River Dissolve took place at A-M-G5’s space in Oxford House, Glasgow on 15 October 2018, in front of Merlin James’s painting Dredge. It took the form of a poetry reading and panel discussion.
Poetry is very important to Merlin James and on the occasion of his exhibition A View of the River Clyde at Glasgow, 2018, at A-M-G5 a new poem was commissioned from Harry Gilonis, a version of a riverine verse by T’ang Dynasty poet Yu Hsüan-chi. At the start of River Dissolve Gilonis read a selection from his translations of Chinese poems. He was then joined by David Hopkins and Merlin James for a discussion about writing, painting, translation and metaphor. The discussion was chaired by Andrew Mummery.
Poetry reading:
Panel discussion, River Dissolve:
Merlin James is a painter and writer based in Glasgow.
Harry Gilonis is a poet, editor, publisher, and critic writing on art, poetry, and music. His latest collection of poetry, Rough Breathing, is published by Carcanet.
David Hopkins is an art historian. His latest book, After Modern Art, 1945-2017, is published by Oxford University Press.