Bridget Bailey: Art in the Making

Event date: 31 January 2024
Review by Danusia Wurm

Bridget Bailey. Image courtesy of bridgetbailey.co.uk

‘‘I’d love to be thought of as a sort of textile Darwin, exploring nature and recording and translating what I learn into materials and making”

Bridget Bailey

“Wow” is a very small word to sum up the enthusiastic reaction to Bridget Bailey’s talk, organised jointly by ncas and the Norwich School, to a full house at the Blake Studio.

Brought up in North Yorkshire with an inherent passion for the natural landscape, Bridget’s career has evolved from textiles, through millinery, and into artworks over the 40 years she has been “making”. 

Her fragile artworks and sculptures combine intense observation and intricate making, with the down-to-earth approach to life and death of an allotment gardener.

From the fragile rolled edge of a tiny pea pod to the sleek plumpness of the humble worm, Bridget creates work of breathtaking delicacy and beauty.

ncas are grateful to The Norwich School for kindly hosting this event as part of ncas’ talks programme at their excellent Blake Studio.

Visit to Brüer Tidman’s Studio Gallery and the Hippodrome Circus, Great Yarmouth

Event date: 19 December 2023
Review by Danusia Wurm

The mid December drizzly gloom disappeared on entering Brüer Tidman’s vibrant gallery, situated in an old fishing warehouse in the industrial heartland of Great Yarmouth.

Superbly curated by Brüer, ncas members were treated to an extraordinary selection of paintings, prints and sketchbooks dating back to the 80s, when Brüer turned to art full-time. His works, using a range of oils, acrylics, watercolours, pastels, wax mixed with pigments and even builders’ sand - ‘beach sand is too salty for the canvas’ -glowed with luminosity and colour. In contrast to his semi abstract work, a series of striking black and is white head portraits gazed directly from the walls.

One floor up, we were also welcomed to Mark Cator’s elegant studio which hosts regular Utter Nonsense exhibitions, music recitals and collaborative workshops.

Located across the road, Brüer’s studio sits above a precariously steep flight of steps. Brüer explained that the large, light room, full of music - the Rolling Stones - and his latest work, was originally used for mending nets as evidenced by small holes in the walls used to stretch the mending lines.

Among the artwork and sketchbooks on show were numerous works inspired by the iconic Hippodrome Circus where Brüer was artist in residence for some years. It was a wonderful curtain raiser for the Hippodrome’s Christmas Spectacular. Featuring a range of acts from around the world and the superb water spectacular, the performance also included young dancers from the local Estelle Dance School based at the Hippodrome.

Post performance, members were also able to visit the Back Stage Circus Museum, an astonishing collection of eclectic circus and music memorabilia curated by Hippodrome owner, Peter Jay. The wonderful retro circus-themed Cafe 1903 also proved popular with the group.

In all, it was a fascinating, memorable and engaging visit.

Our thanks go to Brüer for his time and generosity in welcoming the Group and talking about his work; the hugely helpful Hippodrome Circus Management Team and Selwyn and Janey for organising.

Review by ncas trustee Danusia Wurm

Will Gompertz in conversation with Rana Begum RA

Event date: 27 May 2023
Review by Danusia Wurm

Rana Begum RA

Organised as part of the Norfolk & Norwich Festival 2023, ncas was delighted to host a conversation between the Barbican’s Artistic Director, Will Gompertz and acclaimed visual artist, Rana Begum RA.

Born in Bangladesh in 1977, Rana Begum is a London-based artist whose work distils spatial and visual experience into ordered form. Through her refined language of minimalist abstraction, she blurs the boundaries between sculpture, painting and architecture.

“I realised that my connection to light began very early on.”

— Rana Begum RA

In a wide-ranging conversation, Begum described her earliest influences and the development of her practice, focussing on the importance of light which is fundamental in her work. She attributes her fascination with light to her childhood in rural Bangladesh, which she left when she was eight, to settle in the UK. Begum states “I realised that my connection to light began very early on. I found it fascinating just to watch the change of light in the rice field, or the water of the bathing pool, which was always flooded in sunlight – I remember my mum telling me off when I sat there staring.”

