Mark Hearld’s ‘The Lumber Room: Unimagined Treasures’
Visitors to the newly reopened York Art Gallery will be able to pick up one of these souvenir broadsheets, created by the artist Mark Hearld as part of his curated exhibition The Lumber Room: Unimagined Treasures.
The Upper North Gallery has been transformed to reflect one artist’s vision of a Lumber Room – a room of miscellaneous stored objects and artefacts.
For the past two years, York-based artist Mark Hearld has been visiting the stores of the Yorkshire Museum and York Castle Museum as well as York Art Gallery researching the objects and artworks to include in the exhibition.
His choices include textiles, costume, oil paintings, works on paper, furniture, and taxidermy, many items of which have not been on public display before.
Alongside these are new works that Mark has created especially for the show which are inspired by the collections. The exhibition is influenced by a short story called The Lumber Room, by Saki, which was read to him in an English class when he was 15.
Mark explains…
“Since I heard Saki’s story I have always been intrigued by the idea of a locked room that contained treasures so wonderful they are beyond what your mind can imagine. In this exhibition I wanted to create the sense of excitement and wonder that you get when you discover the key to the room and see the “forbidden” objects for the first time.”
Visit the exhibition at York Art Gallery, Exhibition Square, York YO1 7EW. Find out more from the York Art Gallery website.
You might also like to view Mark's range of artist design fabrics and wallpapers for St Jude's.
Ultramarine on Northey Island
In early July 2015, Random Spectacular No. 2 contributors Ultramarine played live on Northey Island, a National Trust property in the Blackwater estuary, off Maldon, Essex.
Although the island is generally leased to private tenants, once a year the Trust takes back the island for Castaway, a wild camping experience.
Music has always been an important aspect of the Castway weekends and this year Ultramarine (Ian Cooper and Paul Hammond) performed a live set (accompanied by saxophonist Greg Heath) which included Decoy Point, a track from their 2013 album This Time Last Year, which was inspired by the Blackwater landscape.
You can listen to three of the tracks performed live below.
To find out more about the duo, visit the Ultramarine website. You might also enjoy Ian Coooper's Survey East journal.
LTM Recordings have also reissued a number of early Ultramarine releases.
Thanks to Ultramarine's Ian Cooper and LTM's James Nice for the photographs included here.
Dark Movements
Artist Clive Hicks-Jenkins is currently exhibiting a series of works at Aberystwyth Arts Centre.
The Mari Lwyd or ‘grey mare’, a Welsh midwinter tradition, has been a key influence Hicks-Jenkins' work. Dark Movements is a multi media presentation of works inspired by the story. The exhibition includes a number of works from the original series of large scale drawings which the artist made following his father's death; works articulating a private grief and fear as well as exploring deep rooted cultural beliefs. Exhibited alongside these are new paintings and animated film using the artist’s puppetry figures, as well as examples of the ‘shadow puppet’ models which Clive uses in his painting practice. Puppets and models from the 2013 performance of the chamber work inspired by the artist's Mari Lwyd series, ‘The Mare’s Tale’ (composer Mark Bowden and librettist Damian Walford Davies) are also on show.
The exhibition runs until Saturday 25th July 2015 at Aberystwyth Arts Centre. Full details
Find out more about the artist's work via his website.
The Citadel (2015)
Acrylic, gouache and oil-based pencil on board. 59 x 84 cms
Yarden. The Citadel (2015)
Acrylic, gouache and oil-based pencil on board. 59 x 84 cms
Horse/Man (2015)
Acrylic, gouache and oil-based pencil on board. 59 x 84 cms
Detail of the Dark Movements Toy Theatre (2015)
Mixed media
Veil (2015)
Acrylic, gouache and oil-based pencil on board. 59 x 84 cms
David Cass
Opening on 2nd July 2015, 'Tonight Rain, Tomorrow Mud' is the second solo exhibition of David Cass' work at The Scottish Gallery in Edinburgh.
