Art & Culture

ARTIST AT WORK

No.46 Sebastian Chance, Hedged, 40 x 31 cm, Indian ink and earth pigment on paper, £125 unframed (60 x 52 cm, £274 framed)

Hedged is a work in Indian ink on paper. It is part of a series of drawings and prints inspired by the shapes and forms found in hedgerows in winter. The imagined tangle of branch and twig-like shapes is developed quite spontaneously with the ink and brush to create a rhythmic, abstract composition of energetic lines of different thickness and weight. There are two figure-like forms which appear to be trapped amongst the black lines. At first, I wasn’t aware of the figurative nature of these shapes. The work was made during a Covid lockdown. Could this be significant?

I applied a light wash of earth pigment in the spaces between the lines, softening the ground. I made the pigment using earth collected from various sites in Somerset. I first collected earth pigment on a trip to the Czech Republic in the early 1990s. The soft burnt sienna-coloured rock was crushed using a pestle and mortar. When mixed with water and gum arabic it made a deep, richly coloured pigment.

I have always enjoyed working in monochrome, usually but not exclusively Indian ink. My etchings, relief prints and mono-prints are often in one, two or three colour combinations.

My drawings and prints compliment my work in sculpture made with wood, plaster, stone and metal.

sebastian_chance

___________________________________________ 24th September - 9th October Sebastian Chance - Somerset Art Weeks The Arborealists at Fyne Court Broomfield, Bridgwater TA5 2EQ

ON FILM

Andy Hastie, Yeovil Cinematheque

Brian and Charles (2022)

Following last month’s selection of upcoming films at Cinematheque, new titles have been added to the list for our 41st season. Ali and Ava (2021) is a warm, compelling Yorkshire drama from writer/director Clio Barnard, and a love letter to the city of Bradford. With two wonderful performances from leads Claire Rushbrook and Adeel Akhtar as two middle-aged lovers defying family prejudice and cultural barriers, this vibrant film was Bafta-nominated in the Outstanding British Film category.

Japanese director Ryusuke Hamaguchis Drive My Car (2021) is one of the breakout arthouse successes over the last few years. Coming in at just under 3 hours long, it slowly develops the relationship between a widowed theatre director and his young female chauffeur. Using the moving car as a metaphor for an evolving friendship, the forced proximity of the car interior encourages an intimacy to unfold in this awardladen, intelligent, satisfying film.

Lucky Grandma (2019) follows a chain-smoking Chinatown granny going all in at a casino with her life savings. Unfortunately this lands her into the middle of a gang war in this hilarious independent American crime caper.

German psychodrama The Audition (2019) stars Nina Hoss as a violin teacher at the Conservatoire, who gets obsessively involved with one of her pupils to the neglect of her own family. Things don’t turn out as expected in this tense, powerful film.

As a total contrast, Deerskin (2019) is a laugh-outloud French comedy-horror, with a man buying the fringed deerskin jacket of his dreams. For this to be the best jacket in the world, he has to get rid of everyone else’s jackets! Not a film to analyse, just enjoyably demented, and unhinged fun.

Decision to Leave (2022) is a slick South Korean suspense thriller picking up awards everywhere, including Best Director at Cannes for Park Chanwook - he of The Handmaiden fame. It tells the story of a detective falling for a mysterious widow after she becomes the prime suspect in his latest murder investigation. With twists and turns throughout, the plot keeps the audience off-balance, as this clever film ratchets up the tension and is not to be missed.

Hive (2021) from Albanian is based on the true story of a woman who starts her own business selling honey after her husband is reported missing in the 1999 Kosovo war. In the traditional patriarchal village she lives in this becomes a problem, setting up a struggle between her and the wider misogynistic community.

Persian Lessons (2020), a Belarusian psychological war thriller set in a German concentration camp during the Second World War, concerns a young Jewish man pretending to be Iranian to escape death. This only leads to further jeopardy for him in this intelligent, gripping film.

