British Landscape: Contemporary Art Exhibition at Red Rag Modern Art Gallery, Bath UK (from Sunday 15 May 2011)
The British Landscape exhibition at the Red Rag Modern Art Gallery in Brock Street, Bath features contemporary artistic responses to the natural beauty and diversity of the cherished British landscape.
- (1888PressRelease) April 18, 2011 - All landscapes are constantly changing through the action of both natural and human influences; landscape therefore continues to offer boundless opportunities for artistic expression. In this exhibition contemporary artists of the landscape re-interpret the fascinating, ever-changing British landscape with artistic responses as diverse as the landscape itself.
The exhibition is a completely pleasurable blend of insights into the British landscape, from the coast of Cornwall to the rolling hills of the Cotswolds, from the Dorset coast to the Derbyshire Dales and beyond, captured in an engaging mix of media, styles and expression - from the representational to the impressionistic to the imaginative.
The show includes classic, evocative seascapes and landscapes by David Beer; the crisp, imaginative landscapes of Michael Kidd ("playing with different perspectives, giving the illusion of reality and keeping it simple"); the bold, endearing works of Jo March, exploring the eccentricities of the Cornish landscape and rural life; the remarkably finely detailed studies of rural landscape, especially landscapes with trees, of the British Ruralist Annie Ovenden; the immediate (en plein air) and inspirational soft colour and light responses to the landscape of Rex Preston; the vibrant - sometimes explosive - studies of colour and light in the landscape and atmosphere, of Norman Smith; and the simplified realism and romantic 'railway poster-style' images of Alan Tyers.
Red Rag Gallery Manager, Carine Besse, commenting on the forthcoming exhibition, said, "The British landscape continues to inspire artists with its variety and its seasonal changes of colour and atmosphere. In this show we have brought together a gifted group of artists who each have a long history of spending time in observation and painting these varied landscapes. The show is a brilliant celebration of their dedication and skill; and their love for the British landscape."
David Beer (b. 1943 Whitstable, Kent) originally trained as a teacher then, while still teaching, attended residential courses at the St Ives School of Painting. He was later coordinator of the education working group for the St Ives Tate Action Group, before the Tate Gallery opened there. He moved to St Ives in 1986 and owned the Penhaven Gallery in the town from 1994-2010. Michael Kidd (b. 1937, London) and studied at the Wimbledon School of Art winning a scholarship to the Royal College of Art before working as an art director in advertising in the UK and US. Jo March (b. 1962, Cornwall) read English and European History at Sheffield and returned to Cornwall to paint the local landscape and rural life.
Annie Ovenden (b. 1945, Amersham) studied at the High Wycombe School of Art 1961-65. She is a founding member of the Brotherhood of Ruralists (established 1975), a group who left the city for the country to paint nature; she moved to Cornwall in 1973 and taught painting and drawing for the Adult Education Service from 1992-1999. Rex Preston (b. 1948, Yardley, Birmingham) studied at the Newcastle under Lyme School of Art and Derby College of Art; he worked first as a print designer but took up painting full time in 1969, when he was 21. Norman Smith (b. 1949) studied art and design at Bristol and took up painting full time after a career in teaching. Alan Tyers (b. 1944, Coventry) studied at Coventry School of Art before taking up a career in advertising; he is now a full time artist.
The show runs from Sunday, 15 May 2011 to Sunday, 29 May 2011.
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