The 20 Group are staging the 'Big Draw' at the Flipside Festival at Snape Maltings which takes place 2nd-3rd October
http://www.flipsidefestival.org/events/0/196/art.aspx The Big Draw will be open for business: Saturday 3rd, 11am - 4pm, and Sunday 4th, 11am - 3.30pm https://www.facebook.com/events/409896499205039/ We will be officially 'opened' by Maggi Hambling on Saturday. If you can spare a few hours or a day on either days to help make this a success please contact Frances: francesmartin67@gmail.com There is an Anna Maria Pacheco exhibition of works on paper at the festival as well as live music plus events, so plenty to see and do while you're there. Recent and current members’ exhibitions: Anne Allanson's recent solo exhibition at Wymondham Arts Centre (Becket's Chapel) was a virtuoso display of large scale non representational painting. The chapel's open space enabled her to show the range and diversity of her work, both on paper and canvas. A stunning show. Monika Wesselman's solo exhibition at Anteros was long overdue as it gave us all a chance to see her sculpture and paintings together and the dialogue that exists between them. Although a relatively small space, the exhibition works perfectly, the two seem made for each other. The exhibition runs until 26th September. Katarzyna Coleman at Mandell's Gallery needs no plaudits from me, I'm sure most of you will have seen this show already, it runs until the 26th September if you haven't. Quality work that inspires and stimulates explorations of pictorial space and light in a form that are unique to her. There even seems to be hints of colour creeping in on some works, so we'll watch this possible development with interest! Martin Battye's solo exhibition at the Merchant House Gallery in Lowestoft is the latest in a series of quite revelatory solo shows, each one seeming to build upon the last; these paintings glow with colour, focusing upon the process of painting and the tactile surface of paint itself. The gallery is a light filled and intrinsically beautifully space in its own right which enhances and compliments this quite stunning show. Continues until 10th October. Joceline Wickham's solo show 'Favourite Things' at Gallery Last in Zurich runs until 24th December so if you are down that way......... With Vanessa Pooley's work being shown in London and New York, 20 Group artists are providing an answer to the question; 'What do artist's do all day'? Work quite hard seems to be the answer. 'Works on Paper', 20 Group at the Theatre Royal continues until 29th September, followed by a photography exhibition by Hellesdon High school which will be a first for that space. Geoffrey Lefever has kindly submitted a review of our current Theatre Royal exhibition which follows. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- '20 Group at the Theatre Royal' Review by Geoffrey Lefever The current exhibition is to be seen in the Adnams Bar of the Theatre Royal and will close on the 29th of September. Those who have not yet seen it but now make the effort will find the ‘20 Group’ at its eclectic best. The show comprises moderately sized works on paper, paintings, drawings, prints and mixed media. Within this range is to be found pieces that both surprise and delight. Artists whose work one has known and admired are found to be developing in unforeseen ways, pushing the boundaries and producing vibrant images, whether representational or totally abstract, full of humour, pathos or the shear enjoyment of the activity of making art. Clearly the present 20 Group, perhaps bursting at the seams, is no rest home but rather a hothouse where anything would appear possible. I am reluctant to select a few works for particular mention where there is so much that is good / splendid. The Adnams Bar is not the best of exhibiting spaces with restricted areas and where double hanging is necessary and where works cannot have the space to do them full justice. However the artists themselves together with Sarah Cannell’s selecting and hanging are to be roundly applauded for what is a greatly enjoyable show. When I was at art school many years ago, I was advised by , 'if you want to improve your practice as an artist or designer, collect ephemera, collect resources and references for your work' and so I have. Not in an organised way as an archivist or museum collector might, but scattered around my home and studio a constant source of provocation and inspiration - the work of others around me.
