The Memory Remains IIII by Mark Davies The Acorn Gallery

Available as a fantastic Limited Edition Print.

The original maybe available, please contact us if you are interested in the original. 

All Artwork is signed by the artist and includes a Certificate of Authenticity.  

MARK SAYS: 

“Ok, so before I waffle on, I want to say a special thank you to the commissioning client of the very first ‘The Memory Remains’ that I created way, way back! I won’t mention his name, but he knows who he is and what a brilliant collaborative effort that was and look at the results! I remember being told that releasing the image as a print wouldn’t work, well no more words needed on that one, they say a picture speaks a thousand words.

I am a storyteller; I create visual chapters. Sometimes I conceive an ending, sometimes I leave it open to be continued. Occasionally, when immersed in a particular chapter, you can see an alternative direction which leads to a different ending. Yet, with ‘The Memory Remains’ there was always only one journey with it as a series, excluding ad-hoc special editions or pieces inspired by it.

The first piece crammed so much within a small window, literally. Stood looking across the road you could see the central toy shop with its’ enticing window display, whilst also getting a glimpse at part of a local

cinema and an arcade that had recently closed down. I’m not sure if people spotted that and thought of it as a defining point to the piece. What it does it throw things completely as it changes the date from the era that it celebrates to being much more current. The sad reality of the closures of local independents is what is there but you look past that to what you remember when you were younger.

So, effectively you are doing exactly what my ‘Retrospective’ works epitomise, which is looking past the ‘real’ and towards the past and through the power of imagination and that child-like mindset, what you see is something that is so much bigger, brighter and better than it was. Hold onto that, as it is important when explaining each of the pieces within the series.

The first door that you were taken through in ‘The Memory Remains 2’ was the toy shop, and what a shop that turned out to be! How can so many toys be crammed into such a tiny shop frontage? See? So many of the toys from that scene feature within other pieces as I have continued to retell my youth through pictures (and so many of yours given by the reaction!) Everything links, it’s a walk-through of our memories, lovely, eh?

‘The Memory Remains 3’ took you into an incredible cinema foyer to watch whatever film you choose to remember. Were those characters really there? Was your mind still in overdrive after the Pick N Mix, surely, they weren’t just the point of sale cardboard cut outs. There is such a wonderful link to my ‘Lost in Hollywood’ works with this piece and further reinforcement to the above where every memory is real and related.

So, there was one last door to go through, well before the shutters closed for the last time. The arcade! As the Gok would say, ‘it’s all about the confidence’ and truth be told, as a kid I had very little. So, I would always shy away from stepping up to the arcade machines, instead preferring to watch friends hammer them. Confidence turns to comfort in another memory of growing up, this time during my time on a middle school French exchange trip when staying with a brilliant guy, who I still speak with today, Salut Cedric! I was incredibly home sick, I won’t lie. I pretended to have a cold to explain the streaming eyes! LOL buddy! Anyway, basically as well as playing table tennis, it was watching Cedric and his friend smashing it at ‘Sonic’ that has always stuck with me as it provided a real sense of comfort and common ground, even though I was shit at it and oblivious to any French insults being hurled about. ‘The Memory Remains 4’ is a true celebration of the wonders of retro gaming and the vibrancy of the arcades.

Again, everything is shown to be bigger, brighter and a level up. What we see is a glimpse outside of the building and into Sonics’ world. I have wanted to replicate that iconic game play for so long and I love the end results. There have been so many interpretations of Sonic in the art scene, and each have their own merit, well this is mine and it’s authentic. Like Frank said, I did it my waaaaay. So, whether you have bought part of this series, or this completes your full collection I want to say a massive thank you to each and every bloody one of you because it has been an absolute fucking blast! All great things come to an end, but the memories will always remain.

That’s all folks!”