Paint Edgy Contemporary British Painting Exhibition

 Paint Edgy Contemporary British Painting Exhibition,

The Ropewalk, Barton upon Humber, North Lincolnshire

September-November, 2022

The Exhibition, overview

I visited the CBP Exhibition "Paint Edgy" open event and artists' talks on 15 October 2022. I took the general photographs of the gallery and the artworks shown below.

Gallery space and curation

The gallery is spacious and airy with good lighting. It was a good showcase for the inventive and innovative works on display. The theme reflects a range of concerns with margins, edges and edginess, to do with painterly edges, the edge of a canvas, and the image itself. 

The exhibition was curated by Judith Tucker (vice-chair of CBP) and Linda Ingham (CBP member and Ropewalk studio holder). I have recently studied the work of Judith Tucker, particularly looking at how she portrays twilight and the atmosphere that it creates amongst the "Fitties" holiday chalets along the Lincolnshire coast.

Judith Tucker, Dark Marsh: winter samphire, oil on linen

Earlier in the year I worked alongside Linda when she organised a "plein air" group to visit the nearby wetlands where we made on-site sketches, water colours and took photographs for working up into paintings later in the studio. Please see my post Sketching En Plein Air, Far Ings Nature Reserve, 17/10/22. Linda sent me the invitation to the BCP open event and artists' talks. 

Linda Ingham, Towards the confluence - august 2022, watercolour, eco-dye and stitch on linen

As well as the talks, the show was very well documented with informative leaflets and an online catalogue. During the afternoon the artists spoke about their works and mingled with the visitors. Refreshments were provided. Information and the online catalogue are available through the following link: 

Paint Edgy : Contemporary British Painting | Ropewalk (the-ropewalk.co.uk)

The afternoon was a good way of encouraging interaction between the viewer and the artists. Visitors mingled and asked questions. I spoke to some of the artists about their work, some of which I illustrate below.

Examples of works

Mandy Payne, Aylesbury boiler house i, spray paint and oil on marble

Mandy Payne's work is interesting in the way that she uses radical techniques, such as spray paint on marble or concrete. I was previously invited by Mandy to the launch of her exhibition Out of Time in Huddersfield in 2019. Please see my post on 18/10/19 Exhibition Launch: Mandy Payne "Out of Time", Huddersfield Art Gallery for a review. I had identified Mandy as an artist who is inspired by urban landscape, Brutalist architecture, social housing and finding beauty in the ordinary/overlooked. Mandy's practice therefore resonates with my own interests. I had earlier interviewed Mandy and a record of our discussion features in my Blog of 23rd August 2019.

Sean Williams, Firebrand, acrylic on paper

Sean Williams's painting was relatively unusual in that it was painted in acrylic onto paper. It was very realistic, and quite like a photographic image. The colours were subdued and atmospheric. 

Iain Andrews, Endor, oil on wood

In contrast, Endor by Iain Andrews was a colourful, abstract extravaganza of paint and movement which drew the viewer in further to explore its powerful presence and intricacies.

Conclusions

The exhibition was thoughtfully planned and curated. Good use was made of the space which was well lit and laid out. There was plenty of information about the theme, the exhibits and the artists. On the day I went artist made themselves available to give talks and to mingle with visitors and answer questions. The event was informative for me both in relation to seeing the works on display and how they had been curated, but also to experience the interactive nature of the event and learn for the future.

Local Exhibitions Hull City Centre

 Exhibitions Hull City Centre:

WHALERS: Moby Dick Remastered in Print by Richard Lees

 I visited the Whalers Exhibition at Hull Central Library to see Richard Lees' impressive series of prints, to investigate the gallery and to consider how the space could be curated. 

The Exhibition

Whalers is described by Lees as "a print re-imagining of Moby Dick as a story about human greed, toxic masculinity and the fatal consequences of waging war on nature" ....." drawing directly on the life-or-death environmental crisis we now face, my prints depict some of the dark forces which have brought us to this cliff edge as well as the inevitable human tragedies that follow."

Of the 40 prints in Whalers, 38 are lino prints and 2 are drypoint. Some are printed onto screen prints or mono prints.