The subject of this exhibition appealed to me. I went to see it at the Barbican at the beginning of the year. The Barbican is a difficult space and it looked rather as though someone had set up car boot stalls in the bays of a multi-storey car park. But I enjoyed the exhibition there and was curious to see how it would transfer to the very different spaces of the Sainsbury Centre. I also found the concept interesting - this idea of linking the artists' own practice with the items that inspired them enough to create a collection, or even count as an obsession Pae White for example has a massive collection of scarves and textiles designed by Vera Neumann - although creating an impressive display at the bottom of the stairs in the gallery, only a portion of the whole collection are used - but what an array of colour and design greets you - an inspiration to kick off with. Pae's own work, a three-dimensional piece constructed of brightly coloured wire is hanging in the light well nearby and can be viewed from above and below. Not knowing Pae and her work, I googled her and came across this quote on Wikipedia. Of the concept behind her work, White has said: "For the last several years, my practice has focused on an exploration of the neglected, the forgotten, the spaces between things, even the things between things. I am equally drawn to the temporary, the fleeting, to the ephemera of everyday life. My work has attempted to subvert the viewer's expected relationship to an everyday object, nudging them off balance, encouraging a deeper look.” [4] So ephemera again, and it is all around us, enabling even the most modestly-funded individuals the opportunity to collect something that stirs them. And this is what I like about this exhibition - that it touches people at all levels of society and celebrates the idea of becoming obsessive about one particular kind of item - there is often a fine line between how one is viewed - a collector (positive) and a hoarder (negative). And what a strange variety of things people choose (or maybe the items chose them?). Martin Parr collects 20th century British postcards - hundreds displayed together offer a history of British culture and you can kind of understand how that collection started. But how about his collection of tins featuring Soviet space dogs? Whoever even knew that so many tins depicting the poor canines who were shot off into space and celebrated in their mixed fates? But there they are, in one cabinet, together. And so it goes on down the corridor to the main gallery space including Andy Warhol's collection of kitsch cookie jars - not exactly a space-saving collection but embued with domesticity and the kitchen as is much of Warhol's work including the soup can on display and the portrait of Pom, Lady Adeane's dog, painted by Warhol in 1976. Pom has a strong local (Norfolk) connection as Lady Adeane was the mother of Henry Cator who was at the exhibition opening – the Cators have a long history of supporting the arts in Norfolk. In the main gallery, the space has been cleverly divided to move you between the collections of bizarre taxidermy, glass eyeballs, explicit anatomical drawings, tiny ivory carvings, elephants and railway memorabilia. Howard Hodgkins, Edmund de Waal, Peter Blake, Sol Lewitt - I will leave you to pair them up! I suspect you will never guess who collects what. But perhaps the favourite for many people is the wall of brightly coloured and glittering butterflies and insects by Damien Hirst - it is stunning seen at close quarters, as is the montage display of 24 tiny tropical birds in a glass dome nearby, Hirst's collection. It is clear that you could spend hours at this exhibition, poring over the cabinets of collections and being impressed by the proximity of well-known artworks. There is also an imaginative events programme that runs alongside the exhibition - but most importantly, and invitation to add a photo of your own collection to the exhibition by sending a photo and 50 words via the Sainsbury Centre website (www.scva.ac.uk). You can also book via the site - don't be put off by the time slots as that is just the way the software works - or just turn up as the venue is very spacious. Just allow yourself enough time to be able to absorb the collections and to appreciate the contemporary artworks There are also late nights on Fridays when the Sainsbury Centre is open till 9pm so no excuse not to get there. I would particularly recommend the Live Review on Thursday 24 September in the Elizabeth Fry Lecture Theatre with Bruce Lacey, Rob Hillier and Lynda Morris - I can imagine a very lively and inspirational evening there with such a panel of personalities! Norwich-based arts correspondent Tony Cooper visits Francis Bacon and the Masters exhibition at the Sainsbury Centre Art lovers - particularly those living in Norfolk and Norwich - have a lot to thank the grocery trade for inasmuch as the Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts at the University of East Anglia was established when Sir Robert and Lady Lisa Sainsbury generously donated their art collection to the university in 1973.
And Sir Robert also had the foresight to commission the rising star of British architecture Norman Foster to design a building to house the collection that he and his wife had gathered over four decades of collecting worldwide. In their quest for artwork they sourced work both from major European artists as well as art and antiquities from different periods and cultures around the world. The SCVA (now a Grade II listed building) opened five years after their bequest.Francis Bacon, I guess, had a lot to thank the grocery trade for, too, as Robert and Lisa Sainsbury were important early patrons of the artist and financially helped him while he struggled in his early days. They purchased their first Bacon painting, Study for a Nude, in 1953, then went on to acquire a dozen more canvases while commissioning their portraits from him. Therefore, the 13 Bacon paintings in the Robert and Lisa Sainsbury Collection (which includes the portraits of Robert and Lisa Sainsbury) form the nucleus of works in SCVA’s current exhibition, Francis Bacon and the Masters, which