Her first visual memory of the UK was light reflecting off snow, as the plane landed on the snowy airport runway. The enchanting, myriad ways that light gleams from different surfaces and spaces have remained her abiding obsession.

Educated at the University of Hertfordshire, the Chelsea College of Art and the Slade School of Art, Begum paid tribute to her tutors who encouraged her to work and experiment in various disciplines and mediums. While a student at Hertfordshire University she was particularly drawn to the work of American abstract artist Agnes Martin, it was also that year that she first became interested in the relationship between light, colour and form. Her visual language draws from the urban landscape as well as geometric patterns from traditional Islamic art and architecture. She is a huge proponent of maquettes which help visualise the interplay of light within and outside her installations.

Begum was first recognised internationally in 2017 when she was awarded the prestigious Abraaj prize at Art Dubai for her installation No 764 Baskets, which was subsequently installed in St Peter’s Church in Kettles Yard, Cambridge in 2018. Typical of her work, the resulting cocoon-like installation drew on childhood memories, in this case, of basket weaving in her village in Bangladesh, as well as time spent reading the Qur’an at the local mosque, where the dappled morning light, sound of the water fountain and the mesmeric recitation created an atmosphere of peaceful concentration.

Begum also discussed other installations including Piece No 670, rhythmical steel layers, part of her Space, Light and Colour show for the Sainsbury’s Centre 2016, No 814 coloured glass panels at the Frieze Sculpture Park, Regents Park London, 2018, Infinite Geometry No 1066 , an intricate brick pathway at the Wanas Art Foundation Sweden 2021, Catching Colour, suspended sprayed cloud like mesh at the Botanic Square, London City Island 2022, and, most recently, No 1225 Chainlink, an ephemeral yellow painted chain link fence structure at Desert X 2023, in Los Angelos’ Coachella Valley.

The variety of mediums used are a tribute to Begum’s early training and inclination to experiment. Her works effortlessly absorb and reflect varied densities of light to produce an experience for the viewer that is both temporal and sensorial.

Will Gompertz is a world-leading expert in the arts. Having spent seven years as a Director of the Tate Galleries followed by eleven years as the BBC's Arts Editor, he is now Director of Arts and Learning at the Barbican Theatre. As someone who did not develop an interest in art until adulthood, Gompertz is determined to dispel the layman’s fear of the modern art world and those who inhabit it. In his own words “I was a late starter” and only developed a life-long love of art after encountering Willem de Kooning’s, Rosy-Fingered Dawn at Louse Point in Amsterdam’s Stedelijk museum when visiting with his then girlfriend, who he went on to marry.

Throughout his career, Will has focused on driving innovation and change, opening up the arts to the widest public. He has interviewed and observed many of the world's leading artists, actors, writers, musicians, and directors. He is the author of See what You’re Missing (2022), Think Like an Artist (2015) and What are you Looking At? (2012)

Will Gompertz

Review by ncas trustee Danusia Wurm

An evening with OUTPOST and the work of artist Hazel Soper

Event date: 9 May 2023
Review by Danusia Wurm

I lived here once and you killed me, Hazel Soper

“Committed to the uncompromising presentation of contemporary art”

— OUTPOST

Facilitated by Norfolk based artist Carl Rowe, Norwich School's Blake Studio hosted a fascinating talk on OUTPOST, an arts run charity presented by OUTPOST Committee Chair Maddie Exton and the work of one of its alumni, multimedia installation artist Hazel Soper. 

‘Committed to the uncompromising presentation of contemporary art’ OUTPOST was founded in 2004 under the inspiration of Lynda Morris, then Norwich University of the Arts (NUA) Professor of Curation and Art History, in response to the recognition of a lack of affordable studio space, and as a means to keep graduating artists in Norwich.

Run by a Steering Group of volunteer creative members, OUTPOST runs 85 affordable studio spaces in Gildengate House in Anglia Square, as well as the OUTPOST Gallery, which stages about five exhibitions a year.

