Five Norfolk artists feature in the first show of 2015 at Wymondham Arts Centre.
The muted, merging colours of our fields, the glint of water across marshland, and weather-laden skies star in an exhibition of Norfolk landscape pantings. Landscape Here and Now includes work by Martin Laurance, John Bardell, Sarah Cannell, Tor Falcon and John Midgley
Martin is also curating the exhibition and says: “I chose artists who are all living and working in the region, out in all seasons, getting their boots muddy and immersing themselves in the experience. Although the initial approach, through drawing or direct painting, has similarities, the outcomes are very different.”
He says the exhibition focuses on contemporary approaches.
“My work is characterised by exploring the inner reality or ‘spirit of a place’, while Tor Falcon often searches for repeated patterns and shapes,” he says. “John Bardell walks until a view holds him. The painting is then created from that single strong moment. Sarah Cannell’s emotional connection to south Norfolk’s marshes leads her to search out a response through the medium of a strong graphic line and highly personal colour. John Midgley, by contrast, often works repeatedly from the same motif, searching for that hidden abstract quality that gives a painting its real worth.”
Martin, who lives in Norwich, works in a variety of mixed media and often returns to the same places many times, in different seasons, to create his pictures. John Bardell, also from Norwich, sketches and photographs at the scene, and returns to draw prominent features before completing each work of art in his studio while Sarah Cannell, of Raveningham, near Loddon, is inspired by the wildness of marshland. Tor Falcon lives in Reymerston near Hingham and John Midgley lives in Mundesley.
Professor Arthur Lucas, director of Wymondham Arts Centre says: “Martin Laurance is curating a very exciting show to launch our 2015 season. The body of work exhibited by the five artists, all with highly individual approaches, will look superb, revealed in the natural light of the large windows in our medieval chapel.”
Becket’s Chapel is the oldest building in Wymondham, after the abbey, dating back to 1174. The beautiful chapel, with its hammerbeam roof, was used as a grammar school from the 16th century, and has also been a prison, library and even a coal store.
Martin says: “All the work in this exhibition demonstrates that the tradition of landscape painting is still very much alive and well. The British landscape in general, and the East Anglian landscape in particular, has a deep sense of history, containing both continuity and change that inspires a new generation of contemporary artists.”
Landscape Here and Now runs at Becket’s Chapel, Church Street, Wymondham, NR18 0PH, from Friday, March 20 to Sunday, April 12, and is free and open daily, Monday to Saturday, 10am to 5pm and Sunday, 12pm to 5pm; www.wymondhamarts.com
Art of springtime
Wymondham Arts Centre has a full programme of exhibitions through the rest of the year including this spring:
April 14-26, Trees; prints, photographs and wood sculptures by Martin Pigg, Rob Barnes, Martin Mitchell and Marcus Scott.
April 28 to May 10, Spring Spring Open Submission exhibition.
May 12-17, Blurred Lines; drawing and printmaking by Gillian Charrot and Thea Charrot-Hickling.
May 19-24, Across the border; paintings, prints, mixed media and cloth.
May 26-31, Inspiration; paintings inspired by sea and land, people and animals.
