cambridge contemporary art

Etching,Sculpture

Shazia Mahmood and Anthony Theakston exhibition at cambridge contemporary art 

exhibitions, ceramics, Painting, Sculpturecambridge contemporary artComment

Shazia Mahmood and Anthony Theakston

exhibition at cambridge contemporary art 

30th March - 22nd April 2018

Shazia Mahmood returns to cambridge contemporary art for her sixth exhibition at the gallery. A recent trip to Holkham, staying in a nearby beach hut has inspired this new body of work and a new palette. The never ending skies and seas of Norfolk hold a special place in her heart.

On Friday 20th April from 6pm to 7.30pm, painter Shazia Mahmood will be in the gallery to chat about her practice. This is a great opportunity to meet the artist in an informal environment and enjoy a glass of bubbly after a long week. This is a free, drop-in event. We kindly ask to register here to monitor the number of visitors during the event. 

Anthony Theakston creates a range of ceramics inspired primarily by bird form and movement. He begins his work by drawing quick sketches from nature to capture a striking form which he then refines these drawings into a design on paper, trying not to lose the initial expressive action which rough sketches can capture.

We are delighted to have such a selection of Anthony’s work. We are the only gallery to show his ceramics during 2017 and 2018.

In the Forest – Paul Smith & Flora McLachlan - 7th-29th October

exhibitions, Demonstrations, Meet the artist, Etching, Sculpture, Printmakingcambridge contemporary artComment

 

Our autumn show at cambridge contemporary art is a forest-themed exhibition with etchings by Flora McLachlan and sculptures by Paul Smith. Their work shares a magical, dream-like quality and both artists are inspired by fables and fairytales.

Flora The first leaves, etching 24x27cm.jpeg
wolf.jpeg
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Paul Smith makes hand-built figurative ceramic sculptures and limited edition sculptures in bronze, iron and marble resin. His work explores the relationship between mankind and the natural world, with a special interest in encounters between humans and animals. Rather than realistic depictions, he is interested in rendering dream-like images, designed to create a feeling of peaceful co-existence between us and nature. Paul is inspired by fairytales and children’s stories, often playfully subverting or reinterpreting them.

Good evening Mr badger_web.jpg
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Equally enthralled by the natural world, Flora McLachlan creates beautiful etchings and paintings of enchanted landscapes roamed by mythical creatures, infused with a sense of mystery. She tries to express a sense of lost or hidden magic, a glimpse through trees of the white hart. Etching is the ideal medium for her purpose, with its high contrast deep blacks and glowing whites creating an ethereal atmosphere. Her work is inspired by medieval English literature, myths and legends. We will have a mix of etchings, drawings, paintings and monotypes, including brand new work.

 

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The exhibition opens on 7th October and runs until 29th October. Both artists are coming to the gallery to hold demonstrations, make sure not to miss these unique opportunities to meet them and see how they create their work. On Saturday 7th October at 11 am Paul Smith will be building his howling wolf sculpture live in the gallery. On Saturday 28th October at 11am, Flora McLachlan will be holding a printmaking demonstration on her miniature mangle press. We hope to see you there! Admission is free but due to limited space in the gallery we kindly ask to register for the Paul Smith event here.

October Exhibition with Niki Bowers, Carry Akroyd and Simon Griffiths

exhibitions, Printmaking, Sculpture, Meet the artistcambridge contemporary artComment

 

Niki Bowers, Carry Akroyd and Simon Griffiths Exhibition

1st – 23rd October

Niki Bowers

Landmark

linocut

Simon Griffiths

Hare (close-up)

ceramic

Carry Akroyd

Hugin & Munin

serigraph

 

Be sure not to miss our Autumn exhibition this year, with beautiful nature-inspired work by printmakers Niki Bowers and Carry Akroyd and sculptor Simon Griffiths.

 

Based in Norfolk, Niki Bowers creates linocut prints inspired by the rural landscape and wildlife surrounding her. Niki makes her prints entirely by hand using linseed oil based inks. If you’ve visited our gallery before, you might have seen one of her popular starling prints gracing our walls.

Painter and printmaker Carry Akroyd has lived most of her life in rural East Northamptonshire. Nature is her favourite subject and her brightly coloured prints depict a wide range of fauna and flora. Carry enjoys experimenting with different media.

Simon Griffiths grew up in rural Durham and this is where he draws his inspiration as well as his great respect for the natural world. He spends a lot of time studying the North Pennine wildlife and countryside before they find their way into his hand built stoneware sculptures.

