to sample films randomly, until intoxicated with ideas and images. They soon became discriminating - detesting the patriotic subjects, period pieces and 'art' films and loving the cliff-hanging serials, crime films, comedies and melodramatic romances.
I have great sympathy with this and many of the films, listed on another page, that have had an effect on me fall into this second category.
The 1920s and 30s: I am not sure how my fascination with this era started, or what triggered it, though I have a sneaking suspicion that it may relate to the childhood of my parents. There are many reasons why it continues to fascinate - the mixture of decadence and innocence, the flowering of surrealism, the apogee of the silent film, the great liners, airships, weird and wonderful flying machines, the freedom of the road, wonderful design and fashions...
Ocean liners/ airships/ cars/ etc: Monuments to man's creativity and fallibility...
Fashion: Fashion can be clothes, the hair, makeup, body shape... It can be concealing or revealing, enhancing or downplaying, erotic or erotic-veiled. For me the era of the flapper and the 'bright young things' holds a great attraction.
Ballet and modern dance: I find myself easily seduced by the eroticism of dance, heightened by music. The ballerina's 'body type' is the one that I seem inextricably drawn to, and seeing this in motion, often in close physical contact with taut young male dancers, can be the height of desire.
Old books: Nostalgia for the past, and especially for a 'golden age', can be very seductive. Books, ephemera and artifacts from the time can evoke this feeling very strongly...
  • Searching through secondhand bookshops can be a real pleasure until your house becomes full to bursting with books! Another way to find particular books that you have always wanted is to use one of the Web based secondhand book search sites such as Advanced Book Exchange (ABE).

The countryside: I grew up surrounded by the lush green Somerset countryside of small fields, hedges, old trees and rolling hills and feel very protective of it. I have many evocative memories, and mourn the gradual erosion of this landscape.
  • South Somerset on the Web will give you a taste of the countryside that I feel most at home in.
  • Naturenet is an excellent gateway to countryside and nature conservation information.
  • The Woodland Trust are trying hard to save Britain's native woodlands, and The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds is doing the same for bird life.
  • Archie Miles Photography specialises in tree photography, but also includes landscapes, flowers, and woodcraft. Also writer of, and contributor to, books on trees.
  • The Raven's Aviary is devoted to the Crow family, which includes Crows, Ravens, Rooks, Jackdaws. I have a particular liking for these birds, their striking looks, evocative calls, intelligence and scavenging habits. The site includes links, folklore, Crow sights and sounds, and a look at the Corvidophile personality.

Warfare: Birth, life and death, survival of the fittest, the sex drive and the four horsemen of the apocalypse. War rides through the centuries leaving a trail of death and destruction, but also a strange fascination for others.
Erotica: Are artists mad? Perhaps so, we seem to be driven to look inside ourselves for the truth, abnormally so. Why am I so obsessed by desire? Perhaps there are different types of people, some who drift through life, some who seek experiences, some who are searching (artists?) for truth and the meaning of life. There is a strange view of eroticism (and pornography - where do you draw the line?) in this country - it is seen as something dirty, to be hidden, rather than something to be celebrated. I find it laughable, and rather pathetic, that images of the male erect penis and explicit depictions of the sex act are not allowed in this country. It is as though this would bring civilization tumbling down, and is just one instance of the hypocrisy here. Violence, exploitation, and social deprivation seem to be more acceptable, .... or sleazy innuendo.
Miscellaneous: Revelation, desire, perturbation, resonance, can seize you at almost any time and in the strangest of circumstances.
  • The Internet is a treasure trove of the Miscellaneous. At present I tend to use Google, Ixquick and Dogpile to search the Web. I think the original surrealists would have appreciated the mixture of order and chaos that is the Internet, and its freedom and often base nature.