Chroma

Derek Jarman, who was diagnosed HIV positive in 1987, explores the proposition that the prospect of imminent death makes a man feel more fully alive. With his own senses about to be extinguished, and tuned to the highest pitch, he tries to capture on paper the essence of sensual experience. Because he is a painter he has organized his ideas according to colour. Although a few painters, such as Van Gogh and Yves Klein, have written about colour, none has previously attempted a comprehensive disquition. Derek Jarman talks about the meanings of the colours in painting, literature, science, philosophy, psychology, religion and alchemy, and the way they are used in painting and in film, popular culture and advertising. He draws, too, on his own epiphanic experiences of sensual intensity. At art school with David Hockney and Patrick Proctor, then designing sets for John Gielgud and Ken Russell, Derek Jarman went on to become Britain's leading independent film-maker. His films include "Sebastiane", "Jubilee", "The Tempest", "The Garden" and "Edward II".