should have the Unthank Glitterati flocking to the Sainsbury Centre in their droves. However, more than 30 paintings by Bacon are included in the exhibition first seen at the State Hermitage Museum, St Petersburg, marking the culmination of the celebrations for the 250th anniversary of the Hermitage concluding with the UK/Russia Year of Culture. Other important loans come from public and private collections from across Britain and Ireland while the Old Masters from the Hermitage (the first time that they have been seen in the UK) include masterpieces by Velázquez, Rodin, Michelangelo, Picasso, Bernini, Cézanne, Titian, Matisse and Van Gogh as well as superb examples of antique Greek, Roman and Egyptian sculpture. But what caught my eye time and time again was André Derain’s Portrait of an Unknown Man Reading a Newspaper while Rembrandt’s Portrait of an Old Man gazed out to me in an inquiring and inquisitive manner. There’s an interesting handful of letters, too, from Bacon to Sir Robert (whom he affectionately called ‘Bob’) asking for financial help. One also gains insight into the mental anguish that Bacon suffered in trying to get started on a painting let alone finishing one. Bacon to Sir Robert (December 1955): Dear Bob, I’m in rather bad money difficulties for the next 3 months andI’m wondering if you could possibly lend me £400 until the beginning of April when I could repay you. I entirely understand if you cannot do this and I hate asking you. The trouble is that the work has not been coming off in the sense that I have not been able to finish things but I feel it is really getting better but in the meantime I have got terribly into debt. I could repay you in April without fail. It has been so good of Lisa to come and sit so often. I feel terribly depressed that the portrait has not come off but I would like to make another attempt after Christmas if she has the time. Best wishes! Yours Francis Six months later (June 1956) he wrote to Sir Robert once again asking for help: My dear Bob! I hope you will forgive me for bothering you at this time but I have been in a bad way mentally and physically for the last few months and I simply cannot work and I feel the only hope is to try and get away for a few months - and perhaps if I get away I shall be able to start working again. Could you possibly lend me £450 for a few months? It sounds a lot but I have an enormous bill for painting materials which I hope to pay before I go about the£150 and the remaining money I could live on while I am trying to work for the show in Paris. I want to do the series on Van Gogh and a series of nudes but I feel I shall never work until I can get away from here. I have not told Erica (Erica Brausen, director of the Hanover Gallery) I have written to you. She is very annoyed with me as I do not produce any pictures for her but I simply cannot. If you could possibly manage this it would be a godsend to me. My very best wishes to you both! Yours Francis On a lighter note, Bacon approved of the Sainsbury Centre wholeheartedly in this letter to Sir Robert (May 1978) Dear Bob! I went to Norwich last week and saw your magnificent collection of sculptures. I think it has been superbly shown and the building is also really magnificent. It is hardly possible to believe the same architect was concerned with Beaubourg (referring to Centre Georges Pompidou in the Beaubourg area of the 4th arrondissement of Paris near Les Halles) which to me is a mess. You and Lisa have really made a wonderful gift to the nation. With all very best wishes to you both! Yours Francis (Bacon, of course, was wrong (or confused) about the architect of the Pompidou. The person responsible was, in fact, Richard Rogers, who actually set up an architectural practice with Foster in 1963 following their meeting at Yale University. A brief partnership, it lasted a mere four years.) A self-taught artist, Bacon was a good friend of Norwich-born artist Michael Andrews (he included Bacon in one of his finest works, The Colony Room) and with Andrews he was part of a group that fellow-artist and American-born painter RB Kitaj termed the ‘School of London’ in the catalogue of an exhibition staged at London’s Hayward Gallery in 1976 when minimalism and conceptualism were high fashion. Since then, the term has been used in referring to this group who continued to practice forms of figurative work in the face of the avant-garde establishment. Other key artists associated with the group included Lucian Freud, David Hockney (though he actually lived in America), Frank Auerbach and Leon Kossoff. As minimal and conceptual art began to fade in the late 1970s, a new generation of figurative painters/sculptors began to appear who took a renewed interest in the work of the school. Bacon’s obsession with the art of the past is brought fully into focus in the exhibition showing the influence that past masters had on him. Many of Bacon’s works are juxtaposed with masterpieces by some of the greatest painters/sculptors you can think of highlighting and exploring Bacon’s working methods and ideas as Professor Paul Greenhalgh (Director: SCVA) explains more fully: ‘Bacon felt intensely close to his painter forebears - the grand masters - and he endlessly made use of them in the search for his own language'. Like Picasso, he was an eclectic Modernist, who took what he needed from the art of the past to make it the art of the present. This exhibition is about the use of the past by one of the greatest modern painters: the past re-interpreted and refigured in the psychologically tense, frenetic world of a man searching for meaning at the boundary edge of life.’ ‘I’m sure that I have been influenced by the fact that Michelangelo made the most voluptuous male nudes in the plastic arts,’ Bacon commented. He was fascinated by sculpture and powerfully drawn to this ‘engineer’ of the High Renaissance and owned many books and catalogues of his sculpture and had no less than three copies of Friedrich Hartt’s The Drawings of Michelangelo in his library. The male nude was a principal subject for Bacon and he appropriated both classical sculptures and contemporary images of gymnasts and wrestlers, creating compositions of raw physicality and explicit sexuality. The exaggerated postures of Michelangelo’s figures echo throughout Bacon’s work. One sees this very clearly in a plaster cast made around 1884 of Michelangelo’s Crouching Boy taken from the original in the Hermitage. The work’s referenced in Bacon’s Two Figures in a Room as well as in Figures in a Landscape. Bacon was no doubt drawn to the bone structure and in particular to the spinal column that appears to be barely contained by the thinnest layer of skin. Bacon described the effect as a spine that ‘almost comes out of the skin altogether’. There’s also documentary and archive material of great interest such as Perry Ogden’s photographs of Bacon’s (one big hell of a mess) studio, palettes, books, catalogues and materials owned by the artist and loaned by Dublin City Gallery, The Hugh Lane, which acquired the artist’s studio and recreated it as a room for visitors to view. (The gallery, by the way, is named after Sir Hugh Percy Lane best known for establishing Dublin’s Municipal Gallery of Modern Art (the first known public gallery of modern art in the world) and for his remarkable contribution to the visual arts in Ireland including The Lane Bequest. He died on board RMS Lusitania torpedoed by a German U-boat on 7th May 1915.) And as for Bacon’s concerns about money in his early days, he would have smiled at the thought that his Three Studies of Lucian Freud (whom he had a big fall-out in the late 1970s) went for just over 142 million dollars at a Christie’s auction in New York a couple of years ago. I wonder what ‘Bob’ would have thought? The creative team behind Francis Bacon and the Masters deserve a bow: guest curator Dr Thierry Morel (Director: UK Hermitage Foundation) responsible for Houghton Revisited 2014, Lisa Renne (State Hermitage Museum, St Petersburg), Amanda Geitner (Chief Curator: SCVA) and Calvin Winner (Head of Collections: SCVA). Francis Bacon and the Masters run to Sunday 26th July. Admission: £12, concs £10.50, family ticket £32 www.scva.ac.uk It is already claiming 5 star reviews and it hasn't even launched yet. But the national press are bound to be all over such a high-profile exhibition. It opens to the public on Saturday and already ticket bookings have been flying for this highly anticipated show. With loans of works from The Hermitage in St Petersburg this promises to be a block-buster of the same calibre as Masterpieces.
I am gong to the Press preview and will update with a review when I have seen the exhibition. Measnwhile, this talk will be Francis Bacon and the Masters Opening Panel and Live Review Tuesday 21 April 6.15pm Elizabeth Fry Lecture 1.02 Price £8/£6 concessions NUA and UEA students are FREE! Join three panellists chaired by UEA academic Simon Dell for an evening of lively discussion and analysis of Francis Bacon and the Masters. Contemporary painter Robert Priseman, whose works converse closely with those by Francis Bacon will be joined by Martin Hammer leading academic on Francis Bacon and British Modernism, and by Tate Curator Carol Jacobi, expert in the field. An event not to be missed. Tickets are selling fast but it would be great to have NUA and UEA students and they can come for FREE! As I was out and about on Good Friday delivering copies of Music in Norwich, I took the opportunity to pop in to Norwich Cathedral to see the piece of work installed there by Norwich Contemporary Arts Society in a 4-part exhibition positioned around the city in 4 locations: Norwich University of the Arts, Norwich Cathedral, Norwich Castle Museum & Art Gallery and The Cathedral of St John the Baptist, Norwich.
Although I knew that I love her work as I have seen several pieces before, I wasn't really prepared for how much it moved me, nor how impressive the sculptural work and craftsmanship is. I was left with an overwhelming feeling that this piece was saying something so profound about humanity and that it will be around in centuries of time, being studied by our descendants many years hence who will have a sense of how we are from this set of sculptures - like we study the Easter island sculptures or Aztec icons. I can't quite tell you what they will conclude, or what the figures are telling us now but somehow, it is an expression of who we are and how we relate to each other : love, concern, worry, fear, compassion, courage - it is all reflected there in powerfully featured faces and expressive eyes that will tell the world about us in years to come. Ana Maria Pacheco was head of fine art at Norwich School of Art (now Norwich University of the Arts). During her time in Norwich she made friends and developed a bind with the city. Many people are thrilled to have her work here and it has been so skilfully curated by Keith Roberts for the Norfolk Contemporary Art Society (NCAS), in association with Pratt Contemporary. It feels very special for Norwich. I have only seen two of the works so far - at Norwich Cathedral and another at the NUA Gallery in St George's Street when I went to the opening. It was so crowded it was hard to see the work as the art community of Norwich turned out to greet Ana Maria in person. Curator Keith Roberts said “Ana’s art encompasses large and enduring themes; violence, journeys, death, love, transformation and metamorphosis reflect her high seriousness, but at the same time her work is neither pompous nor devoid of humour.” All I can say is that you should go and see, and take the time to be able to look at each piece - as far as I can tell each piece is carved out of a tree trunk, an ash tree I am told - making use of the natural curves of the trunk but still enabling a hugely sophisticated finish of paint, eyes and other additions to create the fine detail. The exhibition are in place for some months but each have different dates so check the details here LAST FEW DAYS:SPRING DISCOUNT FOR ART FAIR EAST 2015 DEADLINE APRIL 5TH 2015We are pleased to offer a 10% spring discount on applications for our June 2015 event. This applies to stands booked and paid for before April 5th 2015. Book now to avoid disappointment. Stands are being offered on a first come, first served basis to successful applicants.
