The best exhibitions to see this week: July 22
Everything Made Bronze – by Graham Ellard and Stephen Johnstone. Filmed using a spring-wound camera, the focus is the play on light in the Gipsoteca plaster cast gallery by Carlo Scarpa in the Museo Canova in Possagno, northern Italy; contrasting with the plaster workshops of Eugenio de Luigi, an important Venice-based collaborator with Scarpa. Commissioned by Film and Video Umbrella. 26th June – 4th August in the Estorick Collection of Modern, Italian Art, 39a Canonbury Square, London, N1 2AN. www.estorickcollection.com/exhibitions
Garry Raymond-Pereira: New Works – a combination of expansive oils and small panels, this collection focuses on empty spaces in landscape around the British Isles. Garry grinds his own paints and studies this creation process. There are depictions of waves in Norfolk and Suffolk, Norfolk fields, Wales, Scotland and the Lake District. His largest ever mountain work is a triptych of Glencoe in Scotland, and a painting comprised of 25 panels shows the view of clouds from his studio. 22nd July – 10th August in Gallery Different, 14 Percy Street, London, W1T 1DR. Free entrance. www.gallerydifferent.co.uk
Indifferent Matter: From Object to Sculpture – pairings of important twentieth-century sculptures with a series of ancient objects. Sculpture by Andy Warhol (1928-87), Hans Haacke (b. 1936), Robert Smithson (1938-73) and Felix Gonzalez-Torres (1957-96); and a collection of eoliths, Neolithic jades, and fragments of Roman sculpture. The ambiguous histories of the ancient objects set off the important American sculptures by the association through cultural and historical value. 25th July – 20th October in Galleries 1, 2 and 3 of the Henry Moore Institute, The Headrow, Leeds, LS1 3AH. www.henry-moore.org/hmi
The Future Is Here: A New Industrial Revolution – a collaboration with the Technology Strategy Board, this exhibition will be housing a ‘factory’ for a live production experience. Its intention is to address attitudes to innovative technology and how close the consumer can be to the designer and manufacturer. This is both an interactive experience and a gallery. A series of special events are set to run, inviting designers to use the factory for a day alongside the public. 24th July – 29th October at the Design Museum, Shad Thames, London, SE1 2YD. www.designmuseum.org 020 7940 8790
Marking the Line: Ceramics and Architecture – modern works of art by ceramicists Nicholas Rena, Carina Ciscato, Clare Twomey and Christie Brown juxtaposed against the historical backdrop of Sir John Soane’s country house. Having opened at Sir John Soane’s Museum in London, and then toured to Port Eliot in Cornwall, the country house of the St Germans family which Soane remodeled, the exhibition is now at Pitzhanger Manor, Walpole Park, Ealing from 25 Jul-22 Sep. There will be educational workshops throughout the exhibition’s tour. www.ealing.gov.uk/pmgalleryandhouse/
The Age of Innocence: Replicating the Ideal Portrait in the New Sculpture Movement. This display examines the notion of the ‘ideal’ female portraits and head-studies of the New Sculpture Movement, a late nineteenth-century emphasis on realism, emotion and sensuality which heralded a significant change in British sculpture. 25 July – 20 October at the Henry Moore Institute, The Headrow, Leeds, LS1 3AH +44 (0)1132337653
Image copyright Cecil Beaton/The V&A
The Queen’s Coronation 1953 (above) – to mark the 60th anniversary of the Coronation of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, an exhibition at Buckingham Palace will showcase never-before-seen dress, uniform and robes which were worn at the event itself, including the Queen’s coronation dress and robe, which was created by Norman Hartnell (1901-79); as well as the attire of the Duke of Edinburgh, the Queen Mother, and the rest of the royal party. Prince Charles’ personal invitation to Westminster Abbey will also be on display. 27th July – 29th September in the State Rooms at Buckingham Palace. www.royalcollection.org.uk 020 7839 1377
Under the Greenwood: Picturing British Trees – artwork inspired by trees, created by John Constable, Samuel Palmer, Paul Nash, Graham Sutherland, Paul Sandby, amongst many others. Produced in partnership with Southampton City Art Gallery, the exhibition follows the domestication of trees to integrate in town life, but also addresses the exploitation of trees, and how they are seen in a mythological and religious light. 27th July – 5th October at St Barbe Museum & Art Gallery, Lymington, Hampshire. www.stbarbe-museum.org.uk (See review in Country Life 28 August 2013)
