Random Spectacular at the Fry Gallery

Artists held within the collection of The Fry Art Gallery have inspired many of the printmakers, painters and designers that we work with, and in recent years we've had the pleasure of reissuing wallpapers by Edward Bawden and Sheila Robinson as part of our St Jude's Studio Archive range.


So it's a great honour to share news of Random Spectacular at The Fry Art Gallery, a collaborative exhibition with an accompanying printed journal.


The title of The Fry Art Gallery's main exhibition for 2020 promises an unusual mix of work from the permanent Collection, much of which has not been shown in recent years, or in the case of more recent acquisitions, this will be their first showing.

The exhibition was due to open in April but this will be delayed due to the COVID-19 virus. We'll post further details regarding the exhibition opening as soon as we can.

The exhibition is not thematic and the eclectic selection of work has been largely curated by over forty individuals from various aspects of the arts world including visual arts, music, theatre, writing and design. Selectors include Angie Lewin, Jeff Fisher, Mark Hearld, Margaret Howell, Jake Tilson, Alex Jennings, Emily Sutton, Jonny Hannah, Eleanor Pritchard, Christopher Brown, Ed Kluz, Alan Powers, Rob Ryan and David Gentleman.

The North West Essex Collection comprises over 3000 works by artists principally from Great Bardfield, Saffron Walden and nearby villages and includes Eric Ravilious, Edward Bawden, Sheila Robinson, Marianne Straub, Keith Vaughan, Michael Ayrton, Robert MacBryde, Robert Colquhoun and Isabel Lambert. There will be work on show by these artists and many more, but also books, ceramics, design, and artefacts from their lives - scrapbooks, letters, sketchbooks, diaries and ephemera.


Accompanying the exhibition will be a collaborative visual and literary journal of the same title designed by Brian Webb. This will be published by our imprint Random Spectacular, with all profits from the book being donated to the Fry Art Gallery Building Fund.

// REGISTER YOUR INTEREST //

If you'd like to register your interest in our limited edition Random Spectacular journal which will accompany the exhibition, please complete this form. We'll be in touch with a link to pre-order a copy in the coming weeks.