DOWNLOAD AN APPLICATION PACK HERE Reach New Audiences by Exhibiting at Art Fair East 2015 Our mission is to showcase national and international galleries, artists, collectives and dealers to an Eastern region audience of art collectors and businesses. Art Fair East 2015 takes place in the spectacular setting of Saint Andrews Hall, at the heart of Norwich city centre. The City is one of the UK’s major retail destinations and boasts a number of commercial galleries and museums. Through national and regional advertising in luxury life style and visual arts publications, the fair aims to draw an audience from across the East of England. The event will be further supported by an ongoing PR campaign, strategic partnerships, 100,000 flyers distributed during the lead up to the event and ongoing promotion during the fair. Visit : artfaireast.com for full details Copyright © 2014 art fair east, All rights reserved. Our mailing address is: info@artfaireast.com Exhibition of sculpture by Ana Maria Pacheco opens tomorrow Tuesday 17 March at The GALLERY, Norwich University of the Arts St George’s Street, Norwich, NR3 1BB www.nua.ac.uk/thegallery An exhibition of major sculptural work by internationally acclaimed, award-winning Brazilian-born artist, Ana Maria Pacheco produced over the last four decades takes place in four different locations across the City of Norwich (Norfolk) opening simultaneously on Tuesday March 17. The four locations include Norwich University of the Arts, Norwich Cathedral, Norwich Castle Museum & Art Gallery and The Cathedral of St John the Baptist, Norwich. The exhibitions are curated by Keith Roberts for the Norfolk Contemporary Art Society (NCAS), in association with Pratt Contemporary. Curator Keith Roberts said “Ana’s art encompasses large and enduring themes; violence, journeys, death, love, transformation and metamorphosis reflect her high seriousness, but at the same time her work is neither pompous nor devoid of humour.” The exhibitions run for different periods of time from Tuesday 17 March - you can find full details in the Art in Norwich booklet here and a full press release below
Hidden In Plain Sight
An open submission staff show at Norwich University of the Arts Gallery Tuesday 27 January – Saturday 28 February From tomorrow, the Gallery at Norwich University of the Arts features an open submission show of work by our staff selected by Professor Nichola Johnson, Visiting Professor in Art Curation and Hannah Higham, Curator of Contemporary Art, Norwich Castle Museum & Art Gallery. This exhibition reflects the active engagement of NUA staff with creative practice and features a range of work in arts, design, architecture and media, some of which is also available for purchase. A part of NUA's 170th birthday celebrations, this exhibition showcases work that achieved recognition as world-leading in the recent UK Research Excellence Framework and offers an opportunity for our students and our wider University and regional communities to share and celebrate the creative outputs of staff at the forefront of teaching and research. Hidden In Plain Sight NUA Gallery 27 January – 28 February 2015 Gallery open Tuesday – Saturday, 12 – 5pm Admission FREE www.nua.ac.uk/thegallery @nuagallery EVENING LECTURE - LYNDA MORRIS: NO SUBJECT MATTER: PAINTING HOW YOU SEE
Thursday 5 February, 6.30pm Price: £8/£6 concession Where: Sainsbury Centre Lecture Theatre Booking: essential, call 01603 593199 Lynda Morris, Professor of Curation and Art History at NUA will discuss the differences between the exhibition she curated John Wonnacott & John Lessore: The Life Room and the City at Norwich Castle Museum and NUA Gallery to celebrate the 170th anniversary of NUA's founding in 1845, and Reality: Modern and Contemporary British Painting. By exploring the relationship between painting and photography, Lynda Morris will develop the ideas of no subject matter, painting what you see and the alternative idea of narrative in figurative painting. |
Author Marion CatlinFollow Art in Norwich for news about visual art activities in and around Norwich Archives
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