JacksonFoundation Invited Artists ANDER GUNN seven decades
JacksonFoundation Invited Artists ANDER GUNN seven decades
The first time I became aware of Ander’s photography was many years ago on a train to Plymouth. Picking up a glossy Cornish magazine and flicking through the pages, my gaze landed on an article featuring a series of dramatic black and white seascapes.
All this split-second decision making was so different to my own slow approach, but all seem to enhance the physical awe of this place, to make it even more dramatic and remarkable.
Since those first glimpses I became familiar with both Ander’s work and the man behind it; indeed Caroline and I became friends with him and his family. Later I saw examples of his powerful and beautifully composed street scenes from London in the fifties and sixties, and other works of Yorkshire and the Lakes from other chapters in his life. And then there were those portraits, including the now famous artists of Cornwall. Some years ago, he made a series of portraits of myself and I had the opportunity to see him at work, first-hand. The taking of the photographs was remarkably quick fired, rapid - we walked up and down, I turned this way and that, he approached and backed off, he clicked and then the real work was still to occur back in the darkroom. This is pre-digital photography. The alchemy was still to take place with further decision-making, the cropping, timing, the chemicals, papers, knowledge and experience, and maybe even chance, before the final choice of the actual images were made and presented. This pre-digital photography of Anders was, is, a handmade and eye-made craft of beauty, a rare thing, a rare art now. kurt jackson, st just, 2022 Tulips. 2013. 30.2 × 40.6 cm
I recognised the stretch of coastline and the topography as the Penwith cliffs from my own time spent here but the moments captured, the brief events frozen in time in each photograph were extraordinary and inspiring: the cusp of the wave, the surf ramping up the hard rock, a solitary cloud drifting behind a solitary drifting gull.
Ander’s photographs portray the Atlantic’s movement, power and force slamming into the resistance of the granite coast as Ander 3 well as that stillness and solid flatness of the Atlantic under the light of Cornwall, so beautiful in his rich blacks, greys and the sublime shifting light of his whites.
To wash his photographs Ander had to use the bath; whether it was the tin bath we used as a family in Pendeen or the illegal one under the stairs in St Just. Large prints of people, landscapes and seascapes all floated in our bath as we cleaned our teeth. I’d often see people that I recognised locally – Roger Hilton, Patrick Heron, a Geevor tin miner, a farmer with his cattle. Other familiar faces included writers such as Tom Stoppard, Jean Rhys and my uncle Thom - Ander’s brother.
Ander has been taking photographs for nearly 70 years, but no longer has the strength to develop and print anymore, which of course saddens him deeply. On June 18th 2021, the image of his much loved Sycamore tree, which lives outside the front of his house, was the last he developed and printed. At 90, my father is still very much a photographer. Thanks to him, as a family we have not albums, but suitcases full of the most incredible images documenting our lives amongst the raw landscapes and seascapes of West Penwith, alongside the wonderful cast of characters that we’ve shared this amazing place with. Seven Decades charlotte gunn 45 Wave Crashing. Early 1970s. 29.5 × 39.7 cm
Our family came to West Penwith in the early 1960s inspired by my parents’ friend, Karl Weschke who lived ‘down Cape’. We first lived in Lower Boscaswell, Pendeen when Geevor Mine was fully operational and later moved to St Just. Ander was amazed by it all down here, recounting that “the landscape was extremely exciting, the sea was such a wonderful subject, and the people were quite extraordinary.”
One of the key things about Ander is that he is both excellent at composing and ‘seeing’ a potential photograph and, as impor tantly, he is very skilled in developing and printing the image. Black and white film photography as Ander says, ‘is both a science and an art.’ Ander is an entirely self-taught photographer; having learnt from library books and through experience. He keenly studied Ansel Adams’ and Fred Archer’s black and white photog raphy techniques, particularly the Zone System to acquire optimal film exposure and development. Wherever we lived, Ander would put together a darkroom –however big or small. He would disappear for hours into these cave-like spaces with the smell of developing chemicals, the sound of the radio, the red glow of a safe light, enlargers, developing trays and the ticking of timers. Watching my father at work felt like being with a magician conjuring up images that floated into life. Time always seemed to melt away. It was a very magical experience.
67 London. 1960s 24.5 × 20.5 cm Teddington. 1966 27 × 38 cm
89 Hyde Park. 1984 29.2 × 38 cm The butcher’s apron. 1986. 39.5 × 29.5 cm
Leeds. 1960 25 × 20.5 cm Leeds. 1960s 27.5 × 39.5 cm 1011
1213 Leeds. 1980. 17.5 × 25.3 cm Leeds. 1980. 25.2 × 20.2 cm
1415 Sennen. Late 1960s early 1970s 20.2 × 25.4 cm Will and Charlotte. 1964 25 × 20 cm
17 Pendeen. Early 1970s 49.5 × 40 cm
1819 South Crofty. 1973. 25.5 × 20.2 cm
South Crofty. 1973. (reversed) 25.5 × 20.2 cm would have done quite a few prints of this; lightened one, darkened one, reversed it – to see which produced the strongest image. Photography isn’t just about composing the image, it is in the magic and science of developing the image – creating the artform and not just a photo. Ander Gunn
2021 Golden Wedding Anniversary, St Just. Early 1970s. 20.2 × 24 cm Beni and Pearl, St Just. 1980s 39.7 × 29.5 cm
Charlotte Gunn (b 1962). Museum Facilitator and Educator. Daughter of Ander and Margaret Gunn, sister of Will (see p.15), Jonathan and Nick. Niece of writer and poet Thom Gunn. Horse, Penwith. 1980s
