Sussex Modernism at Two Temple Place
Looking forward to visiting the latest exhibition at Two Temple Place in London where Sussex Modernism - Retreat and Rebellion has just opened.
Created by the Bulldog Trust in partnership with nine museums and galleries based in Sussex (including Ditchling Museum of Art + Craft, Charleston, De La Warr Pavillion, Towner Art Gallery and Pallant House Gallery) the exhibition examines why artists and writers were drawn to the rolling hills, seaside resorts and villages of Sussex in the first half of the 20th century, creating artistic communities whose innovations developed alongside political, sexual and domestic experimentation.
Curated by Dr Hope Wolf, Lecturer in British Modernist Literature and co-Director of the Centre for Modernist Studies at the University of Sussex, the exhibition runs until 23rd April 2017. Visit the Two Temple Place website for opening times.
David Jones The Garden Enclosed, 1924
Oil paint on canvas © Tate, London 2015
John Piper View of Chichester Cathedral from the Deanery, 1975
Ink, watercolour and crayon on paper © The Piper Estate / DACS 2016
Eric Gill Icon (for Divine Lovers), 1923
Courtesy of the Ditchling Museum of Art + Craft
Emergent Landscapes
Over the past couple of years we've had the pleasure of working with artist, writer, musician and cultural geographer Rob St. John on several projects. Rob and Tommy Perman contributed to our Random Spectacular No. 2 journal, discussing their Water of Life project and we've since collaborated on the Concrete Antenna 12" vinyl/print release and the Creative Edinburgh Awards shortlisted Score Tae The Toor book/CD.
Emergent Landscapes is a collaborative installation at Tate Modern Switch House, exploring the boundaries between art, geography and the Anthropocene. Between 9th-11th December 2016, Rob invites the public to participate in the creation of new visual and sonic sculptures that will continue to evolve beyond the Tate Exchange space.
From the layering of a soundscape echoing visitor contributions, reflections and perceptions to the collective construction of a cairn, piles of stones that historically act as markers of time and space, Emergent Landscapes will act as a beacon; marking the newly-built Switch House and re-situating its emergence within an ever-changing London landscape.
Once the installation period is over, the whole structure will then be transported to Hooke Park woodland in Dorset, where in collaboration with the Architectural Association and Common Ground charity, it will be made freely accessible to visitors and documented for years to come. Over months and years, the spores and seeds ‘painted’ onto the cairn materials will germinate and grow; to emerge, pattern and even destroy the structure created together.
On 10th December 2016 between 17.00 and 18.00 Rob will introduce the project with an artist's talk and on 11th December between 16.00 and 17.30 Rob will discuss the future of the project with writer, curator and artist Amy Cutler.
Find out more about the project and the free (but ticketed) talk and discussion.
The Lost Watercolours of Edward Bawden
Widely admired today as an illustrator and printmaker, Edward Bawden (1903-89) is hardly a ‘forgotten artist’. Yet one aspect of his career has been neglected until now: his role in the 1930s as a critically-acclaimed modern painter.
The Lost Watercolours of Edward Bawden sets the record straight by bringing together the largest collection of the artist’s pre-war watercolours ever assembled. Most were originally exhibited at one or other of Bawden’s major solo shows – at the Zwemmer Gallery in 1933 and the Leicester Galleries five years later – exhibitions that impressed critics and delighted collectors. Continues below...
It has taken three years to assemble this remarkable collection of pictures, many of which were, as the title of the book suggests, lost. The remarkable quest to find and identify Bawden’s pre-war watercolours is described by publisher Tim Mainstone in an amusing, informative essay, which forms the third part of this richly illustrated volume. James Russell, author of the popular series ‘Ravilious in Pictures’, contributes an introductory essay exploring Bawden’s life and career in the 1930s.
The watercolours themselves are grouped by exhibition, with additional sections of works from the mid-30s and from the decade’s end.
Find out more about The Lost Watercolours of Edward Bawden and purchase a copy from our St Jude's Prints website.
Albion – A Celebration of Britain in Print
We’re delighted to be returning to The Town House on Fournier Street in the heart of Spitalfields for an event co-curated with The Town House proprietor Fiona Atkins.
The building dates from 1720 where silk weavers originally worked and plied their trade.
In addition to a showcase of our artist-designed fabrics and wallpapers we’ll be presenting an exhibition entitled ‘Albion - A Celebration of Britain In Print’ featuring limited edition prints by St Jude’s co-founder Angie Lewin and printmaker Christopher Brown.
Christopher Brown was born in London in 1953. He attended the Royal College of Art where he was introduced to, and eventually assisted, Edward Bawden, the master of the linocut. It was Bawden who encouraged him to explore this medium.
Since then, Christopher has exhibited at the Michael Parkin Gallery, The Royal Academy, The Fry Gallery, The Fine Art Society and the Victoria & Albert Museum.
We’ll also be launching Christopher Brown’s ‘Albion’ wallpaper, his first for St Jude’s, along with Mark Hearld’s ‘Squirrel and Sunflower’ fabric and Sheila Robinson’s ‘Monkeys and Birds’ wallpaper.
‘Monkeys and Birds’ was designed in 1958 by printmaker Sheila Robinson (1925-1988) and was printed by hand to decorate the walls of Cage Cottage, the family home in Great Bardfield. The design originates from Sheila’s hand cut linocut blocks.
A chapter profiling Sheila's work features in 'Bawden, Ravilious and the Artists of Great Bardfield' published by the V&A.
