David Cass
I have very fond memories of the time I spent as an artist in residence at Joya: arte + ecología in Andalucia, Spain back in 2011 (here are a few images from my visit).
So it's been great to read of artist David Cass' time spent working in this unique landscape.
We're great fans of David's work. I remember being particularly impressed by his degree show at Edinburgh College of Art from where he graduated in 2010, receiving the Royal Scottish Academy’s John Kinross Scholarship to Florence.
As Guy Peploe of The Scottish Gallery explains...
“David Cass has an innate understanding of matière; a sensitivity to material, it’s texture, tone, pigment, weight and beyond this its context, history and emotional resonance. He works with found objects and by an act of appropriation and minimal intervention – perhaps merely turning the front of a drawer through ninety degrees – he creates works of art with quiet authority."
A large part of the work David is creating during his time at Cortijada Los Gázquez will be exhibited in an upcoming show, during the summer of 2015, with The Scottish Gallery. His new works are taking his exploration of water (and the sea), a step further - these new works on paper (informed by his recent photographic and film works) illustrate both real and imagined scenes of flooding, inundation and destruction. His landscape exploration has developed, and he's taking time to learn new methods of response - film, photography, writing and sound.
You can view more of David's work over at his website.
David Cass - Artist in Residence from Joya: arte + ecología on Vimeo.
Brita Granström
We recently made an overnight stop in Newcastle upon Tyne - to see Brita Granström’s paintings at the University Gallery.
On the ground floor are her lively illustrations for The Beatles - a book on which she has collaborated with her husband Mick Manning.
Upstairs is an extensive exhibition of Brita's bold paintings - often the result of working in the great outdoors, whatever the weather.
Many of the paintings depict her native Sweden where she includes family and friends in the landscape - fishing, swimming, hanging washing to dry. Others include black hollyhocks, cow parsley or the orange stems of pollarded willows and views to calm interiors.
The exhibition runs until 31st October 2014 at University Gallery, Northumbria University, Sandyford Road, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 8ST.
All of the works being exhibited can be viewed in a PDF file via the gallery's website.
Jonny Hannah – Greetings from Darktown
Just published by Merrell is Jonny Hannah's wonderful 'Greetings from Darktown - An Illustrator's Miscellany', the first book devoted to the work of this popular illustrator, printmaker and painter.
Born and bred in Scotland, Jonny Hannah now lives by the sea in Southampton, but he also resides in Darktown – a mysterious coastal town, not found on any map, peopled by pin-up girls, jazz artists and tattooed sailors. Darktown is home to the Unquiet Grave junk emporium; the Mermaid Café, where folk legend Woody Guthrie still plays each week; McVouty’s vintage clothes shop; and a pier with a condemned helter skelter. Joining Hannah on his trip to downtown Darktown are the writers Philip Hoare and Peter Chrisp, who explore the eclectic influences on Hannah’s work, and Sheena Calvert, who introduces a special typographic catalogue of hand-drawn lettering. As he tours Darktown, Hannah presents his prints and paintings in thematic chapters reflecting his passions, and bids farewell to his alter ego, Rocket Man, who inhabits the darkest corners of pop culture.
Find out more about Greetings from Darktown or view a selection of Jonny Hannah's limited edition prints.
In April 2015 we'll be hosting an exhibition of Jonny's work in Edinburgh which will incorporate prints, paintings, music and spoken word. Sign up for our gallery newsletter for details.
And later in 2014 we'll be launching Jonny's first wallpaper for St Jude's, the follow up to his fabric The Captain's Pattern.
Brita Granström – The Night Swimmer
We're looking forward to seeing Brita Granström's latest exhibition in Newcastle which runs until 31st October 2014.
For this exhibition, The Night Swimmer, Brita draws upon her Swedish roots to blur the boundary between observation and imagination, reality and dream. In a narrative sequence that opens with playful domestic studies and bedroom interiors she leads us at dusk, by way of farmyard and orchard, to a lake where women struggle with storm-blown washing, and a dark jetty awaits the night swimmer.
Brita’s paintings leave room for interpretation and imagination, allowing us to make up our own Midsummer night’s dream; however serene or haunting.
The exhibition runs until 31st October 2014 at University Gallery, Northumbria University, Sandyford Road, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 8ST. Visit their website for further details.
Brita Granström and Mick Manning also collaborated on a contribution to our fundraising journal Random Spectacular No. 2.
Random Spectacular No. 2
We're delighted to announce the forthcoming launch of the second edition of Random Spectacular - a collaborative exploration of the visual arts, literature, music, travel and much more.
Contributors include Mark Hearld, Angie Lewin, Emily Sutton, Ed Kluz, Ralph Steadman, Jonny Hannah, Christopher Brown and many more.
All profits from this issue will again be donated to Maggie's Cancer Caring Centres who St. Jude's have been pleased to support over the years. We raised over £6,500 with the first issue of Random Spectacular and hope to beat that with issue no. 2.
Find out about how you can express an interest in purchasing a copy.
Ed Kluz at Pentreath & Hall
From 4th-14th July 2014 Ed Kluz is exhibiting a series of new works with our friends at Pentreath & Hall, shown alongside a selection of original works and prints by Eric Ravilious and Edward Bawden.
Ed is fascinated by the objects of our cultural heritage. He seeks out the eccentric, the lost and the overlooked. Follies, curiosities, vanished buildings and folklore inspire artworks which explore themes of renewal and reinvention.
To date Ed has designed two fabrics for St Jude's, Painswick and Lionheart, with more in the pipeline. We worked with Alun Callender on this film about Ed's work.
Amongst the new works being exhibited are (from top to bottom below) The Rushton Triangular Lodge (scraperboard - £975), Blickling Hall (linocut - unframed £225 - edition of 18), King Henry's Hunting Lodge, Dogmersfield Park, Hampshire (scraperboard - £875), Kew Palace (scraperboard - £745).
From 4th to 14th July at Pentreath & Hall, 17 Rugby Street, Bloomsbury, London WC1N 3QT. Telephone 020 7430 2526. Open 11am–6pm Mon–Sat.
Aftermath
Our friends Jennings Fine Art are hosting an exhibition of British Art produced between 1914 and 1939 at The Art Workers Guild in Bloomsbury from Monday 16th until Saturday 21st June 2014.
The exhibition features work by a number of artists including Eric Ravilious, A S Hartrick, Paul Nash and William Larkins.
The exhibition also features a newly editioned linocut print by Marthe Armitage, commissioned for the exhibition. 'Tiger Moth' was originally cut as a wallpaper repeat but is available from the exhibition in an edition of 25 copies.
Aftermath - British Art 1914-1939 runs from Monday 16th June to Saturday 21st June 2014 at The Art Workers Guild, 6 Queen Square, London WC1N 3AT. Open 10am until 4pm.
Further details are available from neil@jenningsfineart.co.uk
William Larkins - Work or Roadmen - etching, 1925
Paul Nash - The Sluice - lithograph, 1920
A.S. Hartrick - On Munitions: Dangerous Work (Packing TNT) - lithograph, 1917
Marthe Armitage - Tiger Moth - linocut, 2014