Finally, the quirky British odd-couple comedy Brian and Charles (2022) is a delightfully ridiculous hoot. When a lonely inventor in rural Wales builds a robot for company in his cowshed, he gets more than he bargained for as Charles begins to resemble a stroppy teenager. This sweet-natured, poignant, distinctly British film is an antidote to all the expensive, cynical, American superhero franchises we seem to be inundated with, and is a heart-warming treat.

A great varied selection here to complete our season. Next month I will give dates for showings at the Swan Theatre, or look out for our brochure at the library and around town. Details will also be on the website below. Happy viewing!

cinematheque.org.uk swan-theatre.co.uk

CAROLINE BAILEY EMMA DUNBAR JENNY WHEATLEY

2nd – 21st September, 2022

EMMA DUNBAR CORNISHWARE

CAROLINE BAILEY TULIPS AND HYACINTHS

www.jerramgallery.com

THE JERRAM GALLERY Half Moon Street, Sherborne, 01935 815261 Dorset DT9 3LN info@jerramgallery.com Tuesday – Saturday

Image: Brinkhoff-Moegenburg

Rosie Cunningham

Iwent with a comic writer-friend to Jack Absolute Flies Again at The National. Not a play, full of innuendo and general hilarity, which I would normally associate with The National but a pleasing surprise nonetheless, not least because they have wonderfully comfortable upholstered seats with plenty of leg room. The content was very much not politically correct, and the audience loved it. You did have to concentrate on the quick repartee to catch every joke, but it simply didn’t matter because this was a ‘feel good’ piece of theatre designed to make everyone happy. The stage design was excellent, and discussions were held with a couple sitting behind us as to whether it was a Nissen hut or a Quonset hut. Caroline Quentin was brilliant and can work the audience with just a naughty wink.

The Southbury Child was on at The Bridge Theatre, written by Stephen Beresford, writer of Three Kings at the Old Vic in 2020 which he wrote for Andrew Scott. Alex Jennings played David Highland, the frequently drunk, serial adulterer, parish priest who teetered on the brink throughout. Questions of family, faith, tradition, and tolerance were explored, and the answers were not easy to digest. The death of a child brings everything to a head and opinions become personal and harsh. The performances were all excellent but particularly Josh Finan, who played Lee Southbury, the dead child’s brother, whose social boundaries were non-existent and Phoebe Nicholls, who many will remember played Cordelia Flyte in Brideshead Revisited, as David Highland’s world-wearied wife. Whilst Alex Jennings was the star and took the applause, other actors such as Nicholls and Finan were very good.

Whilst I was in London, during a train strike, I searched up small, unusual, museums and went to visit Sir John Soane’s Museum at Lincoln’s Inn Fields. One of the greatest English architects, Soane was the son of a bricklayer who rose to become Professor of Architecture at the Royal Academy. He designed the Bank of England, Dulwich College Picture Gallery and Pitzhanger Manor, which is in Ealing and also well worth a visit. This unique building, where Soane lived until his death in 1837, houses his collection of sculptures, paintings, and architectural pieces, including a wonderful sarcophagus in the basement. Be warned, don’t arrive with a large bag. Everything must be put into a special bag which you carry throughout so that no stray handbag damages any of the antiques, and some of the passageways are quite narrow. Entrance is free, you can join any of the tours that happen throughout the day and there is an excellent guidebook for £4. An easy walk from Waterloo station.

I hope that some of you supported Sherborne Arts and visited the Sherborne Arts Club annual exhibition at the Digby Hall. We have some extraordinarily talented artists lurking in our villages, and I am now the proud owner of a small, oil painting of Kettle Bridge, Cerne Abbas by Alan Emberley.

nationaltheatre.org.uk bridgetheatre.co.uk soane.org pitzhanger.org.uk sherbornearts.org

SOMERSET ART WEEKS 2022 SANCTUARY

24 September - 9 October

somersetartworks.org.uk

Grazyna Wikierska Jenni Dutton Annemarie Blake

SOMERSET ART WEEKS 2022

SANCTUARY 24th September - 9th October Paul Newman, Event Co-ordinator

Somerset Art Weeks returns this autumn, featuring exhibitions and special events under the banner of ‘Sanctuary’. More than 300 artists in over 100 venues across Somerset are taking part in the event and after a two-year absence, the Somerset Art Weeks Guide is back with many eager visitors grabbing a copy to plan their visits.

