Anonymous

Friday March 8 to Wednesday May 1, 2019, Dartington Space Gallery

The artists in this new show, Nicky Cornwell, Karen Hawkins, Judith Israel and Jenny Thorburn,  first encountered each other in May 2018 on an art.earth short course called Context and Form: Art and Writing led by artist Chris Drury and poet Kay Syrad.

During that week they immersed themselves in art making on the Dartington Estate responding to a challenge set by Kay and Chris: to attend to ‘being-with’ the Earth and to see it as a source, as opposed to a resource.

Collective attention was concentrated on experiencing creativity in and with nature, using what each encountered as the source through which to explore form.  Time was spent looking outwards, encouraging a sensitivity towards those things that arose as the unintended consequences of their own presence. The work that emerged was ephemeral and tentative, sensitive collaborations with nature.

Having continued to evolve these ideas beyond the course they have come together again to re-present the experience and to show new artwork.  This represents the first time that an  art.earth course has inspired such collective intent to share the insights it offered in an exhibition.

The work shown is diverse in form and material; from watercolour and prints, to drawings, objects and video. Whilst each artist reveals their own personal visual language, the shared lineage is clear, ‘being-with’ is echoed by a deep sense of reflection and observation, drawing this work together into a shared crucible.

Meet-the-artists Reception:  Friday March 8, 18:00

[Main image: Judith Israel print (detail)]

Find more information about the gallery, hours and directions

For more information about the gallery, hours and directions, go here.

Memory and observation

Friday May 3 to Thursday June 13, 2019, Dartington Space Gallery

An exhibition of work by Clare Heaton, Katy Oxborrow and Laura Denning: a series of moments, pauses, memories and observations drawn in very different ways and in different media. 

Clare creates felted vessels and wrappings about which she says: ‘The vessels are matted together with the moment, sentiment, memory, conversations, meetings and reveries.  The felted wrappings envelope flowers and nature, catching a memory and a moment in time…. There is a magic in the making, an alchemy, an unpredictability.  With the wrappings I endeavour to catch the soul of living matter, its quiddity, impression, gesture.  They become a collection of spirits, totems and small things that are other-worldly, strange, magical and enchanted.’

Katy works with various drawing media and with collage. Several of the works in this exhibition are directly drawn from trees at Dartington. ‘[Tree] bark’ she tells us ‘is like a curtain, concealing the unknown.’ This work prefigures the next exhibition in the gallery and across the estate which focuses entirely on trees and woodland and how we live with them.

Katy tells us that ‘the process of producing the works…evolves organically and is all consuming and immersive. I use the medium of painting in all its variety, combined with collage, found text, layering and mark making, to create a personal response to the natural world around me.’

Laura’s work is less figurative and more conceptual, but still rooted in the natural world. ‘Rhyne & Huish’ she tells us ‘is a long term project which seeks to uncover secrets within the Somerset landscape that can help us to be better prepared for living in a wetter world. This transdisciplinary project uses sound, moving image, photography, drawing, collaboration, experimental geography and performative ethnography as research tools.’

First Fridays happen (surprise!) on the first Friday of every month, except January. First Fridays is a gathering place for artists or anyone interested in the arts, an opportunity to share food and talk. Each month, after lunch, there is an informal presentation of work in progress by one or two artists who may be local or from far away.

You can check out details on our events listing on Facebook.