Starred review from October 10, 2016
Created as part of 14–18 Now, a U.K. arts program commemorating the centenary of WWI, McKean’s (Cages) latest illuminates the life and work of British artist Paul Nash. Nash’s paintings as an official War Office artist on the frontlines of France are savage, bleak, and angry, and his letters and diaries spotlight his frustration and fury at the bureaucracy and waste of war. The pictorial journey into Nash’s mind and experiences is tailor-made for McKean’s expressive work: a dark, surreal vision that depicts intense revulsion rather than merely representing Nash’s nightmarish landscapes literally. McKean’s escalating pace, vivid and grotesque caricatures, and skillful panel placement fuse into a macabre history. One especially masterly passage covers Nash’s boat departure from England for Ypres, Belgium, the scene of some of the most intense battles of WWI. Hazy black shadows of soldiers, sailors, and ships rise against a dark, sickly green-brown sea and sky. Beautifully produced and immensely affecting, McKean’s art illuminates a dreadful era and its tortured chronicler.