Normally, there is a biennial focus to Somerset Art Weeks, alternating between Open Studios one year and Exhibitions and Events in the other. The impact of the past two years has seen the Open Studios event delivered digitally in 2020 and then repeated in 2021. This was partly because of the difficult circumstances created by the pandemic but also to allow SAW Members another opportunity to directly meet with those interested in their work and share their work and process at the source of its creation. As with many other Open Studios events, these are important opportunities to connect with visitors and form part of many artists’ working practice.

After last year’s postponement, the return of the Exhibitions and Events year will give Somerset Art Weeks’ visitors the chance to see what happens when artists collaborate on group shows, curate exhibitions and present work in often dynamic ways, making use of public spaces and buildings, with many artists responding to the theme of Sanctuary. It also gives Somerset Art Works the opportunity to showcase work from invited artists, commissions, bursaries and projects – something more expansive than Open Studios which gives audiences the chance to look at art in different ways or make exciting new discoveries. As well as contemporary art spaces, the many and varied venues featuring this year include tithe barns, churches, gardens, stables and even prisons and abbeys!

So what can audiences expect to see in this year’s event? Responses to the theme reveal a lot about what many artists experienced during lockdown but in surprising, imaginative and often positive ways. There are three strands to the theme as well – Spiritual, Social and Sustainable – giving artists much to respond to as well as providing audiences with a variety of takes on the theme. The following venues are just a taste of what’s on offer.

Yeovil Art Space (Venue 1) presents two separate exhibitions with work by Chris Dunseath and Grażyna Wikierska. Chris creates small sculptures that extend the sculptural form of Bronze Age axes from the collection at The Museum of Somerset, implying movement, animation and the passage of time in bronze and plaster. Grażyna experiments in many mediums to tell stories about states of mind, with work that is playful, performative and inquisitive.

At The Octagon in Yeovil is one of SAW’s projects, working with south Somerset artist Jenny Mellings.

Banners of Chard (Venue 2), features communitycreated banners, celebrating Chard, its people and place.

Crewkerne and District Museum and Heritage Centre (Venue 10) hosts five artists presenting a diverse group show featuring individual responses to the event’s theme. Mike Chapman, Judith Ellis, Lucy Gallwey, Lucy Hawkins and Jenny Mellings work with the figure and the landscape and have also collaborated on several events alongside the exhibition for visitors to engage with. See the event diary in the Art Weeks Guide.

Muchelney Church, a haven during floods, welcomes work by Jane Mowat who has created an installation of embroidery that pours from the font and down the church nave, sewn with images of native plants, reminding us of the beauty of our local environment (Venue 16).

ACE Arts in Somerton (Venue 23) presents Absurd Sewn Selfies by Jenni Dutton, a collection of mixed media explorations into identity, ageing, disguise and power. The work is made using traditional female materials and processes and offers the universal search for relevance in a world that can undervalue older members of society.

At the same venue, Jill Davies and Joanna Briar have collaborated to present work which began in lockdown. My Space My Sanctuary is a visual dialogue of paint, print and natural materials which form an exchange of experimental imagery along with an installation of mixed media postcards from community engagement projects.

Wells Art Contemporary Award-winner Leah Hislop will install a sculpture constructed from handmade, individually folded origami building blocks at Kingweston Church near Keinton Mandeville (Venue 25). Triangular folds within the work tie in with the symbol of the number three and The Holy Trinity, along with the concept of guidance and protection.

Coming back towards Sherborne, Zac Greening and Camilla Redfern have united to show Islands (Venue 30 in Wincanton), with work inspired by nature which seeks to show our symbiotic relationship with it as well as our fragility.

There are many venues in between and beyond the few mentioned here, and some of the artists will be familiar to readers from featuring in ‘Artist at Work’ here in the Sherborne Times.