2223 Charlotte Gunn. 1980s 20 × 22 cm
. 39.5 × 49 cm
2425 Tregaseal Farm. 1990s. 39.7 × 59.7 cm Bosulval. 1997 29.5 × 39.5 cm
2627 Pool of light. 1980s 48.5 × 59.5 cm Wave & Gulls. 2004. 40 × 49.5 cm
2829 Clouds & Coastline. 2000s 40 × 49.5 cm North Coast. 2000s 39.9 × 49.5 cm
3031 Barbara Hepworth. 1960s 60.2 × 50.4 cm Dame Barbara Hepworth (1903 – 1975). Modernist artist and sculptor.
3233 Jack Pender. 1960s 19.25 × 25 cm Jack Pender (1918–1998). Artist and teacher. Jean Rhys CBE (1890 – 1979). British writer best known for her novel Wide Sargasso Sea Jean Rhys. 1967. 20.5 × 12.5 cm
3435 Jack Clemo. 1960s. 20 × 25 cm Jack Clemo (1916 – 1994). Poet. The Bard of Clay Country or ‘Poet of the Clay’ prydyth an pry in the Cornish language. Karl Weschke (1925–2005). German painter and draughtsman. Moved to Cornwall in 1955 before settling at Cape Cornwall, St Just five years later. Karl Weschke. 1960s 24.2 × 19.5 cm
3637 Brenda Wotton. Early 1970s. 25.1 × 25 cm Janet Leach. 1960s 25 × 20 cm Janet Leach (1918 – 1997). Potter – the first non-Japanese woman to study pottery in Japan and only the second westerner to do so. Brenda Wotton (1928 – 1994). Singer, poet and ambassador for Cornish tradition and culture.
3839 Roger Hilton. 1970s 25 × 20.5 Roger Hilton. 1970s 24.7 × 19.7 cm Roger Hilton CBE (1911 – 1975). Artist and pioneer of abstract painting.
4041 Patrick Heron. 1970s 17.5 × 13 cm Patrick Heron. 1970s 17.5 × 12.8 cm Patrick Heron (1920–1999). Painter, writer, and designer.
4243 David Kemp. 1980s. 24.7 × 19.7 cm David Kemp (b. 1945). Artist and sculptor. David Kemp. 1980s 20 × 25.8 cm
4445 Kurt Jackson. 2000s 20.4 × 25.4 cm Spring Tulips. 1998. 29 × 36 cm Kurt Jackson (b 1961). Artist, writer and sculptor.
4647 Tulips. 2013. 48 × 39 cm Lillies. 2005. 49.7 × 39.5 cm
48 1932 Born Gravesend, London. 1946 Moved to Cheadle, Manchester. 1939 Moved to Hampstead, London. 1950 – 52 National Service. 1953 – 60 Various jobs, London. 1960s Photographer, Cornwall: Land’s End, local newspapers, weddings, Faber and Faber. 1975 – 1984 Yorkshire TV, Leeds. 1985 – present Cornwall. ANDER GUNN
Invited Artists at the Jackson Foundation
First published in 2022 by the Jackson Foundation www.jacksonfoundationgallery.com isbn 978-1-9196521-4-6 Publication © Kurt Jackson Editions 2022 © Ander Gunn 2022 Portrait of Ander Gunn on page 48 © Charlotte Gunn Design by Lyn Davies www. lyndaviesdesignfolio.com by Park Corsham,
on a CO2 neutral hp Indigo press on fsc ® certified paper, power from 100% renewable resources. Print production systems registered to i s o 14001, s o 9001, and over 97% of waste is recycled. front cover Yorkshire Barn. 1990 41.5 × 39.4 cm back cover Beni and Pearl, St Just. 1980s 39.7 × 29.5 cm
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This exhibition is another in the Invited Artist series, recording the work of artists chosen by the Jackson Foundation.Thevision for the Foundation has always been three-fold – to collaborate with environmental and campaigning groups, to provide a space to showcase Kurt Jackson’s latest projects and finally to invite specific artists to work towards an exhibition here. This catalogue accompanies the exhibition Ander Gunn, Seven Decades
The Jackson Foundation aims to provide a space, open to one and all, to reflect on our symbiotic relationship with the natural world, and the rewards to be found by taking a step back and looking around, whilst enjoying contemporary art in a world heritage, ‘area of outstanding natural beauty’ –a post-industrial, rural setting. Upstairs@the Jackson Foundation Upstairs@theJacksonFoundation aims to foster an appreciation of the natural world and the pressures upon it; to promote and encourage an awareness of the environment and conservation through education and the arts. the Jackson Foundation
September 2022
All images
Printed digitally
Lane Press,
Housed within a massive ex-industrial building in the centre of the thriving former mining town of St Just-in-Penwith, the Foundation was set up by leading contemporary artist Kurt Jackson and his wife Caroline and hosts an annual programme of quality contemporary exhibitions working in partnership with a variety of environmental and campaigning organisations.Thismulti-award winning, world-class art gallery is free to the public, bridging the gap between public and private art centres and a venue to view an eclectic range of artistic expression spanning painting, poetry, sculpture, installation andRunfilm.by husband and wife Fynn and Zinzi Tucker, this environmentally focused art space is a green built sustainably managed carbon-positive concern. Powered by an array of high efficiency solar panels and ground-source heat pumps, the Foundation goes further by using a fleet of zero-emission fully electric Providingcars.local employment, raising awareness and funds for groups working to protect the environment and giving back to a community that has been home to the Jackson family for nearly thirty years, the Foundation works to become a positive force for change.
The Jackson Foundation is a unique, ambitious art-space celebrating and championing arts and the natural world.
JacksonFoundation North Row, St Just, Cornwall, TR19 7LB. e info @ kurtjackson.com t +44 (0)1736 787638
