Plinth

A solitary sun for a medieval time

Liverpool Biennial 2025: BEDROCK. This limited edition lithograph print depicts a vibrantly colourful drawing that inspired the artist’s hand tufted rug ‘“The sky is not bounded by a fixed edge!”: an illuminated rug arranged to accommodate a medieval mind.’ (2014). This work was first shown as part of the artist’s ‘The Weakened Eye of Day’ exhibition at the Irish Museum of Modern Art, Dublin. ‘A solitary sun for a medieval time’ (2025) is inspired by Nolan’s interest in ecclesiastical architecture and aesthetics, and drawing the present, real and imagined together. The edition relates to Nolan’s Liverpool Biennial 2025: ‘BEDROCK’ exhibition, which features similar arches inspired by historical and current cathedrals in Liverpool: Sir Edwin Lutyen’s unfinished Roman Catholic Cathedral, of which only a crypt exists due to post-war lack of funds, St Nicolas Pro-Cathedral, which was built in 1813, and the Liverpool Metropolitan Cathedral of Christ the King , which replaced St Nicolas’ in 1967 and still stands there today. Whether fixating on the knees of a C17th sculpture, or considering the status of a Neolithic artefact, images of deep space or the contingent grandeur of Gothic architecture, Nolan’s work responds to how we make reality happen through science, philosophy, religion, and art.