This year, there’s a full event programme too, with many venues putting on workshops, talks and demonstrations. Each weekend is family-friendly with specially curated events for families of all shapes and sizes, including activities with artist Jacky Oliver at Somerset Rural Life Museum and events tying in with national initiatives such as The Big Draw.

The Somerset Art Weeks Guide is available in cultural centres, libraries and tourist information points across Somerset and beyond and there is full information including an online guide, venue map and an event calendar on the SAW website to help you plan your visits.

Although county-wide, the event has a regional focus so if you fancy staying local, there’s plenty to see and inspire you on your doorstep! After a difficult time, artists are excited to show new work, with the creative community of Somerset looking forward to sharing Sanctuary this autumn.

somersetartworks.org.uk

___________________________________________ 24th September - 9th October Somerset Art Weeks Venues across the region Visit somersetartworks.org.uk for details or pick up a printed copy of the guide locally, at Winstone’s Books, Sherborne Library, Melbury Gallery and Old Barn Framing Gallery.

Join us on the first Wednesday of the month at 3pm and 7pm

Digby Hall, Hound Street

Accredited Presenters • Lectures • Study • Days • Trips • Arts Volunteering We cover fine arts, architecture, gardens, sculpture, history, music, photography and more Make and meet friends

For details of forthcoming events, turn to the What’s On section of this magazine or visit theartssocietysherborne.org Contact: sherborne@theartssociety.org

Image: Stephanie Maciuk

KIT GLAISYER THE MARSHWOOD VALE & BEYOND

Glen Cheyne

In recent years Bridport-based artist Kit Glaisyer has established himself as a leading contemporary landscape painter, and now a selection from fifteen years of his paintings has been brought together in a new book The Marshwood Vale & Beyond, published by Downes Street Editions.

Kit started painting as a boy, accompanying his father on watercolour painting trips around the villages of Buckland Newton and Glanvilles Wootton, a few miles south of Sherborne. His talent was soon recognised at school, which led to him winning an art scholarship to Sherborne School. At the time, the school had a progressive art department led by Trevor Boyd and Andrew Stooke and they offered the students formative art tours to London, Paris, Barcelona, Berlin, and Amsterdam. This introduced Kit to many masterpieces from traditional, to modernism and contemporary art, and he grew particularly fond of Rembrandt, Vermeer, JMW Turner and Picasso. In his teens, he was also fortunate to meet and talk with Dame Elizabeth Frink at her studio in Woolland House near Hazelbury Bryan.

After leaving school, Kit completed a Foundation Studies course at Bournemouth & Poole College of Art, and then started a Fine Art degree at West Surrey College of Art & Design. But, feeling impatient to get started as an artist, he dropped out of college and moved to London where he shared a house with two other artists in North London, before creating his own studios in derelict buildings in Camberwell and then Borough, South London.

Originally a figurative painter, Kit moved into abstract painting in 1995 after visiting the seminal exhibition Gerhard Richter: Painting in the 90s at the Anthony d’Offay Gallery in London, which featured large abstract paintings by the German painter. Richter’s paintings also inspired Kit to create his own language of abstract painting, resulting in a series of works that he exhibited at the Suzanne Ruggles Gallery on King’s Road, Chelsea. Then, on a trip to

the West Country in 1998, Kit was offered a place at the Symondsbury Art Residency in West Dorset, and within a month he had left London and moved in.

The following year Kit moved into nearby Bridport, starting a new studio in an empty warehouse on the St Michael’s Trading Estate, and in time, dozens of artists came to fill the building in Bridport’s nowfamous Art & Vintage Quarter. He continued to work on commissions and create exhibitions for London galleries, but he was growing increasingly frustrated with abstract painting, and soon began to explore what he calls his Drip Figure series as well as Urban Landscape paintings, followed by his Café Royal series, before finally getting started on his current series of Cinematic Landscape paintings.