Witches and Wicked Bodies. This is the first major exhibition which discusses 500 years of ‘wicked history.’ The fascination of art with witches is explored alongside the dark origins of the classic witch image and a diverse visual tradition. This display features work by a broad range of artists form the past 500 years including William Blake and Salvator Rosa. 27 July – 3 November at the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art (Mordern Two), 73 Belford Road, Edinburgh www.nationalgalleries.org.uk (see review in Country Life July 31 2013)
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Gigi Sudbury: A Bestiary Alphabet. In an atmosphere of reverence and contemplation Sudbury explores an antiphonal relationship between humans and animals via the alphabet in striking, almost haunting pictures. She won the Alternative Turner Prize in 2002. From 6-27 July at The Art Stable, Child Okeford, Blandford, Dorset, DT11 8HB www,theartstable.co.uk
Testing Freedom’s Temperature. Young contemporary Chinese artists Chi Ming and JS Tan mark their London debut in an exhibition exploring themes of the young post-Mao generation relating to China’s rapid economic and cultural change and rampant materialism. In radically different ways these artists honestly explore their felt experience in a way that marks them out as bold forerunners of a generation in transition. 3-16 July at the Fine Art Society Contemporary, 148 New Bond Street, London, W1S 2TJ. www.faslondon.com
Ten Printmakers. The Scottish Gallery brings together an eclectic range of artists who create unique fabrics and wallpapers and are interested especially in the results of fine art overlapping with commercial design. This portfolio is inspired by Scotland and supplemented with additional work from the artists and their post-war inspirations, including work from Edward Bawden, Paul Nash and Julian Trevelyan. At 16 Dundas Street, Edinburgh EH3 6HZ from 3-27 July. Online catalogue at www.scottish-gallery.co.uk/modernbritish
Modern Masters. This exhibition showcases works unrestricted by theme that stand alone to ‘shine a little light into the complexity of Scottish painting in the last 70 years.’ Elizabeth Blackadder, SJ Peploe and Sylvia Wishart are among those whose work is exhibited. At The Scottish Gallery, 16 Dundas Street, Edinburgh, EH3 6HZ 3-27 July. Exhibition can be viewed online at www.scottish-gallery.co.uk/modernmasters
Shrewsbury International Cartoon Festival is the only event of its kind in the UK and this year celebrates its 10th birthday. It’s About Time is the theme for this year’s Festival exhibition and consists of over eighty original and quality signed prints of cartoons on the theme of Time. The result is a variety of original cartoons showing many different styles and humour, gathered together in one place. At Ludlow Assembly Rooms. 1 Mill Street Ludlow Shropshire SY8 from 1-27 July www.ludlowassemblyrooms.co.uk
David Bowie is. The first international exhibition of David Bowie’s explosive career, exploring his creativity as a musical innovator and cultural icon. Featuring over 300 objects incorporating the fields of fashion, sound, graphics, theatre, art and film. At the V & A, South Kensington, London from 23rd March- 28th July. www.vam.ac.uk (see preview in Country Life 20 Mar 2013)
Geoffrey Farmer: The Surgeon and the Photographer. It is Geoffrey Farmers first major exhibition in a UK public gallery. The exhibition is made up of 365 hand-puppets from book images clipped and glued to fabric forms, Farmer will populate The Curve with this recently completed puppet calendar. The Curve, Barbican Centre, London. From 26th Mar until 28th July. www.barbican.org.uk
Saul Leiter: A Life in Colour. A retrospective selection of saul Leiter’s beautiful and exuberant paintings and painted photographs. Marking their London debut, the works have just been released from Leiter’s personal collection. Alongside will be examples of his early colour photography. A glorious celebration of colour, the exhibition will offer a unique insight into Leiter’s long and largely undiscovered career. From 6th June – 27th July. At HackelBury Fine Art. 4 Launceston Place, London, W*. Website: www.hackelbury.co.uk
