Shared Experiences Exhibition

The first thing that hits you when you enter Warmington Church to view the Shared Experiences Exhibition is the volume of art on display. Every wall, column and many of the pews are covered with works of every description.

I doubt the organisers expected such a huge response from local professional artists and amateur enthusiasts. I lost count at 327 and would estimate there are well over 400 items on display, many for sale at very reasonable prices. They varied from traditional landscape and still life paintings, through ceramics, quilting, knitting, wood and stone carvings to modern digital prints and abstract and expressionist art.

Picking out a few items for closer examination is an almost impossible task when the media and subject matter is so varied, so my own choices follow no particular rank or preference of style.

Michelle Helstrip's digital print 'Bathers' (below) demonstrates how the computer has been added to the artist's complement of tools. The poster style image manages to convey a sense of warmth and movement using a limited colour pallet that allows the imagination to feel the sea breeze and hear the surf.  

Two of the largest items on display were quilts made by June Enfield (detail below). They demonstrated both an eye for composition and very skilful craftsmanship. Her abilities are further demonstrated by a series of smaller works covering a whole range of techniques. This is someone who's enjoyment of their art comes through in the quality of her work.

It was pleasing to see some challenging works among those on display. Eliza Poppy-Burgess's remake of Jackson Pollock's 'Summertime: Number 9A' (below) may only be a small extract of the original but still showed the movement that Pollock  captured in his action paintings.

Local Artist Angie Hawkins had a whole range of sculptures on display in a variety of materials. Her 'Roosting Bird' may be simple in form but its curves and proportions convey the essence of a quietly resting bird with an apparent fragility that belies the hardness of the Portland stone from which it is carved.

The PCC and the organisers are to be congratulated for their foresight in brining together such an interesting and though provoking exhibition. A lot of work has gone into getting the show together and it took several days to get all the art work staged around the church.

This is Warmington's own version of the Royal Academy of Art's Summer Exhibition. A celebration of art in all its forms and eccentricities.

30 May 2009

Pam Darter
'View of Warmington from Broadgate Way'
 

Colin Brooks
'Blakeney Quay'
 

Chris Ellard welcomes invited guests to the preview evening.
 

Probably the most striking image at the exhibition was Rebecca Wakefield's 'Young and Old'. The elderly subject (above) raises all sorts of questions in the viewer's mind about who he is, what he is observing and his own thoughts on the matter.  A second painting by Rebecca of a lady in a bath with her head turned away from the artist was equally intriguing with many people wondering who was the subject of the painting.     

Local wood carver Glyn Mould has produced an extraordinary range of works over the years aptly demonstrated by those he had on display. Many, like 'Bathtime' (above) have a comical edge that adds to the interest and keeps the observer looking for more.