THE
GRANTBRADLEYmagazine
ISSUE #29
'Snow Storm in The City' by Caroline James
THE
GRANTBRADLEYgallery
APRIL2015
SHOWING APRIL 2015
1 St Peter’s Court Bedminster Parade Bristol BS3 4AQ T. 0117 9637 673 W. grantbradleygallery.co.uk E. info@grantbradleygallery.co.uk
APRIL EXHIBITIONS SHOWING 4TH APRIL UNTIL 2ND MAY 2015
NEW MOON BEYOND DREAMS THE LOVE OF PORTRAITS: BEYOND REALISM
NEW MOON It was early Spring, five years ago, when a group of artists from the Cotswolds and Bristol area exhibited together and named themselves “New Moon” after new beginnings. Since then there have been several exhibitions in Lower Slaughter, Gloucestershire, and in Bristol, by this group. Working well together and feeling the mixture of lively combination of styles and mediums have produced exhibitions they are happy to repeat. With this exhibition there are 8 artists, each bringing a different dimension of work. With watercolours, oils, acrylics, pastels, batiks as well as mosaics, glass, print making and ceramics there is a vast range of work to view. “Colourful” and “exciting” is how it has been described. We are sure you will not be disappointed!
ALICE SHEPHERD
CAROLINE JAMES
CHARMAINE KING
ERICA BIBBINGS
GILLIAN CARRICK
JILL JARVIS
PATRICK COLLINS
PHIL CUNLIFFE
BEYOND DREAMS Is there any more potent symbol of the fragility and beauty of our world than the butterfly? A butterfly’s lifespan can be just days or weeks, yet it has left its imprint on our world for millennia. In ancient Greece, the word for ‘butterfly’ was psyche. In Chinese culture, two butterflies flying together are said to symbolise love. And, to Native Americans, the butterfly is a symbol of change and joy. Watch closely and a butterfly’s pattern of flight is quite breathtaking: it has an extraordinary ability to dip and dart and change direction in fractions of a second in incredibly tight spaces. This unique capability in flight - an inspiration to aeronautics engineers - appears to be executed randomly, perhaps to avoid predators. It is, without doubt, a challenge for the photographer. But, to me, also an essential one. Capturing a butterfly in static pose seems to me to do just that: capture them - rather like the long dead and dusty specimens pinned down in glass display cases in natural history museums. Evoking them in flight has been the inspiration for this series and, it turns out, a wonderful and humbling learning experience for me. Gradually, where I once saw the butterfly as an object, the butterfly has become my guide, drawing me - and hopefully the viewer - deeper into their world: an enchanted, other world, where light and shadows dance. Privileged, the only way to share in this world is to free ourselves of preconceived notions and intent, to watch and breathe and be mindful. Chuck East’s first immersion in photography, at the Art Center College of Design in Los Angeles, was interrupted when he was commissioned to write and direct a documentary film. This led to a 35-year film career, during which he produced and directed documentaries, TV specials and commercials. He returned to photography as a more personal way to explore the world ‘just outside my door’.
“My interest is in discovering the beauty of the ordinary aspects of life that are all around us - not just for the privileged few, but accessible to all. While photography is the initial medium, the final artwork is often more like a painting, which is simply the result of the way I expose the image, the choice of papers to print it on and my own way of playing with light and dark and colours.�
THE LOVE OF PORTRAITS: BEYOND REALISM Tamas Szikszay 1977- born in Budapest, Hungary He is a Hungarian born artist. He has worked with a sculptor for five years in Hungary and that time he was a member of the KERT (garden) group with other painters, sculptors, and graphic designers. After a couple years he decided to move abroad and he ended up in Bristol in 2007. In the last couple of years I have been focussing on portraiture and self-portraits and this change of subject from my previous artwork helps me to show my ideas in a more expressive way. The people are usually alone in my paintings, which are presented in a very simplified way. Sometimes I paint my subjects in slightly surrealistic surroundings, often with an awkward pose such as turning their back to us, or closing their eyes. These things reflect the everyday life struggles, uncertain feelings about our fear, doubt, loneliness, and try to get me an answer where my place is in this world as an artist. My work is based on photographs but they’re not used for exact reproduction. I found using acrylic is best suited for me, because of the ease of use, I can work fast to produce impressionistic work.
THE
GRANTBRADLEYgallery
GBG APRIL 2015 EXHIBITIONS AT THE GRANT BRADLEY GALLERY 1 St Peter’s Court Bedminster Parade Bristol BS3 4AQ T. 0117 9637 673 W. grantbradleygallery.co.uk E. info@grantbradleygallery.co.uk