As well as the original colour way, we've worked closely with Sheila’s daughter, the printmaker and painter Chloë Cheese, to create two additional colour ways.
Visit us at The Town House, 5 Fournier Street, London E1 6QE from Tuesday 20th until Sunday 25th September. Open Tuesday 11am-8pm, Wednesday-Friday 11am-6pm, Saturday and Sunday 11am-5pm.
Christopher Brown's 'Albion' linocut
Christopher Brown cutting his 'Albion' linocut
Angie Lewin's 'Sea Pinks' wood engraving
Mark Hearld's 'Squirrel and Sunflower' fabric
Sheila Robinson's 'Monkeys and Birds' wallpaper
Local Heroes
If you're visiting Edinburgh during August and are flying in or out of the airport, do look out for the Local Heroes pop-up exhibition and shop.
Curated by Dr Stacey Hunter, the project's nine designers were asked to ‘reimagine the souvenir’ and produce a unique travel-themed design object. Running from 1–31 August 2016 in partnership with Creative Edinburgh and Creative Dundee it celebrates Scotland’s contemporary designers who embrace colour, pattern and innovative techniques and materials.
The designers involved in the project include our friends Karen Mabon and Tom Pigeon (Karen is also taking part in our current Editions & Objects exhibition at Yorkshire Sculpture Park).
Speaking ahead of the opening of the exhibition curator and Local Heroes Director Dr Stacey Hunter said:
“For many passengers Local Heroes will be their first impression of Scotland and will also form part of a fond farewell. Design is one of the most accessible expressions of 21st century creativity and I’m so excited that we can present a snapshot of Scotland’s colourful and confident design scene at such a unique location. We are surrounded by designers working on the most amazing projects - they trade, collaborate and work internationally. So where is it? Why can’t we see it?! I wanted to produce an ambitious project that showed Scottish design through the lens I looked through. It was also important to me to show Scottish designers that they are noticed and appreciated - and that’s where the name Local Heroes came from.”
Find out more about the Local Heroes project via their website, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
The Local Heroes pop-up exhibition and shop at Edinburgh Airport (photo: Ross Fraser McLean / StudioRoRo)
Designer Karen Mabon (photo: Future Positive Studio)
Karen Mabon's umbrella/sunshade (photo: Stuart McClay Photography)
Karen Mabon working in the studio (photo: Future Positive Studio)
Tom Pigeon's neckpiece (photo: Stuart McClay Photography)
Tom Pigeon's studio (photo: Future Positive Studio)
Gabriella Marcella's Tropical beach towels
Gabriella Marcella in the studio (photo: Future Positive Studio)
The Local Heroes pop-up exhibition and shop at Edinburgh Airport (photo: Ross Fraser McLean / StudioRoRo)
Elizabeth Merriman’s paintings
My friend Elizabeth Merriman is currently exhibiting a series of new paintings at Salthouse Church on the North Norfolk coast in a show entitled 'The Orchard'.
Simon and I were pleased to show Elizabeth's paintings in the first solo exhibition we hosted at our former North Norfolk gallery ten years or so ago.
Elizabeth Merriman completed her BA (Hons) in Fine Art at Canterbury College of Art and followed this with a post-graduate higher diploma at the Slade School of Fine Art where her work was shortlisted for the Barclays Young Painter award. Her work has featured in several London galleries with work now in a number of private and corporate collections including Unilever’s.
Now living and working in East Anglia, Elizabeth’s work has also been shown at galleries in Norfolk, Suffolk and Yorkshire.
Elizabeth develops her ideas through a number of techniques, progressing from pencil to the creation of works in oil.
'The Orchard' is open until Sunday 7th August at Salthouse Church (from 11am until 5.30pm). If you'd like to know more about the paintings, please e-mail Simon via info@stjudes.co.uk
We're hoping to exhibit Elizabeth's paintings in an exhibition in Edinburgh in 2017 - sign up for the St Jude's newsletter to find out more.
All Creatures…
Mark Hearld has curated a new exhibition at Scarborough Art Gallery entitled 'All Creatures...' for which he has selected specimens of taxidermy from the Scarborough Collections.
Mark shared some of the details of this new exhibition with us...
"It has been a delight to take Scarborough's fantastic natural history collection out of the stores and display it afresh - a Galápagos tortoise and an egg from the extinct Great Auk are among many scientifically significant specimens. I took great pleasure in displaying a pair of mute swans and a group coughs restored and remounted for the exhibition by York taxidermist David Astley against aquamarine painted walls in the gallery. The exhibition is collage of forms in space and beauty in nature."
Mark has also created three new works of his own for the exhibition and these collages (of Grey Plovers, a Peregrine Falcon and a Herring gull) will become part of Scarborough Museum Trust's collection. and you'll have a chance to see Mark's largest linocut yet.
Mark takes inspiration from his wonder at the natural world, with animals and plants at the heart of his work. His work encompasses a range of different artistic forms including limited edition prints, unique paintings, collages, hand-painted ceramics. He also designs a range of fabrics and wallpaper for St Jude's.
Scarborough Museums Trust collections manager Jennifer Dunne explains...
"Mark’s work is known and admired around the world, so we’re delighted to have three new images of his as part of the Collections. His view on our taxidermy specimens is unique – visitors to the gallery will see them in a way they’ve never been seen before.”
The exhibition runs at Scarborough Art Gallery until 25th September 2016. Find out more from the Scarborough Museums Trust website.