Cass’ 2013 solo show ‘Years of Dust and Dry’ was a great success where he transformed the gallery by installing some 200 found object based paintings which spoke of loss, decay and time.
As well as artworks that describe his travels over the last two years, Cass' newest work is inspired by the devastating floods which swept Florence in 1966 and Paris in 1910. He uses these historical events as point of focus to tackle the extremes of drought and inundation.
Cass explains...
“I began creating these artworks late in 2013: 47 years after the flood which claimed at least thirty lives in Florence itself. I first visited Florence in late 2010, on a Royal Scottish Academy scholarship. I’ve returned several times since 2010, and my artistic response to the city has gradually developed. Inspired by artist James Hogg’s set of letters written from Florence during November 1966 (published in Dear Eddie & Popp by S.A.C.I.) this series of studies are as much an attempt to introduce a new element into my practice as they are explorative responses to the history of this catastrophe.”
Created with semi-hardened vintage paints, on antique papers and framed (in most cases) in antique frames ‘Tonight Rain, Tomorrow Mud’ features paper-based artworks, created in Almería, Florence, Lucca and Paris.
The exhibition runs from 3rd July until 1st August 2015 at The Scottish Gallery, 16 Dundas Street, Edinburgh EH3 6HZ. Find out more via David Cass' website or The Scottish Gallery
Brick House
If you're familiar with the work of Edward Bawden and Eric Ravilious you probably will know of the Brick House in Great Bardfield in Essex. This was their home, along with their wives, Charlotte and Tirzah, for a few years in the 1930s.
The illustrator and printmaker, Alice Pattullo, has recently created an ingenious and characterful fold-out replica of the house for Design For Today. With rooms filled with the objects you would expect to find from cats and patterned wallpapers to Bawden's printing press and cast iron bench, there's a wealth of detail. There's even a sheet of cut out extras including the two artists themselves looking rather like Gilbert and George.
Alice Pattullo is an illustrator and printmaker working in East London. Her work can be found at the V&A, The Higgins, John Soames Museum, Cecil Sharp House and in the pages of design and illustration magazines, Alice is inspired by the folk traditions of England and influenced by the mid-century printmaking of artists such as Edward Bawden and John Piper.
Design For Today was founded by Joe Pearson, an established collector and writer on mid-century lithography. As one of the country’s experts in his field Joe has given talks at several institutions such as the Double Crown Club, St Brides Printing Library, The House of Illustration and the University of East Anglia.
Find out more and purchase a copy of Brick House from Design For Today’s website.
Our Highland studio
Earlier in the year we were visited by our friends from Country Living, along with our photographer and friend Cristian Barnett.
Some of Cristian's photographs appeared in the April issue of Country Living but several more are published in Country Living Modern Rustic which is available from magazine stands now.
Cristian also made this short film about the making of my wallpaper, Nature Table.
Shell Posters
This Thursday (4th June) Christies will be auctioning an incredible collection of Shell posters which belong to Hugh Wickham, ex-head of marketing at Shell. It’s a long story with several twists and turns along the way, but all the proceeds from the sale of the posters are going straight to the Regeneration Fund of St John’s Church in Kingston-upon-Thames to help with the considerable cost of refurbishment.
The collection comprises 20 lots of approximately 42 posters from the Golden Age of Shell advertising and includes iconic images from artists and designers such as Edward Bawden, Ben Nicholson, Duncan Grant, Paul Nash, Graham Sutherland, Richard Guyatt, John Armstrong, Abram Games, Tom Eckersley and Eric Lombers. They are mostly from the ‘You Can Be Sure of Shell’, ‘These people Use Shell’ and ‘To Visit Britain’s Landmarks’ campaigns and date predominantly from the 1930s, with a few from the 1950s. It really is a remarkable group with great provenance and it’s a great opportunity to acquire a piece of classic British advertising history.
To find out more visit the Christies website and look for lots 17 to 37.