 

Simon Griffiths

Tawny Owl

ceramic on wood

Niki Bowers

High Summer

linocut

 

Carry Akroyd

Big Turns and Little Terns

serigraph

 

The exhibition runs from 1st until 23rd October. Come to the gallery on Saturday 1st October to celebrate the opening of our new exhibition and meet Carry Akroyd and Niki Bowers from 2 to 4 pm.

Carry Akroyd will be in the gallery again to meet visitors on 15th October from 2 to 4 pm and Niki Bowers will be back on 22nd October from 2 to 4 pm. Come along to the gallery and have a chat with these two wonderful print artists!

Carry Akroyd in her studio

Niki Bowers - Winter Starlings - linocut

Meet the artist - Mychael Barratt

Printmaking, Etching, Meet the artist, exhibitions, Paintingcambridge contemporary artComment

For our new exhibition at cambridge contemporary art, Mychael Barratt has filled the walls with his original prints and paintings,  showing an eclectic mix of themes representing all of his major artistic passions. His work is on show from 3rd -23rd September alongside ceramics by Vicky Lindo, Jane Hollidge and Gwen Vaughan. 

To learn more about the way Mychael works we have asked him a few questions.

How did you get started with your art career?
About 25 years ago, I was walking by the Thames when I popped in to the Royal Festival Hall to get out of the rain. There was a printmaking exhibition on in the foyer and I was so impressed that I started an etching course at Central St Martins the following week. I had been working as a painter before but that was when I started printmaking. 

How do you go about making a new piece?
For big pieces the idea is always the starting point. Once I have the inspiration I start on doing the research and usually don't do any drawing until I've virtually planned the whole thing out in my head. The paintings are much more spontaneous. 

What is your preferred medium/colour pallet to use?
I love both painting and printmaking. As I make them in two separate studios and approach them so differently I couldn't say which is a favourite medium. In printmaking, my heart is definitely in etching.

What inspired the range of work that we have in the gallery?
The work in the gallery was inspired by various things. The 400th anniversary of the death of William Shakespeare has had a huge impact on my work, inspiring at least three pieces. A recent visit walking around Cambridge has obviously inspired a couple of the paintings.

Exit, Pursued by a Bear

A Map of Shakespeare's London

 

We are currently showing your dog works, how do you go about selecting the artist that you paying homage to?
The artists are all ones whose work I admire but the most crucial thing is that little eureka moment when I get an idea that makes me laugh. They are sincere homages made with a huge level of care but are also hopefully quite funny. 

Is it challenging emulating all the different styles of your dog works? What is the style that you are most pleased to have achieved?
Emulating the style of the different artists is always a challenge because it forces me to work in unfamiliar manners. The one I am most pleased with is probably the Turner. I am constantly learning by doing these and painting the Hockney's dogs was definitely the most fun and has probably had the biggest impact on how I paint. 

Turner's Dog

Hockney's Dogs

Which other artists do you admire?
I admire so many artists and have a large art library. In printmaking, Rembrandt, Goya, Hogarth, Chris Orr and Grayson Perry. In painting my heart is definitely with Chagall although I think the way I work is more like Hopper. The list would be endless. 

Could you describe a typical working day?
I divide a typical day up between research and practical work and a perfect day would see me doing some printmaking and some painting. I'm happiest when I have a huge stretch of drawing ahead of me.

How do you see your work evolving in the future?
In the future I plan to do at least a couple more huge maps and carry on with the other strands and themes of my work like the artist's dogs and cats. Really I want to just keep getting better! 

Meet Mychael Barratt in the gallery on Saturday 24 September, 1-3pm. Mychael will be at cambridge contemporary art (6 Trinity Street, Cambridge) showing visitors how he produces his work.

Brenda Hartill, Illona Morrice and Lara Scobie Exhibition

Printmaking, Painting, ceramics, Sculpture, exhibitionscambridge contemporary artComment

cambridge contemporary art is delighted to launch a new exhibition with prints and paintings by Brenda Hartill, sculptures by Illona Morrice and ceramics by Lara Scobie. The exhibition runs from 28th May until 19th June. You and your friends are warmly invited to the exhibition preview on Friday 27th May from 6pm to 7pm.

