Art Installation and Open Evening at St Olave's, Exeter

Wednesday's open evening at the St Olaves art installation was a big success, thanks mainly to the efforts of the organisers, Katie Scott-Hamilton, and Jon Curtis of Venture FX. The exhibitors, Katie, Ruth Carpenter, Karen Tarr, Clare Heaton, Judy Harington, and I produced work in response to the space and history of the church, along with aspects of faith and religion. The exhibition guide, including artist statements, is reproduced here.

The exhibition open evening (Katie centre)

At the open evening over 100 people took the opportunity to mingle with the artists and look at the art on show in this small church at the top of Fore Street in Exeter (details here). The exhibition is only on for three days, from Thursday to Saturday, so drop in between 11am and 4pm if you'd like to see more of our work. Here's a selection of photos:

Judy Harington's pill curtain at the entrance to the church

Pictures hanging either side of the chancel screen by Karen Tarr

Katie Scott-Hamilton staircase work

Katie Scott-Hamilton

Judy's cross of pills

Judy

Karen Tarr's modern day Olaf relics

Ruth Carpenter's portraits

Katie's work (centre)

Ruth's photographs

Clare Heaton

Clare's 'Knowledge' & 'Messenger'

View across the nave - Work by Katie, Steve and Ruth

Judy's 'The Book'

Judy's crosses and Ruth's portrait

Post-exhibition update: There were 200+ visitors during the open evening and the three days of the show. Although most of the works were not for sale, several pieces of merchandise and a good number of postcards were sold. Feedback, both in the comments book and verbal, was all positive. For an interpretive critique take a look at this posting on the Sparks in Electrical Jelly Blog. Overall it was a great experience of a site-specific installation.

Art Installation at St Olave's, Exeter 24-26 July

'Re interpretation' is the second exhibition by a number of (mainly) first year FdA students taking place outside of Exeter college this summer. The venue is St Olave's Church at the top of Fore Street, Exeter and it is open from Thursday 24th to Saturday 26th July, 10am to 4pm. There is an open evening on the preceding Wednesday from 6 to 8pm.

The site-based installation is a collaboration between six artists, and Jon Curtis from the Methodist venture fx project, with the parish of Central Exeter. Katie Scott-Hamilton, Ruth Carpenter, Karen Tarr, Clare Heaton, Judy Harington, and I have been working in response to the space and history of the church, along with aspects of faith and religion. Why not drop in and take a look at this all-new selection of work?

St Olave's Church at the top of Fore Street, Exeter

Summer Break: Exeter College Student Fine Art Exhibition at TAAG

Summer Break, an exhibition of work by Exeter College First Year Fine Art Foundation Degree students at TAAG in Teignmouth, got off to a good start today (Saturday). There were 186 visitors to the main gallery and most of them looked at our work also. The weather was kind and there was something of a carnival atmosphere due to a live jazz band and the bustle created by a Craft Fair in Northumberland Place, immediately outside the gallery.

Below are a few snaps giving of the varied work on show, which mixes pieces from the College Summer Show with other material by students.

The exhibition is on daily for the rest of this week, from 10am to 4pm, until Friday 11th, if you want to pop in and check it out. A full photographic record of the works exhibited can be accessed here.

Post-exhibition update: We had a total of 540+ visitors over the seven days of the exhibition and, even though most of the exhibits were not for sale, we sold one painting and a number of postcards. Overall, great fun and a terrific learning experience.

Cate Le Bon at Exeter Phoenix

We were both knackered on Friday night and were in two minds about whether to go and see Cate Le Bon at Exeter Phoenix - However, we're glad that we did.

The support act was Tender Prey (Laura Bryon, below) - all power chords and shouty vocals. On another day we might have appreciated it more - But it was ok, and she did manage to command the attention of the good-sized audience who had come to see Le Bon.

I'd heard several people praising Cate le Bon and the reviews were intriguing: A folkie who sings in Welsh and English and who numbers amongst her influences the Velvet Underground. In fact, she was a revelation. Dressed in a Hawkwind-style long silver dress she played some cool psychedelic guitar riffs while delivering vocals which were often more pure sounds than a vehicle for her lyrics.

