MOUNTAIN PEOPLE EXHIBITION ------- PRESS RELEASE

EXHIBITION AND SALE OF PAINTINGS

BY STEPHEN KING

MONDAY 10 JULY TO SATURDAY 21 JULY 2018

AT THE MENIER GALLERY, 51 SOUTHWARK STREET, LONDON SE1 1RU

GIANT STONE MAN DISCOVERED IN NEPAL -----------

The worlds largest carving of a man was discovered last year in Langtang Valley.

Stephen King has been painting mountains in Langtang Valley since his first visit in 1992.

Last Spring he staged an exhibition of his paintings at the Nepalese Embassy in London,

as a part of the bicentenial celebrations of relations between Nepal and the UK.

The Exhibition concentrated on the sublime landscapes in the airless upper reaches of

the valley. In painting the ice and rock formations he subconciously projected his

experience of painting the human form onto the mountain images. For example, the

painting "Gangchempo Peaks" became a depiction of the suffering and iviseration of the

people of Langtang who had been torn up by the Landslide of 2015.

Sadly the exhibition was cut short by the terror attact on Westminster Bridge, which

caused the Embassy to be closed to the public.

"I found Gangchempo difficult to paint in its entirity. It was just too perfect. But this

perfection hid a secret. Whilst drawing it last October I suddenly noticed a face and torso

peering over the sharp peaks on the mountains southern flank. This seemed not to be a

projection of my subconcious. Given that at my advanced age I am permenantly out of

my head on Statins and Thyroxine, I felt that I should check this with a local inhabitant of

Kyanjin Gomba. At first they could'nt see it, but when I photographed it and zoomed in on

the face it became clear to them. The figure had been hidden in plain sight by the

awesome beauty of the adjacent mountain."

Was it carved by extremely tough and agile people, or by natural processes, or even by

visiting aliens? Who knows, or even cares? The fact remains that the figure stares

impassively down the valley towards the rest of the world.

"The features of the figure are distinctively those of a Langtang person. They uncannily

resemble those of my friend Chimay Lama, who is the local Michael Jackson

impersonater! Western culture has a way of ambushing the unsuspecting traveler in the

most extraordinary ways!"

MOUNTAIN PEOPLE, THE EXHIBITION AND SALE OF PAINTINGS BY STEPHEN KING,

RUNS BETWEEN MONDAY 10 JULY TO SATURDAY 21 JULY, AT THE MENIER GALLERY,

51 SOUTHWARK STREET, LONDON SE1 1RU