Contemporary Painters East, 22-24 January 2016

Contemporary Painters East: show at Freight Gallery, Magdalen Street, Norwich

Contemporary_Painters_East.jpg



Joseph Wang reports:

Freight is the third gallery in the growing portfolio of Anthony George, Norwich’s newest gallery impresario and a former NCAS NUA prize winner. A cavernous rectangular room with double-height, concrete and steel beamed ceiling, makes it feel like the cargo-hold of a large freightliner. Naturally, this also means very large white walls!

Nick Powell

Nick Powell

Ironically, many of the artworks here are deliberately small, almost cameo-like, but with no loss of impact. This is a mixed show of diverse artists, with many paintings relating to the environment, social commentary, a sense of space and peoples. Stretching from portraiture to abstract, and from the familiar to fantasy, many of the works use photographic and digital images to compose the work or be part of it, embracing the eclectic and pluralistic style we see in many mixed shows nowadays. But this does not always detract – the imagery is used with intelligence and empathy. For example, Nick Powell’s paperback-sized paintings of Dixons Chimney in Carlisle, built in 1836 and the tallest structure still standing shows defiance, whilst in his painting of Peenemunde time is frozen in a melancholic past. His other works likewise have a sense of stillness relating to the incongruity of the past against the dynamics of change today. I liked them!

Emily Cole

Emily Cole

Anna-Lise Horsley continues her abstract themes as shown in her “Pandemonium 7” – a riot of colours, shapes and noise! Aaron Fickling’s paintings project in 3-D from the wall. Using mixed media he places diverse imagery within strong geometric shapes merging collage, logos and design, whilst Russell Eade’s paintings of polished metal sheets capture pools of reflected light and distorted images in a very realistic yet painterly manner – he wants you to experience reflected and distorted light.
Finally, recent NUA graduate Andy Rhodes continues with his theme from the Bishop’s Prize, showing paintings within which Norfolk Landscapes meet modern architecture, surrealism and fantasy as well as images from Gattaca! He’s influenced by Jacque Lacan’s theory of illusion, skilfully using traditional oil painting to manipulate and create his version of Futurism. A very mixed and interesting show in our newest gallery!

Freight Gallery
12 - 14 Magdalen Street
Norwich NR3 1HU

NB Sadly the exhibition is only open from 22 to 24th Jan

David Chedgey opens in style at Skippings Gallery, Gt. Yarmouth

Diana Heuvel reports:

SKIPPINGS Gallery, the newly refurbished exhibition space at 133 King Street, Gt. Yarmouth, has now opened with an exhibition of work by CHEDGEY. His witty interactive sculptures, prints and paintings selected from the past 50 years, are delightfully entertaining and cover a wide spectrum of work.

Chedgey, under the tutelage of Frank Auerbach remembers being told that "red advances, blue recedes" - true to this creed the vibrant paintings of Cuban back streets and rockabilly automobiles of the 1950's have the smoky flavour of irresistible invitation while, very differently, Honore Buonaparte, Chedgey's alto ego, gambols on the beach, scantily clad, with the Mitford sisters.

Chedgey's essential tremor is making delicate brush strokes difficult for him, but a charming recent painting of apple blossom outside his window (with a nod to Van Gogh) has a soft freshness.

Visitors are encouraged to 'wind it up and see what happens' or ' open the door' to the surprises of the interactive sculptural pieces, where you will meet fig leaves or tongues, popping or dropping.

His painting above, Me, The Manics and the Man, shows Chedgey (blue jacket), the Manic Street Preachers and Fidel Castro!

His painting above, Me, The Manics and the Man, shows Chedgey (blue jacket), the Manic Street Preachers and Fidel Castro!

The exhibition is open from Wed to Saturday until 13 February, from 11.00 am to 4.00 pm each day.                       

See here for more information about David Chedgey.

India Motorsickle-Alabama

India Motorsickle-Alabama

Claude Cahun at the new East Gallery

Claude Cahun: Beneath This Mask

Caroline Fisher reports:

The exhibition, Claude Cahun: Beneath This Mask might not be an obvious choice for the first presentation in a new space – NUA’s East Gallery has moved in good time for its involvement in the British Art Show 8 in summer 2016 – but it is a thoughtful show and worth a visit. It is an understated and simple presentation of a series of small black and white photographs where the initial impression belies the complexity of the images. Indeed, these are surely some of the most influential photographs of the 20th century.

Claude Cahun was born in France in 1894 and early in her career was allied to the Surrealist movement via André Breton. However during the 1920s she came to live in Jersey where most of these photographs were taken. The prints shown here were reproduced from the original prints, the negatives having been lost.

The images themselves had a huge influence on much of the art made about personal identity during the later 20th and early 21st centuries. Cahun was ahead of her time and blazed a trail that is both familiar and startlingly fresh.

The accompanying leaflet suggests links to artists such as Cindy Sherman, but her work also relates to contemporary artists Lucy Gunning (whose 1993 film, Climbing around my room, was seen at the Sainsbury Centre a couple of years ago) and Francesca Woodman, the American photographer who took her own life at the age of 22.

All of Cahun’s images in the exhibition are self-portraits and many show the artist playing with ideas of gender. She dresses androgynously, her hair is cropped and her body is boyish. There is a sense that she is pushing the boundaries of who and what she is, in terms of costume, body image and setting.

