Partou Zia 1958-2008
Memorial Exhibition 2008
14th October - 6th November, 2008

Richard Cook has dedicated his catalogue and solo exhibition at Art First to his late wife Partou Zia. This show will be a selection of her remarkable late paintings and constitutes a tribute to her life and work.

The day spreads grey and post-rain dull. September has taken the glow out of the sky. Boats boom their farewell call sliding out of the harbour's gap leaving for skies that shine bright and hot. Too many arrangements are clogging up my words, killing the sparkle in my seeing.

Even the seagulls are weary. Still I welcome the ordinary in hope of the ecstasies, the momentary gems that can so easily be missed. Living a romance is not an option. Reality has a sharp taste that is addictive. Timing and an ability to keep the core of your intention in front of you is the only way to survive. Time for the poetic must be snatched and held onto with care. Everything conspires to smother one with mediocrity. Be Ware!!! In church and something spoke to me of my ways and discreetly nudged me on the shoulder to mind my moments, and appreciate my life's every breath. I wake up to see the light kissing the rim of the plastic kettle, the scent of rain from the night before, and the blessed silence of my own life, my studio's colour-splattered grey walls, and so much more that rose up and greeted me with a new urgency:- every glance, every breath, every gesticulation, and every fruit bitten into could be the last. I begin to learn to be awake, tingling with presence.

An excerpt from the last page of The Notebooks of Eurydice by Partou Zia-Cook