Lol Sargent and Peter Higgins will be presenting a talk on 10th May at 7pm in the Norwich School Blake Studio. These highly talented digital artists have collaborated since their multi-award winning work at the Millennium Dome and will discuss why they believe digital sits alongside paint, sculpture and print to become the ‘fourth’ intangible medium. Not to be missed! For more details, see under EVENTS.
Don't miss the Geoffrey Lefever Retrospective at 90!
The Geoffrey Lefever Retrospective at 90 Exhibition is taking place at the Norwich School Crypt from 21 - 29 April, 10am - 4pm. For more details, click the Exhibitions tag.
Our 2022 Programme of Talks has started
On Monday 21 February, we were delighted to welcome Ann Christopher RA as our first speaker since the onset of Covid-19. Many thanks to Norwich University of the Arts for hosting the event in their splendid new Riverside Lecture Theatre. Over 70 ncas members and NUA students attended the event. Anne was in conversation with fellow sculptor Derek Morris, providing an insightful view into inspiration, the creative process, ways of working and the physical making of her work. Ann was accompanied by her partner of 52 years, Ken Cook, who has his own foundry and has cast many of Ann’s sculptures.
For more talks in the series, see under the Events tab. All welcome!
NCA21 Exhibition - an overview
The 'Call to Artists' had a good response with 240 works being submitted by 95 artists.
Works for the nca21 exhibition were selected by an independent panel: Rosy Gray, Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art at Norwich Castle Museum & Gallery, Lee Grandjean, Sculptor and former Senior Tutor at the Royal College of Art and Carl Rowe, Artist and former Associate Professor in Fine Art at Norwich University of the Arts.
The selection process was anonymous and a total of 52 works by 46 artists were selected. It was good to see several students from NUA had joined ncas and submitted work.
Due to the price increase at The Forum, we had to find a new venue for the members show this time round. The Hostry proved to be an excellent space to host the exhibition, fully supported by Sue Bell, the Exhibitions Volunteer, who was very professional and helpful when hanging and taking down the exhibition.
More than 150 guests attended the Private View, Professor Richard Sawdon-Smith, Dean of Arts and Media at NUA formally opened the exhibition and talked about the growing relationship between NUA and ncas.
The ncas prize of £500 for the most outstanding work was awarded to Maria Pavledis for her work Jacket Woman.
The Adnams prize for the most distinctive work was awarded to Geoffrey Lefever for his work Postwick June 2020.
The footfall in the Hostry was very good with a constant flow of visitors to the Cathedral, many of whom stopped to view the show.
Our thanks to the participating artists and ncas members who kindly volunteered to steward the exhibition for a whole three and a half weeks, and to Janey Bevington for organising this.
We were pleased to sell 12 artworks, including 2 from visitors to the city. A 25% ncas commission was applied to these sales.
NCA21 Exhibition - Launched to critical acclaim!
More than 150 guests attended the Private View of the NCA21 Exhibition at the Norwich Cathedral Hostry on Wednesday evening. With so many compliments on the quality of the art and the curation of the exhibition itself, the ncas trustees declared it a resounding success.
Professor Richard Sawdon-Smith , Dean of Arts and Media at Norwich University of the Arts formally “opened” the exhibition and talked of the growing relationship between NUA & ncas.
Professor Richard Sawdon-Smith
The ncas prize of £500 for the most outstanding work was awarded to Maria Pavledis for her work “Jacket Woman”.
Prizewinner Maria Pavledis & ncas chair Chris Mardell
The Adnams prize for the most distinctive work was awarded to Geoffrey Lefever for his work “Postwick June 2020”.
Prizewinner Geoffrey Lefever
The exhibition continues until 4th December. Open Monday to Saturday from 10am – 4pm.
Click here to read more in the EDP’s article featured in Saturday’s weekend page.
(Posted 13 November 2021)
Ros Newman 1939-2021 RIP
It is with great sadness that we have to tell you of the death, aged eighty-two, on Monday 25 October 2021, of the sculptor and long standing NCAS and Norwich 20 Group member, Ros Newman.