OUTPOST has been exceptionally successful in nurturing young talent who often have been selected to show at prestigious art shows including Frieze and its members have attracted significant arts grant funding. Additionally, the curatorial and administrative skills acquired by members have led to new careers in small galleries across the country.

“I think imagination is imperative to create a different, alternative, inclusive future for us all”

— Hazel Soper

Hazel Soper is a video installation artist, exploring the effects of technology and capitalism on women’s autonomy. Referencing traditions of female labour, she often uses textiles to create installation elements, alongside close-up, non-narrative video pieces. Collage also has a strong presence throughout her work, both with analogue collages, and through the juxtaposition of appropriated text in video, audio and print form.

Her latest haunting installation I Lived Here Once And Then You Killed Me explores women’s histories and British folkloric traditions. It specifically looks at the local legend of the ‘Somerton Witch’, who was buried alive inside St Mary’s Church. Before dying, the Witch cast a spell on her wooden leg which grew into a tree that eventually destroyed the Church, as such the centre of the community and symbol of the control and values that repressed her.

“I think imagination is imperative to create a different, alternative, inclusive future for us all. Folklore and stories also reflect our beliefs as a society, and which roles we are expected to play. As an angry feminist, I think it's important to revisit and re-examine which roles we are cast into and why - and if we want to be one of someone else's story at all”.

Review by ncas trustee Danusia Wurm

A talk by Harriet Loffler, Curator of the Women’s Art Collection, Murray Edwards College, Cambridge

Event date: 4 April 2023
Review by Danusia Wurm

Hebe and Her Serpent, Maggi Hambling CBE

Harriet Loffler, Curator of the Women’s Art Collection based at Murray Edwards College, Cambridge, delighted a discerning audience with an insight into her work as Curator, including the history, nature and significance of the Collection - and its future. 

The superlative Collection, the largest of contemporary art by women in Europe, is a celebration of women’s agency and creativity, an art historical record and a living, evolving body of work. At the heart of its founding mission is the principle of collaboration and community in which women take centre stage.  

Today the Collection includes over 600 works by leading international artists, including Barbara Hepworth, Dame Paula Rego, Maggi Hambling CBE, Lubaina Himid CBE, Judy Chicago, Tracey Emin CBE and Cindy Sherman. 

Housed, not in a traditional gallery, but in the working college environment, Harriet explored the challenges this brings to maintaining the Collection, including those of deterioration, vulnerability and storage but also its advantages as an integral part of student life. She also raised issues of adding to the Collection, what criteria to adopt to reflect the collaborative nature of its origins, and whether to change from receiving donated work, to purchasing works. 

Built as a “manifesto for the education of women”, the Murray Edwards (formerly New Hall) College is a fitting recipient for the Collection. The iconic brutalist building was designed by architects Chamberlin, Powell and Bon , who went on design the Barbican Centre in London.

The Collection is open to members of the public and is free to visit, 7 days a week. 

The ncas talk, held at the Blake Studio, was one of a series of ncas talks kindly hosted by the Norwich School.

Review by ncas trustee Danusia Wurm

A talk by Carl Rowe, Artist and former Head of Fine Art, Norwich University of the Arts

Event date: 21 March 2023
Review by Danusia Wurm

“The objects that I deploy in my artwork remain constant and have appeared repeatedly over the years, each time in a new guise, sometimes as metaphor and sometimes as themselves”

— Carl Rowe

Exceeding Limits of the Box, Carl Rowe

What influences an artist's work? The audience at The Blake Studio were treated to a fascinating insight by Norwich-based artist and academic Carl Rowe whose work, over the years, has consistently featured cans, sticks, pipes, food, dust and traps "like the most reliable actors in a repertory theatre group". 

Graduating with a MA in Fine Art from Manchester Polytechnic in 1985, and a former Associate Professor and Course Leader in Fine Art at Norwich University of the Arts, Rowe creates paintings, prints, drawings and objects. He describes his art as switching back and forth between an engagement with socio political issues and subconscious renderings. "Despite this seemingly disparate approach, the objects that I deploy in my artwork remain constant and have appeared repeatedly over the years, each time in a new guise, sometimes as metaphor and sometimes as themselves". As such, they might be described as "hero" objects. 