Brenda Hartill is an innovative British painter and printmaker based in East Sussex. Her work explores the texture, pattern and light of landscape in richly coloured and textured images, often enhanced with silver and gold leaf. Brenda's strong fascination with the primeval, essential structure of the earth and its elements has heavily influenced her prints. While her primary aim is to develop abstract images in the studio, Brenda’s work is firmly rooted in the landscape, and she often finds it necessary to return to it. Whilst known especially for her print-making skills, Brenda has in recent years focussed her attention on a series of watercolours on handmade paper, embossed using her print-making techniques and presses.

 

Brenda Hartill

Cool Sun I

embossed watercolour

Brenda Hartill

Rainbow Storm VI

embossed watercolour

 

Like Brenda Hartill, sculptor Illona Morrice takes her inspiration from the landscape that surrounds her. Living by the sea on the Moray coast in Scotland, Illona uses the rock, stones and wildlife on the beach and in the mountains as a source of creativity. Over the years, Illona has realised she can say more with less, so her sculptures have become more simplified. Her stoneware clay sculptures are individually made by hand, and no two are ever the same. Illona also creates sculptures which are cast in bronze. Each piece is different, and only a small edition is made.

 

Illona Morrice

Penguins

glazed stoneware

Illona Morrice

Terns

glazed stoneware on soapstone

 

Lara Scobie is a ceramicist based in Edinburgh whose work is predominantly concerned with the dynamic interplay between form and pattern. This is explored through the cohesive integration of drawing, surface mark making and volume. Lara is interested in the space that surrounds pattern as much as the hue and texture of the decorated surface. Surface patterns and colour observed in botanical life enable Lara to explore her love of colour and abstract pattern making.

 

Lara Scobie

Bowls

ceramic

Lara Scobie

Set of Pourers

ceramic

 

Brenda Hartill will be giving a talk about her collagraph printing methods, as well as her unique painting and collage techniques on Saturday 18 June at 3pm. Book a free place by email info@cambridgegallery.co.uk, in person at the gallery or over the phone on 01223 324222.

Glynn Thomas Retro-perspective

exhibitions, Demonstrations, Printmaking, Etchingcambridge contemporary artComment

This April, cambridge contemporary art is showing a retrospective of Glynn Thomas’s work in honour of the artist’s 70th birthday.

Glynn Thomas was born in Cambridge in April 1946 and studied illustration and printmaking at the Cambridge School of Art in the 1960s. Glynn then moved to Suffolk, where he is still based today. cambridge contemporary art is delighted to be celebrating Glynn’s career, which spans over five decades. Glynn has been showing at the gallery for over 20 years and is one of the gallery’s best-loved artists. This exhibition will be Glynn’s largest show to date, with hot-off-the-press new etchings, an extensive collection of work created over the last 50 years, and some of his early student work.

 

Cambridge Boat Houses

 

Glynn Thomas specialises in creating limited edition prints from copper-plate etchings which are hand-drawn and painted onto the plate. The entire process, from the direct line drawings in his sketchbook to figuring out the composition and finally etching the plate, is extremely time-consuming. From its conception to the resulting print, one of Glynn's largest etchings can take more than 200 hours of work to create. Each print is individually inked and entirely unique.

St Edwards Passage

 

Glynn Thomas has a very particular take on perspective, hence the title of this exhibition. He often incorporates several points of view to create a more complete overview of a place. In the extremely insightful book "Glynn Thomas: East Anglia, A Different Perspective" by Alan Marshall, Glynn Thomas is quoted as saying:

"I take the view that you are walking through a landscape. You start off with what is in front of you - then I draw what is beyond that and possibly what is behind me. I have a habit of layering things one on top of the other."

He adds that he moved away from traditional approaches to perspective because "Everybody draws things in rectangles, but if you close one eye you see your nose and the elliptical shape of the eye, so I was always intrigued by how each eye sees different things."

Alan Marshall's book is a highly recommended read if you are interested in learning more about Glynn Thomas's work. It is available at the gallery and is £27.50.

The exhibition runs from Saturday April 2nd until Sunday April 24th. You and your friends are warmly invited to meet Glynn at the exhibition preview on April 2nd from 11am until 2pm.

Glynn will also be holding printing demonstrations at the gallery on April 24th from 12 until 4 pm. Do not miss this unique chance to learn how Glynn creates his beautiful etchings. If you would like to attend the demonstrations, please book a free place in person at the gallery, by e-mailing info@cambridgegallery.co.uk or by phoning 01223 324222.

 

The Champion of the Thames

Early Doors