In the loving care of her daughter, Delphi, Ros had been physically ailing for some time, though her mind remained sharp as a tack.
We cannot think of a better tribute to Ros than these lines borrowed from past NCAS Chair, Keith Roberts', essay in the catalogue of Ros's solo retrospective exhibition at the Fairhurst Gallery two years ago.
Artists who model in plaster or clay frequently start out by making an initial metal framework, or armature, to act as the support for the modelling material. Ros Newman, ever since developing her unusual oxy-acetylene welding technique in the early sixties, turned this practice on its head, by transforming the welded steel armature itself into the airy, delicate, figurative works that are her instantly recognizable trademark. As she has said, “I found that I could use steel as a modelling material . . . steel found me, and I embraced her with all my passion”. Her method stands in sharp contrast to the (more macho?) ways that iron and steel are more conventionally used; the heavy cast figures of Anthony Gormley, or the static welded steel of Anthony Caro. Currently, one of the very few affinities with her practice can be found in the lively, figurative work of local artist Rachael Long.
She came from a remarkable, artistic family. Her mother went to the Royal College of Art (RCA) and her father, a scientist, co-invented the Altair Design geometric colouring books. They in turn were both from artistic families. Her maternal grandfather was Sir William Rothenstein, painter and principal of the RCA from 1920 to 1935, her uncle, Sir John Rothenstein, was Tate director from 1938 to 1964 and wrote Modern English Painters while her uncle Michael was a noted print maker. This all raises that perennially interesting question of whether artistic talent is in some part familial or whether it is simply socially inherited.
Following her somewhat unconventional early education Ros spent a short time at Chelsea Art School in 1955, but then took various jobs before finally landing up at Hammersmith College of Art as a mature student in the early sixties. It was here that she discovered, became entranced by, and subsequently developed, her own technique of oxyacetylene welding that would become central to her way of working. One of the oldest forms of welding, and rarely used today in an industrial context, oxyacetylene welding uses a very high temperature flame to melt the iron or steel, while a rod can be used to add a new molten pool of metal to the growing work.
Ros used her skeletal skeins of steel to create over the years a joyful menagerie of animated people, animals and birds. Minimalist chickens, cockerels, starlings, and seagulls whirl around with the harlequins, dancers and acrobats all surveyed by lively horses and cheetahs, all seemingly in perpetual motion. Hers is physically tough work but made harder by the fact that she had to adapt her manual processes after breaking both wrists in a motorcycle accident in Taiwan. Her earlier work was made largely in mild steel, which could be polished, galvanized or even plated in nickel or tin, and many of these works were of necessity essentially domestic. Later, and as public-art projects came along, she embraced stainless steel, including welding together worked forms that had been laser-cut from sheet metal. In much of this she was helped by Chris, her late husband, an engineer turned sculptor.
An early example is Bird Flight, commissioned as the result of an intense selection process by the Norfolk Contemporary Art Society and paid for with money from public subscriptions and a raffle of the maquette. For this major new work, she used multiple cutout steel doves that swirl upwards from a quiet pool in the friend’s garden in front of the Oncology Department at the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital. It was installed on a bright and blustery day in June 2005. Many related works since used this basic motif, including Birds in the Wave Garden at Pensthorpe in 2010, Seagulls at St. George’s Park in Great Yarmouth (2008) and Freedom Fighters at Salthouse in 2006 and numerous private commissions. She was represented for many years by the Alwin Gallery in London (later the Alwin Sculpture Gallery, Kent) following her first solo show with them in 1971.
CALL TO ARTISTS - Open Exhibition Deadline 15 September 2021
CALL TO ARTISTS
For an open exhibition of the work of ncas artist members
Deadline for submissions Wednesday 15 September 2021
All artists will be notified by the first week in October
Norfolk Contemporary Art Society is delighted to announce nca21, a major open selling exhibition of recent artwork by artist members of ncas. We aim to attract submissions from artists working in a wide variety of contemporary media. The exhibition will be on display from Wednesday 10 November to Saturday 4 December 2021 in Norwich Cathedral’s Hostry.