Many of the images are titled simply Self Portrait, in some Cahun is masked or adorned in theatrical costumes or make-up. In some of the photographs Cahun comes across as a theatrical, performative artist who is playing with her own identity and manipulating the viewer. She looks straight at the camera or sometimes
looks out at the viewer, knowingly, at an angle.

Je Tends Les Bas, 1931. Courtesy and copyright © Jersey Heritage

Je Tends Les Bas, 1931. Courtesy and copyright © Jersey Heritage

In other images there is a sense of her vulnerability- in one she is seen reclining, perhaps asleep on the shelf of an armoire. In this, as with several other images, there is a sense of claustrophobia and discomfort, she is like a child hiding from her parents. But the way Cahun positions herself in relation to the viewer is always calculated so that you feel distanced as well as drawn in- a very contemporary way of working. What is more, the power of these images is concentrated by their small size, an effective contrast with the clean white space in which they are hung.

The exhibition runs until Saturday 9 January, so catch it while you can and look out for future shows in this new space- the programme of upcoming exhibitions promises to be an exciting one.

East Gallery, Norwich University of the Arts, St Andrew’s Hill
Tuesday 10 November 2015 – Saturday 9 January 2016

ncas celebrates its 60th Anniversary

ncas was founded as a charitable association in 1956 to promote the interests of contemporary art in Norfolk, and special 60th birthday events are planned for this year. Members can keep up to date with events and activities by consulting this page during the year. Check here for details of two major anniversary exhibitions in September.

Final dismounting of the Ana Maria Pacheco sculpture exhibitions

Ana Maria Pacheco works finally leave Norwich on 15 December after nearly 40 weeks on show!

The exhibition, Ana Maria Pacheco: Sculpture 2015, was held in four separate venues in Norwich and exceeded our original objectives for both visitor numbers and new audiences. Audiences have been higher than we predicted in our original proposal, partly because of the enthusiasm for the installations in the three non-gallery venues. The work in the NUA Gallery was part of their regular cycle of exhibitions, but even in the 26 days that this show was on, 6192 specific visitors saw the work. At 238 people a day, this is twice the number that they have ever had for their gallery exhibitions, the full range of which is 100-150 a day, clearly demonstrating that new audiences were involved. The work in the Castle Keep and in the two Cathedrals in Norwich was a huge success, such that, with the consent and agreement of the artist and her gallery, the end date has been extended twice, first to September and finally to 14 December. We were delighted that this extension was possible, a total over all venues of 845 days, but more interestingly that it was requested by the venues themselves.

Shadows of the Wanderer leave the Cathedral and line up in the 19 tonner, en route for Chichester Cathedral

Shadows of the Wanderer leave the Cathedral and line up in the 19 tonner, en route for Chichester Cathedral


Enchanted Garden, Pacheco’s new series of eight polychromed and gilded alabaster reliefs, reflects the artist’s long interest in the famous medieval alabasters in the V&A and in the Castle’s own collection, and her friendship with the late Francis Cheetham, Head of the Museum, who wrote the definitive book, English Medieval Alabasters. This was the first public showing of these recently completed works and they were installed on the balcony of the Norman Keep near to a new case of some of the Castle’s own medieval alabasters. During the time they were exhibited, there were about 150,000 visitors to the Castle, of which total we estimate that about 75,000 saw the alabasters.

Audiences in the two Cathedrals are likewise much higher than we, or indeed they, predicted. Peter Doll, the Canon Librarian at Norwich Cathedral, besides giving the Lent Sermon on the work, wrote the following:

‘We also continue to be struck by the impact the sculptures have on our visitors. No sooner have we put out a few hundred of the free leaflet than they have disappeared. We’ve lost track of the number of times we’ve had to
photocopy more. The catalogue that goes with them has been a big seller in our shop. The lunchtime talk that we put on after the installation attracted 130 people even though Ana Maria Pacheco was not able to be there on the day. I cannot remember a time during visitor hours when there have not been people studying, walking around, and photographing the installation. It has certainly brought a new audience to the Cathedral – people who have come to see the art, but who then have also noticed the power of its context (so unlike what it would have in a ‘white cube’) and gone on to see the rest of the building. As a result of this installation, we have an audience that sees the Cathedral in a new light – as a place that not only engages with contemporary artists but also places them in the context of an ongoing tradition of art in and for sacred space.’

Sculpture for Norwich project shelved

We have covered earlier the troubled journey of Mariele Neudecker's wonderful projected public sculpture to celebrate the Norwich School of Painters. Sadly, and with huge disappointment, Sculpture for Norwich (SfN), the charity originally set up with funds from NCAS and the Norwich Society, has announced that it has been forced to shelve the project. Good coverage in the local paper can be found to download here. 

That does not mean the end of SfN, however, and they will be moving forward with other ideas for public sculpture in Norwich. See sculpturefornorwich.co.uk for more details.

ncas Auction: Great success

ncas Charity Auction at City Hall raises record £11,500.

ncas_auction.jpg

Every two years, ncas stages a charity auction in City Hall to boost its funds for commissioning new art, and that time came around again on 27 November.  This year Selwyn Taylor, Joseph Wang and their team organised a terrific event, which was packed with punters. One of the highlights of the sale was an oil painting by Maggi Hambling, and by the end of the evening we had raised just over £11,500, a record for our auctions. This means we are in good shape to do even more promoting contemporary art in the region over the next two years, which includes our 60th anniversary in 2016,