Rowe often uses a surface layer of humour, absurdity and the arcane to mask a strong undercurrent of concern for humanity. A memorable example is Banquet for Ultra Bankruptcy, (2013) based on the Marinetti manifesto and, Synaesthesia /3 developed in collaboration with Simon Davenport for Art Laboratory Berlin, where the two artists combined the performative with artistic research on a cultural history of the senses.

Rowe explained that more recent works wrangle subjects such as gases, particulates, pollen, eels, traps, calibrations, marker points, fonts, logos and domestic objects within seemingly nonsensical and vexing associations. At times, geometric forms, lines, and shapes intersect or abut exactly. Elsewhere, they misalign, glance or overlap. Real space coexists with imaginary space in an implausible graphic paradigm. There is a strong sense of duality and unseen forces at play. Colour is notable, in some works naturalistic and low key, but in others it is ramped-up to a feverish vibrancy. 

Rowe has an international profile as both an artist and an academic. He is an artist member and studio holder at OUTPOST in Norwich and member of the Printmakers Council. His work has been exhibited widely in the UK as well as in Germany, Spain, Portugal, Ireland, Italy, Canada, US, Estonia, Japan, Malaysia and Egypt. In addition to studio production he has also worked on public art including billboards, print portfolios and hospital art including work for Woodlands Mental Health Unit at Ipswich Hospital and  Northside House Forensic Mental Health Unit. 

Carl Rowe

Review by ncas trustee Danusia Wurm

Maggi Hambling CBE in conversation with Francesca Vanke

Event date: 20 February 2023
Review by Danusia Wurm

Polar Bear, Maggi Hambling 2019

“Drawing is the basis of everything I’ve ever done”

— Maggi Hambling

"It’s all about feeling. The eye, the heart, and the hand", declared internationally acclaimed artist Maggi Hambling during a wide-ranging conversation with the Norwich Castle Museum’s Senior Curator, Francesca Vanke, at a packed Norwich School Blake Studio. 

The Brigadier, a portrait of her lifelong friend Penny Allen, nee Colman, and The Laugh, two examples of her exceptional series of portraits, perfectly exemplify Hambling’s maxim "every portrait is like a love affair".  

No stranger to controversy, Hambling also touched on the arguments that have surrounded her sculptures, A Sculpture for Mary Wollstonecraft, A conversation with Oscar Wilde and Scallop.  Featuring, amongst other works, Hambling’s haunting Heron in the Shallows, Polar Bear and part of The Edge series, Hambling shared her life-long love of nature and passion for the wider environment.  "My work is directed by life – the climate crisis, melting ice caps, pollution in the rivers, the sea devouring our coast." 

She has no fear of death. The Happy Dead series shows a flip side to death with souls looking to the stars. Hambling’s more recent abstract seascapes owed more to Constable than Turner she explained. 

Happily, Hambling continues to teach art "to hand on, to give back". 

She left an enthralled audience, with her mantra "to draw every day. Drawing is the basis of everything I’ve ever done". 

Maggi Hambling with The Laugh. Image PA

Review by ncas trustee Danusia Wurm

The Singh Twins in conversation: Slaves of Fashion, Hidden Histories

Event date: 11 January 2023
Review by Danusia Wurm

Singh Twins in conversation with Dr Rosy Gray

“Theirs is an art that is impossible to pigeonhole.”

— Sue Herdman, Editor The Arts Society Magazine

The Singh Twins enthralled a packed Norwich University of the Arts Theatre as they explored the creative process behind their latest hard-hitting political artwork, Slaves of Fashion, Hidden Histories.  Cohosted by Norwich Castle Museum and Art Gallery and Norwich University of the Arts, The Singh Twins were interviewed by Dr Rosy Gray, Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art at Norwich Castle. 

A surprise encounter with the ‘Indienne’ textiles at the Slavery Museum in Nantes, provided the inspirational spark for Slaves of Fashion, Hidden Histories - an exploration of hidden narratives of empire, colonialism, conflict and slavery through the lens of India’s historical textile trade. 