SELECTION PANEL
The selection panel comprises Lee Grandjean (sculptor and painter), Rosy Gray (Curator of Contemporary Art, Norwich Castle Museum & Art Gallery), Carl Rowe (artist and academic).
SUBMISSIONS
Artist members of ncas are invited to submit up to 3 pieces of work completed between 2019 and 2021 and not previously shown in public.
Also to be included: your NAME and CONTACT DETAILS, the works TITLE, MEDIUM and SIZE, plus an up to 50 word artist statement.
Images must be in JPEG format, no larger than 3MB each, and with a resolution of 300dpi. Artists are reminded that the selection panel will judge works on the basis of the documentation provided, and that poor-quality photographic documentation may disadvantage the work.
To enter, please download the submission form by clicking here. Please email the completed form to ncassubmissions@gmail.com.
Please send your digital files to ncassubmissions@gmail.com by WeTransfer.
All work must be offered for sale, and the price must include VAT if applicable.
There is a SUBMISSION FEE of £20 for up to 3 works. Please bank transfer the £20 to ncas account, sort code 20-62-53, account no 40680370. A 25% commission will be charged on all sales. A fully illustrated colour catalogue will be produced.
Whilst every care will be taken of the accepted works, neither the Hostry nor ncas can accept responsibility for any loss or damage to work in the exhibition. ncas will arrange for stewards to be present at the exhibition between the hours of 10.00am and 5.00pm
Copyright in all works, including those illustrated in the catalogue, remains with the artist.
NB. If you know of any local artists who are not members of ncas, but who would be keen to submit work to this exhibition, then please do encourage them first to join the society quickly, using the ncas application form, and then to complete a submission form.
To become an ncas member, click HERE.
To download the submission form, click HERE.
Plaque by trustee Derek Morris destined for Bethel Hospital
Paul King kindly broke the news to us that a bronze plaque by our trustee, Derek Morris, that he had designed and had cast way back in 1989, and had lost sight of, is finally to be placed on a wall in St Peter Mancroft church in Norwich. It was originally commissioned by the Bethel Hospital in memory of Mary Chapman, founder of the Bethel. Derek had thought that with the closure of the hospital and its conversion into flats, the plaques would continue to languish in some dusty cupboard and never see the light of day in his lifetime. So, this is good news at this present time of uncertainty. Here it is, using Derek's father’s different alphabet moulds.
Derek Morris
Covid19
Following government advice, ncas is pleased once again to be able to host our usual exhibitions and events, and to promote the shows of our Norfolk galleries and artists.
Protecting our communities, particularly the older and more vulnerable members of society, and our NHS is still a priority.
We kindly ask our members to respect Government guidelines and where appropriate to observe social distancing and wear masks. In line with all organisations, we ask members not to attend public events if they are experiencing any Covid19 symptoms, have recently been in close contact with someone with Covid19, and where possible to take a lateral flow test prior to attending, especially indoor events.
We have been very grateful to our members for their on-going support during these difficult times. We are delighted once again to be able to offer the full range of activities that ncas membership brings. Thank you.
Darren Barker Exhibition
Just a few more days to catch this impressive exhibition in Great Yarmouth by artist Darren Barker. Skipping’s Gallery at 133 King Street, Great Yarmouth, is a 17C listed building that Darren, in his role as managing director with the Great Yarmouth Preservation Trust, has rescued and rejuvenated as a gallery with associated accommodation.
In his other role, as a trained artist, he has had exhibitions both here and also recently with John Kiki in the National Gallery, Sophia in Bulgaria. Deeply influenced by the German expressionists and in particular Max Beckman, Barker has a similar set of recurring motifs culled both from his imagination and from his own past such as the ubiquitous mackerel and pike from childhood fishing trips with his father. These are ambitious, disturbing and vivid canvases and the whole exhibition brings to life the gallery he helped to create.
Skippings Gallery, 133, King's Street, Great Yarmouth
Tuesday 10th December - Monday 15th December
Open 10.00 am to 3.00 pm