Visual Arts News

Chappel Galleries Group Exhibition

Chappel Galleries, here in the heart of East Anglia for 35 years, is currently running an exciting Group Exhibition of 49 paintings of varying media from nine gallery artists with international reputations. Artists include Trevor Burgess, an early exhibitor at Chappel Galleries since 1992, Mediterranean scenes by Londonbased artist Jamie Boyd, the son of leading Australian artist Arthur Boyd and Mary Griffiths, whose small striking portraits challenge the viewer. The exhibition boasts a hugely vibrant, turquoise canvas by London artist Andrew Gadd - “The Azure Archipelago” – showing boats floating out to a distant horizon on a five and a half foot canvas. The stunning exhibition continues to December 31st. www.chappelgalleries.co.uk Creative Coverage Winter Exhibition

Happy and evocative paintings of people from the past by John Atkinson from Burston, Diss feature in the Creative Coverage Winter Exhibition, which runs online until December 31st. John works mainly in oils. After doing careful drawings of his subjects, he works quickly, layering colours on top of one another to create depth in his paintings. His work consists of portraiture, still life and landscapes and his paintings have an individual, period feeling to them. The exhibition also features paintings by Norwich-based Heather Tamplin. Heather makes contemporary paintings on canvas in oil, acrylic and mixed media, with realistic areas contrasting and creating tension with areas of looser brushstrokes, drips, splats, runs and graphic elements. This virtual exhibition can be enjoyed in the comfort of your home. www.creativecoverage.co.uk/artsist-news/virtual-exhibition

Rhythm and Geometry at The Sainsbury Centre

Drawn from the Sainsbury Centre collection, Rhythm and Geometry: Constructivist art in Britain since 1951, celebrates the abstract and constructed art made and exhibited in Britain since 1951. The free exhibition includes work from the beginning of the 1950s to the present-day, comprising c.120 objects across sculpture, reliefs, mobiles, painting, drawing and printmaking. Opening with a selection of significant reliefs – a pivotal art form in Britain in 1951 – the exhibition goes on to look at the transition into abstraction that occurred at this time. Artists include Robert Adams, Yaacov Agam, Rana Begum, Anthony Caro, Lygia Clark, Natalie Dower, Adrian Heath, Anthony Hill, Michael Kidner, Kenneth Martin, Mary Martin, François Morellet, Victor Pasmore, Jean Spencer, Takis, Mary Webb, Victor Vasarely, Gillian Wise and Li Yuan-Chia. The exhibition marks a significant bequest to the Sainsbury Centre from Joyce and Michael Morris. Following an extensive conservation project, many of these important works will be exhibited in public for the first time in decades. sainsburycentre.ac.uk

Fritton, Mary Webb, 1971, Painting, Oil on canvas, Sainsbury Centre Collection © Mary Webb

The Society of East Anglian Watercolourists (SEAW) seeks the best in contemporary watercolour and the use of fluidity and transparency in the creation of original paintings. The SEAW was established by Richard Sorrell PPRWS (2006-9) and now has over 100 members and Friends, all of whom support their aims to improve watercolour expertise, bring people together to share art opportunities, tips and challenges and show their paintings across the region. SEAW Patron Lillias August RI says; ‘It is wonderful to have a society dedicated to watercolour that is so proactive and diverse.’ Their exhibition AWASH 2022 - running from February 3rd-27th at the Handa Gallery, Wells Maltings - showcases 150 paintings, all demonstrating the beauty, variety and unique qualities of watercolour. Visitors will have a chance to view and purchase original framed, unframed paintings and cards that offer a variety of perspectives of the local area and beyond and to take part in a variety of workshops, demonstrations and ‘meet the artist’ opportunities. www.eastanglianwatercolourists.co.uk Celebrating The East Anglian School of Painting

Lucian Freud, Maggi Hambling, John Nash … just a few of the artists associated with The East Anglian School of Painting and Drawing, established in 1940 by Cedric Morris and his partner Arthur Lett-Haines in their home, Benton End. Through the 1940s and 1950s Benton End, on the outskirts of Hadleigh, became the centre of a diverse community of 20th-century artists, writers, and horticulturalists. An exhibition at Firstsite, Colchester will showcase for the first time the network of artists and cultural figures with links to the art school Morris and Lett-Haines created, its influence in the formation of the Colchester Art Society, and the inspirational way of life and approach to teaching and gardening encouraged by Morris and Lett-Haines. Life with Art: Benton End and the East Anglian School of Painting and Drawing (11 December 2021 – 18 April 2022), will feature over 100 artworks, including works by Morris and Lett-Haines, drawn from collections public and private from across the UK. Alongside these will be artwork by artists who studied at Benton End. firstsite.uk

Perfect Printmaking

Bircham Gallery kicks off 2022 with their annual Printmakers Exhibition with works in print from many exceptional printmakers. These include Dale Devereux Barker who specialises in reduction linocuts and screen-prints, combining a celebration of colour and form with warmly engaging subject matter. James Dodds’ linocuts follow the coastal variations of the simple workboat and are inspired by boats and boat building, coastal towns, nautical myths and legends. Ross Loveday is a self-taught artist of powerful and very personal interpretations of landscape. Hilke MacIntyre’s linocuts are influenced by ‘primitive’ art, early 20th Century European art and contemporary design, using a simplified figurative style with strong abstract pattern. There are many more talented printmakers exhibiting work in the exhibition which runs from January 8th. www.birchamgallery.co.uk