                                        

                                       

                               

       

                                       

The Gallery Space and Facilities

Above, images of the exhibition space and relaxation area

To gain access to the gallery I had to walk through the library section. Although direct access to the gallery is available from the main entrance this door was not open on my visit. There was the added advantage that visitors to the library could readily access the exhibition, and this may help footfall. On the day of my visit the library was busy, and it was apparent that the venue was part of a thriving community of users.

Once inside, the gallery space seemed spacious and well-lit for exhibition purposes with subtle lighting shining directly down onto the prints. I also noticed that there was a good hanging system installed where the artist can attach their exhibits from "D" rings. There was a seating area from which to contemplate the works or to write comments in the visitors' book (see below). 

                                               

Curation

The works were thoughtfully laid out with plenty of information on the walls about the background to the exhibition and about the processes used. The size of the works and the fact that there were, in the main, monochrome added impact. The prints followed a logical layout which told the story of Moby Dick.  The space was used well and there was a calm, contemplative atmosphere in the gallery which was enhanced by the subdued lighting. The visitors'/comments book was nicely done with a related cover from the show. Richard Lees had also created an informative set of striking posters to advertise the exhibition. For those reasons, my overall impression of the gallery was good.

City Centre Vacant Shop Premises

As I walked through the city centre, I noticed that a vacant shop had sprung up as "pop up" art exhibition. I thought that this was an excellent way of using empty properties. The artist was working on his easel inside the building and some of his paintings were propped up informally around the room.

The Concept

The door to the exhibition was open, inviting passers-by to drop in to see the paintings and to chat with the artist. I felt that the concept brings art closer to the general public and perhaps reaches those who otherwise may feel excluded from visiting a more formal venue. 

Conclusions

My visit to these venues had more of a community spirit than a trip to a "grander" setting such as the National Gallery. The advantage from the artist's point of view is that it gives them the opportunity to exhibit their work at low cost and in accessible locations. From the viewers' perspective when people are visiting a library or wandering around the city centre it gives them the chance to visit, with no charge, and to think about what is on display. It widens access and visibility, which is important in the current climate of austerity. 

    

Visit to the Bloomberg New Contemporaries 2022 Exhibition, Ferens Art Gallery, Hull

 Visit to the Bloomberg New Contemporaries 2022 Exhibition, Ferens Art Gallery, Hull

Andre Williams, Room for Doubt, 2021, installation

Innovative new work 

I went to visit the New Contemporaries Exhibition currently showing at the Ferens Art Gallery, Hull.

Since 1949 new Contemporaries has presented an annual exhibition of emerging and early career artists. Including 47 artists, the show launched in Hull across the Humber Street Gallery and Ferens Art Gallery. As the Exhibition Guide states, "the 2022 exhibition demonstrates a rich diversity of voices and approaches to making". The exhibition will travel from Hull to the South London Gallery in December 2022.

Curation

To compliment the diversity of approaches, the exhibition was curated sympathetically with themes which reflected the concerns and interests of this generation of artists. Some of the themes explored included The Domestic and Home and Portraiture of Self and Others which I illustrate on this page. 

Meitao Qu,  Enter the Fortress: Play well, Eat well, Sleep well, 2021, installation (foreground) and

Abi Ola, Startled, 2021, (wall) oil, oil pastels, fabrics, and screen print on loose canvas 300 x 18 cm

Divya Sharma, There is this stupendous thing of beauty called Compassion; and therefore, the world exists, 2022, textiles

The work of the artists illustrated above

Andre Williams

Room For Doubt is an installation developed from Williams’s drawings of fantastical rooms. His playful use of unexpected materials draws the viewer into his world. Masks and mirrors are recurring motifs within the room. A pair of bespoke Flamingo and Woodpecker wallpapers flanks the room, intensifies the space and plays with perspective. I felt that the room had a "retro" feel and was very three dimensional.

Meitao Qu

Qu’s practice is concerned with how forms of visualisation operate as ‘props’ to stimulate imaginations. Currently, her research examines the visual economy of the cityscape as a symbol of progress. Using miniatures and ready-mades, her work considers the artifice of the built environment to explore the conditions of what is lost and gained in the processes of urbanisation. She contemplates the interplay between ideologies and realities. The installation shows a miniature replica of the Temple of Heaven constructed with building blocks. The sculpture is displayed on a rock-like formation decorated with other architectural models and artificial greenery. 