She has the stage presence and style of a Nico-like chanteuse and between the songs her accent actually sounds more Scandinavian than Welsh. The band seemed a bit younger but played together with Le Bon in a very tight unit: The drumming was crisp and the bass punchy. The second guitarist really came into his own when playing keyboards. He  managed to coax the sounds of a mellotron, a farfisa, - whatever was needed - to produce appropriately psychedelic and discordant chord shapes which brilliantly complemented the guitar work by Le Bon.

The audience loved it - A number were obviously longtime fans. At the end, contrary to what is often the case, we all genuinely wanted to hear more. I'll definitely be checking out her latest CD, Mug Museum.

Le Bon and her band were going on to perform at Glastonbury the next day. Below is a taster - a clip of her performing 'Sisters':

And here is a link to the set in full (for a while, anyway).

Royal Academy Summer Exhibition

The Royal Academy's Summer Exhibition is now underway until 17th August. Reviewers say it's worth going along to see the huge variety of painting - or perhaps just to view Cornelia Parker's black and white room. If you look carefully you may spot Anna Grayson's Arnolfini Wedding pastiche (shown in blog post here), which was selected this year from the 12,000 hopefuls submitted, and which has already sold, along with a growing number of prints.

Anna with her pastiche (in gold frame) at the RA private view

On Saturday I'm going along to the Matisse cut-outs exhibition at Tate Modern and, before that, to the Plymouth photography degree show tomorrow evening. So it should be a good weekend.

Mathew Sawyer at Spacex until 12th July

He would probably hate it but ‘quirky’ is surely the right word to describe Mathew Sawyer. His work is wry and amusing, but also warm, familiar and even, in a way, nostalgic ... and I mean that in a good way.
 

There are more serious underlying issues in his stuff but they are well wrapped in a sugar coating of comedy. He is the slightly odd but amusing bloke next door who you wouldn’t mind having a pint with.

 

This is Sawyer’s first solo show in a public gallery: A mixture of work spanning a number of years which includes paintings, ‘art documents’, a bit of sculpture, some digital artwork and a couple of videos. It’s all quite interesting – even if there is nothing which really shocks or surprises.
 

The more I think of it, the more I think that ‘quirky’ is the right description of what he does – although at times I get an uneasy feeling that he is straying into Jeremy Beadle territory with his anonymous intrusions into the lives of strangers. The most appealing of his pieces I found to be the one about the owl in his garage – until it turned nasty and (spoiler alert) the owl encountered the snake.

If you see him playing guitar with his band you realise that he is actually from a different time. At 37 years old he has been doing his stuff, music and art, for well over ten years - and I suspect he seemed out of his own time when he started. Musically, he’s difficult to place. He seems familiar but didn’t we stop listening to this kind of stuff years ago? 

He can, perhaps, be likened to a sort of melancholic Billy Bragg - but without the politics or the edginess (and that’s not really Billy Bragg, is it?). He appears slightly worried throughout the set but is also amusing, reassuring and comfortable – even when he starts singing in Exorcist-like voices. By the way, check out his video in the gallery foyer and you will see him ‘out-Oursler’ David Bowie by seven years, just by sticking his head through a hole in a box.

This sounds as though I disapprove. Don’t get me wrong: Even though the art and the music seems familiar it’s all enjoyable - and surely it does no harm to revisit more comfortable times?

After all, the underlying questions about how people relate to one another, and the need for community and support are, more than ever, relevant to our lives today - aren’t they?

So, check out his stuff at Spacex. I defy you not to smile wryly ...

Teign Artists' Days of Art at TAAG - Last days

I called into TAAG yesterday and found that the Teign Artists' Days of Art is showing this week. The exhibition includes the work of several artists who are regular exhibitors here, including Josie Gould, Petra Lewin, Marta Killey, and Pat Bray (see previous post). All of these produce interesting work and Petra Lewin, in particular, seems to be breaking new ground with some bigger and bolder pictures. Also on show is some work from Elizabeth Rashley, who does exquisite linocuts.

The biggest surprise, though, is the terrific electronic material produced by Ben Yates (www.photocubism.com). Here are a few snaps:

The exhibition is only on this week until the end of Friday - So check it out while you can.