Featuring original digital mixed medium light-box artworks, drawings and paintings by The Singh Twins, as well as objects from the artists’ personal archive and participating museums and galleries, the artwork also explores modern day legacies and debates around ethical consumerism, racism, and the politics of trade. 

In their own words “If you care about the environment and you care about human rights, then you should really care about what you put in your shopping basket too, and that’s partly what the message of Slaves of Fashion is about. But it’s equally about redressing neglected and hidden histories, showing how we are all connected through a shared colonial heritage and how our understanding of global narratives around Empire can help us to view ourselves and the world around us in a new light.” 

Describing their creative practice as ‘Past-Modern’ as opposed to ‘Post Modern’, their highly decorative, narrative and symbolic work, is essentially a modern revival of Indian miniature painting within contemporary art practice. But their distinctive style is much more eclectic. In addition to the Indian miniature tradition of painting, they also draw on the artistic language and conventions of other traditions, east and west, old and new - including ancient Greek and Roman, Persian and Medieval European manuscripts, European Renaissance art, 18th Century British Satirists, the Victorian illustrators, Pre-Raphaelites, Art Nouveau, and pop culture, as well as symbolism, pattern and photography. There is seriousness, wit and mischief in their art. 

The Singh Twins have always collaborated in their art practice. Often working in tandem on the same image, they use a range of tools, materials and modern digital and traditional techniques to create their artwork. Meticulously researched and exquisitely detailed, their highly decorative and intricate ‘miniatures’ are painted by hand, whereas their large-scale fabric light box pieces are produced digitally incorporating details from digitally scanned hand-painted and historical material. This helps them achieve rich, detailed and multilayered work with precision. Their large-scale digital fabric artworks are then stretched over light-boxes to add intensity and luminosity, further enhancing the bold colours. 

The Arts Society's Magazine Editor, Sue Herdman observes  "Theirs is an art that is impossible to pigeonhole. It is about craftsmanship and beauty, global politics and wider issues, human connections, hidden histories, shared heritage and identity". 

As part of the Slaves of Fashion project, The Singh Twins were commissioned to create a companion work in response to selected objects from the Norfolk Museum Service's collection.

This resulted the mixed-media image Alternative A-Z of Empire using an 18th century jigsaw puzzle, titled Inhabitants of The World Alphabetically Arrang’d, as its starting point. The work was made possible with generous support from Art Fund, The Friends of Norwich Museums and Norfolk Contemporary Arts Society and is now on permanent display in the Norwich Castle Museum & Art Gallery. 

Review by ncas trustee Danusia Wurm

Laurence Edwards In Conversation with Derek Morris and Andy Campbell

Event date: 19 November 2022
Review by Derek Morris

The Yoxman, Laurence Edwards

A reflection on the evening by Derek Morris.

On the evening of Saturday 12th November, a sizeable audience of ncas members, students, staff and sixth formers from the Norwich School gathered in the school’s Blake Theatre to watch a film about the making and installation of a new work by Laurence Edwards, the Suffolk based sculptor. After the film, 3D Design and Creative Projects Co-ordinator Andy Campbell and I asked Laurence questions about his practice and his journey to arrive at the point of being one of the most significant figurative artists of our time.

The film gave us clear insights into the creative development and manufacture of the work, The Yoxman, the eight-meter high bronze figure which is permanently based by the A12 road at Yoxford in Suffolk. The extraordinary vision and intense energy required to achieve such a successful work continued to be evident as Laurence’s answers to the questions asked by Andy and me revealed Laurence’s intellectual and imaginative energy, not to mention his physical energy, in creating such a truly monumental and heroic figure.

The possibilities for Laurence himself in making such a large sculpture in bronze lie in the many years of experience he achieved as a jobbing bronze foundry man, and the accumulation of equipment and appropriate spaces that allow him to be completely in control of the conception and construction of his sculptures. This makes for an element of spontaneity in the working process (which is unusual in bronze casting) and that the special qualities of bronze as primarily a fluid material go a long way towards achieving the unique qualities of his sculptures.

Laurence Edwards in his studio

Review by sculptor Derek Morris