Abi Ola

Ola specialises in oil paint, fabric collage, installation, and photography. Her work focuses on family portraiture which allow the audience to place their own loved ones within the portraits.  The combination of tribal and modern-day patterns challenge assumptions about what ‘primitive’ art is, and whether there are many differences to the symbols used today in text messages and social media.

Divya Sharma

Sharma is a multidisciplinary artist and textile practitioner whose practice reflects her lived experience. At its heart is the idea of hybridity and the naive insistence that inter, and intra-nationalities can do more, they can make futures in which we are not opposites but "extensions, additions, alloys, alchemical integrations, and disjointed unifications".  As an immigrant within India and outside, her work draws upon the entanglements that a hybrid nation(ality) entail.

Conclusions

The New Contemporaries show was very different to the works by Winslow Homer at the National Gallery in London (see previous post). The Homer exhibition consisted solely of paintings which were displayed on gallery walls in a traditional, sequential setting. The subject matter of the Ferens exhibition was diverse, ranging from installations to tapestry. The works represented current issues which the artists were concerned with, and the curation was imaginative to reflect the different approaches. The Ferens approach encouraged the viewer to participate and interact with the ideas put forward by the individual artists. I could walk in and around the rooms and consider the works from different angles, experience a 3D effect and appreciate the perspective of, for example, Andre Williams's "Room".

Visit to the National Gallery, Winslow Homer: Force of Nature

 Visit to the National Gallery, Winslow Homer: Force of Nature

Winslow Homer, 'The Gulf Stream', 1899 (reworked by 1906). The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. 

I recently visited London and went to see the Winslow Homer: Force of Nature Exhibition at the National Gallery. The exhibition was organised by the National Gallery and The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.

I did not know much about Winslow Homer (1836–1910) the well-known American Realist painter prior to my visit. The paintings gave an overview of his work in chronological order and depicted some of the leading issues facing the United States during the final decades of the 19th century, including its relationship with Europe and the Caribbean. This was a dramatic era which saw a turning point in North American history. Homer painted soldiers in the battle fields of the American Civil War, captured the abolition of slavery, and the war with Spain, the last colonial European power in the Americas.

 

Winslow Homer, Prisoners from the Front, 1866

Prisoners from the Front is one of Homer's most famous early works in which Confederate officers surrender to Union Brigadier General Francis Channing Barlow during the American Civil War. 

As the National Gallery states, "From his sketches of battle and camp life, to dazzling tropical views and darker restless seascapes, the works reflect Homer’s interest in the pressing issues of his time; conflict, race, and the relationship between humankind and the environment – issues still relevant for us today".

Winslow Homer, 'The Veteran in a New Field'

1865

This poignant image of a man (identified as an ex-soldier by his discarded jacket) speaks about hope for the future but also reminds us of the recent violent and divided past.

 

Winslow Homer, Dressing for the Carnival, 1877

After the war, Homer’s subject became the lives of Americans in the wake of the war and abolition with a focus on the lives of formerly enslaved African Americans. Homer painted them avoiding the stereotypes with which their collective image had previously been portrayed. This bright, colourful image is in contrast to the dour paintings of recent more turbulent times.

Winslow Homer, 'Snap the Whip',1872

Snap the whip is a childhood game played outside with teams. Here Homer creates a nostalgic image of carefree, rural life. The painting shone with light which fell on the playing children.

Homer travelled to France, England, the Bahamas, Cuba and Bermuda. In England, he stayed in Cullercoats on the North East coast and painted scenes of hardship, heroism and resilience. He was particularly interested in the vision of the strong English women fisherfolk he saw there.

Winslow Homer, 'Inside the Bar' 1883

Winslow Homer, Northeaster, 1895-1901 oil on canvas

Northeaster is one of several paintings on marine subjects which Homer created during his time in Maine. The seascape and movement of the waves was powerful, but I thought a little static.

Conclusions

I considered that the galleries were well laid out. They followed a chronological order in a traditional manner. The approach suited the subject matter as it allowed the periods and themes to be explained in well communicated information on the walls of each gallery which one could read and digest whilst walking through the rooms and viewing the works.

I thought that the experience added to my knowledge of realist painting in the United States during this period. I was inspired by his sea views and his sympathetic portrayal of people.