Frith Street Gallery presents ‘Cornelia Parker. In this exhibition Parker turns her attention to facets of the city streets that are usually overlooked, from the cracks in the pavement and accidental spills, to discarded pieces of wood, transforming them into evocative and highly charged images and objects. From 7th June – 27th July. 17-18 Golden Square, London, W1F. Contact number: +44 (0)207494 1550 Website: www.frithstreetgallery.com
BlainSouthern presents ‘Bill Viola: Frustrated Actions and Futile Gestures’. Created between 2012 and 2013, both on location and in the artist’s studio in Southern California, the exhibition presents three distinct bodies of works; the Frustrated Actions, the Mirage and the Water Portraits series. Through these works, Viola engages with complex aspects of human experience, including mortality, transience and our persistent, yet ultimately futile attempts to truly and objectively understand ourselves and the meaning of our brief lives. From 5th June – 27th July. 4 Hanover Square, London, WIS. Contact number: +44 (0) 20 7493 4492. Website: www.blainsouthern.com
Kentmere House Gallery presents ‘Love Architecture’ – An exhibition of architectural paintings as part of the national ‘love architecture’ festival – amazing series of events across England and Wales, bringing architecture alive through a range of walks, talks, tours and exhibitions. Kentmere House Gallery has collected a stunning range of paintings on an architectural theme, involving more than 15 artists. From: 13th June – 25th July. Kentmere House Gallery, 53 Scarcroft Hill, York, YO24 1DF. Contact number: 01904 656507 Website: www.kentmerehouse.co.uk
The Piper Gallery presents ‘Etienne Viard: The Poetry of Instability’. Viard began his career as a ceramicist before expanding his range to include earth, stone, wood, glass and a variety of salvaged objects. In the early 1990s, he took the drastic decision to destroy the majority of his sculptures and for the last two decades, since that decisive purge, he has worked solely in steel. From: 14th June – 26th July. The Piper Gallery, 18 Newman Street, London, W1T 1PE. Contact number: 020 7148 0350. Website www.thepipergallery.com
Curious – works by 22 artists who have responded to the ground of the historic West Norwood Cemetery in South London, working in sculpture, ceramics, sound, textiles, photography and poetry to create a magical trail. At West Norwood Cemetery, Norwood Road, London SE17 from 22 Jun to 28 July. www.westnorwoodcemetery.com
Paintings by Alex Lowery, ceramics by Richard Batterham and furniture by Petter Southall, at Sladers Yard, West Bay, Bridport, Dorset from 22 June to 28 Jul. www.sladersyard.co.uk
Victoria Brookland: A thousand thousand gleaming fires. An exhibition of new drawings xploring the passionate heroine in literature and poery and how women writers have employed the Gothic genre to reveal hidden aspects of our own nature. 6 June – 29 July at the Brontë Parsonage Museum, Church Street, Haworth, West Yorkshire, BD22 8DR www.bronte.org.uk/visit
A Magical Mystery Tour – an enchanting collection of prints by over 20 members of the national printmaking collective The Printmakers Council, covering a wide range of subject matter and techniques. At The Upstairs Gallery, Exchange Square, Beccles, Norfolk from 15 to 28 Jul. www.printmakerscouncil.com
Out of Our Woods. An exhibition of furniture, musical instruments and other wood carvings, all made by Surrey craftsman and musician Mervyn Mewis. The beautiful landscape of the Surrey Hills is the inspiration for his creating individual and intriguing furniture and musical instruments using timber sourced from local woodland and conservation projects. At Clandon House, Clandon Park, West Clandon, Guildford, Surrey until Aug 1. On Sundays 14, 21 & 28 August, he’ll be performing live music on these beautiful hand-crafted instruments at Clandon House. www.nationaltrust.org.uk/clandon-park/visitor-information/
Phillemon Hlungwani Cullinan Drawings – monumental etchings, linocuts and charcoal drawings by one of South Africa’s celebrated young artists Phillemon Hlungwani, who was recently commissioned by Petra Diamonds to record life at the Cullinan diamond mine. At John Martin Gallery, 38 Albemarle Street, London W1 from 16 to 26 Jul. www.jmlondon.com
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