John Monks' Career began in a period when the act of painting was (again) under question; When the process, the idea, or the object itself was declared sufficient; when transformation was regardsed as suspicious; when the fashion was for artists to deny the intuitive in favor of single communication or presentation.
                            
As an inevitable product of his age and education, he could not but acquire some of those precepts, yet at the same time, he was so attracted to the physical act of painting, and was so aware of the potential of this medium to operate on many levels, that he has continued (obstinatly?) to investigate the world through paint.   This has led to some fascinating combinations, not only in his technique, but in his attitude to his work:  permutations of the contemporary mind using classic processes, or of historical ideas colored by modern readings and modern methods.  It seems that to dredge for influence is a parlous game especially so since Monks has an extensive art-historical knowledge.  The depth of Velasquez may be apparent, but to what extent can we discern in Monks' facture an acknowledgement of, say, Francis Bacon's homage to the past?  They are both there.

-Dr. Simon Anderson