Visual Arts News

Last chance to see Dinos at Norwich Cathedral

Dino hunters get ready, Break has announced that its GoGoDiscover T.rex sculptures won’t be heading into extinction just yet and will be heading to Norwich Cathedral for a special family celebration event to celebrate Dippy the Diplodocus’s last week at Norwich Cathedral at October Half Term. This is an exciting opportunity for families to see the stunning and eye-catching T.rex sculptures in the beautiful grounds of Norwich Cathedral. The special ‘Farewell for Now’ event, in partnership with Break and Norwich Cathedral, will take place between October 24th-31st. For more information about Break and to find out more about next year’s trail please visit break-charity.org

Walnut Tree by Isobel Bartholomew

Floral Art – Reawakening

Iceni Botanical Artists are back in Bury St. Edmunds with a live exhibition on 16-22nd October in The Guildhall. Just like all art groups throughout the past eighteen months, IBA members have been kept apart by Covid-19 restrictions. However, artists everywhere are fortunate and often thrive in solitude and peace and quiet in order to allow the creative juices to flow. Botanical artists have been even more fortunate, as they depend upon the natural world for their inspiration. And that has remained a constant throughout the lockdown periods, with the seasons reliably coming and going as always. ‘Many of the paintings on view at the exhibition have been painted during these difficult times and we hope they give you as much pleasure to view as they have given us to create,’ says exhibitor Isobel Bartholomew. www.icenibotanicalartists.co.uk

Turner-prize nominee comes to Cambridge

This October, Cambridge-based gallery, Extraordinary Objects will launch a new exhibition celebrating the work of David Shrigley; a crude, contemporary and comical British artist, who is internationally recognised for his satirical, cartoonish ink drawings which observe everyday situations, human interactions and politics. The new exhibition, titled ‘My Artwork Is Terrible and I am A Very Bad Person’, intends to provide comic relief to visitors, celebrating the light at the end of a turbulent pandemic tunnel. Key pieces in the display will include five original acrylics on paper, including ‘Three Caps’, ‘Cream' and ‘Resist Your Urges’, as well as a selection of highly sought-after limited-edition prints, all signed by the artist, including: ‘Art Will Save The World’, ‘My Rampage Is Over’ and ‘I’ve Never Seen You’. New 2021 signed prints include: ‘I’m Sorry’ and ‘You Will Not Stop Me From Singing’. Extraodinaryobjects.co.uk

Thornham Fine Art, on the Thornham Estate near Eye, hosts a Fine Art Friday on the first Friday of the month at J Parker Studios which launches a week long exhibition starting the next day. On November 5th, they welcome an exhibition of watercolours by Caroline Farrell entitled Art from Nature. Caroline has always focused on watercolours in a variety of styles and subject matter, even producing original watercolour on used tea bags! Working on a larger scale than a tea bag, this exhibition features a series of paintings

of birds, small mammals and plants. The Fine Art Friday on December 3rd launches a mixed exhibition of J Parker Studios students entitled ’12 Days.’ It’s the perfect opportunity to purchase an unusual Christmas gift. Thornham Fine Art are also holding a Christmas Open Day on December 4th with the chance to browse beautiful handmade products from local artisans and craft makers. www.thornhamfineart.co.uk

John Parker

Caroline Farrall Year in the Life of The Apex

A photographic exhibition that beautifully captures every aspect of this much-loved venue and its place in the community takes place at The Apex from October 20th to November 21st. To help celebrate The Apex’s 10th anniversary in 2020, Suffolk-based photographer Geoff Price spent twelve months documenting everyday life at The Apex. Geoff had an ‘Access All Areas’ pass to a diverse selection of events - from The Sooty Show and the Mikado to workshops and business conferences. Prior to the pandemic, Geoff took photographs behind the scenes and on stage at gigs, concerts and events for all ages, as well as snapping the various local groups that fill the venue with life throughout the day. The result is a stunning exhibition of ninety colour photographs which encapsulate daily life at the acclaimed venue and help to illustrate the major role that it plays in the community of Bury St Edmunds and West Suffolk. www.theapex.co.uk

Animal Instincts

Three East Anglian sculptors with very different approaches to capturing their subjects, demonstrate why animals, in all their incredible forms, bring us so much joy. The Animal Instincts exhibition at the Sculpt Gallery in Great Braxted from October 24th to December 18th features sculpture by Stuart Anderson, Richard Boardman, and Tobias Ford, incorporating a wide range of domestic and wild animals. Included amongst the exhibits are horses, dogs, birds, an elephant, a baby rhino, a lifesize gorilla, and one or two mythical animals such as a flying fox and pig. 'It's going to be fun seeing such a menagerie of animals in the gallery,' said Debra Blik, who runs Sculpt Gallery in Great Braxted, Essex. 'Each artist's work is quite different, and this is the first dedicated animal sculpture exhibition since I opened the gallery back in 2012.' www.sculptgallery.com