While Kit continues to draw inspiration from the long history of landscape painting – his current working practice includes plein-air painting, sketching, photography, collage and digital editing. He also utilises traditional, modernist and abstract painting techniques, while incorporating ideas from cinema, literature, pop culture, and music. Kit believes in taking his time with his paintings, working up thin glazes (layers) of paint over several months, partly necessitated by his fondness for oil paint - which is a particularly versatile but slowdrying medium.

‘Before starting a painting, I spend considerable time on research,’ says Kit. ‘First exploring the location by walking, sketching, and taking reference photographs, while searching out the best vantage points and waiting for those magical moments of light and atmosphere that might just inspire an exceptional painting.’ Kit has been known to wait several weeks for dull weather to transform into something more theatrical or sublime. And when that moment happens, he acts quickly, absorbing as much information as he can in that brief window when all the essential elements are in place.

‘I usually start with a definite plan for how the painting should proceed, with a clear idea about the dynamics and atmospherics at play, which I then gradually develop,’ Kit explains. Often things then happen during his process that suggest new directions or present unintended juxtapositions. ‘While I like to have the means and knowledge to make exactly what I originally had in mind, I deliberately incorporate chance into my working process so that all manner of innovations and inventions can take place of their own accord,’ he adds.

The early stages of Kit’s painting tend to be quite raw with strong colours and vivid tones, deliberately exaggerated so he can then spell out the grand themes. Then it’s a process of patiently building up the many glazes of oil paint required, gradually toning down the colour palette to achieve ever greater subtlety over the following weeks and months, improvising and adapting various elements of the painting. ‘This premeditated creative process means that none of my paintings are rushed,’ continues Kit. ‘And, essentially, I take as long as I need to achieve the desired result. From there on, it’s all about my relationship with the painting which will continue to evolve and develop in its own way until it feels finished.’

kitglaisyer.com bridportcontemporary.com

The Marshwood Vale & Beyond is available from book shops across the West Country. Kit also runs his gallery, Bridport Contemporary, based at 11 Downes Street in central Bridport where he shows an ever-evolving exhibition of work. The gallery is open on Saturdays from 10am-4pm and by appointment.

COUNTER CULTURE

Paul Maskell, The Beat and Track

No.13 The Supergroup and the Sum of its Parts

The phenomenon of the supergroup isn’t a new one. It has its successes and it has its dismal failures. Some of the biggest bands of the 60s and 70s were groups composed of members from different, already successful bands. To this day supergroups are a thing of much debate. Are they really as good as the sum of their parts would suggest? This I guess can sometimes be down to their motivation for forming such a band. Is it the prospect of a big paycheque that motivates or the chance to do something outside the box with like-minded peers?

One example of the supergroup straight out of the 60s were Cream formed by Eric Clapton (Yardbirds, John Mayall’s Blues Breakers), Jack Bruce (The Graham Bond Orchestra) and Ginger Baker (Blues Incorporated, The Graham Bond Orchestra). The sum of these parts was never destined to do anything other than amaze and delight. Their brief career produced some of the best classic blues rock songs you’ll ever hear including Strange Brew, Sunshine of Your Love and White Room. Active between 1966 and 1969 they released four albums, the most successful being the psychedelic Disraeli Gears.

Members of Cream (Clapton and Baker) went on to form another supergroup with Steve Winwood (Traffic) and Ric Grech (Family) called Blind Faith. Only one album to their name, it was still a huge sound with a couple of great singles. The way had been paved for the supergroup in a big way and bands such as CSNY, Humble Pie, ELP, Bad Company, the Highwaymen etc have all evolved from the idea of the supergroup.

The supergroup is still a phenomenon of epic proportions, especially within the rock world. Some of the most successful being:

Velvet Revolver Consisting of members of Guns ‘n’ Roses and Stone Temple Pilots, Velvet Revolver melded the blistering guitar sound of Slash (Guns ‘n’ Roses) with the hedonistic and passionate frontman Scott Weiland (Stone Temple Pilots). With the addition of drummer Matt Sorum (G ’n’ R), bass player Duff McKagen (G ’n’ R) and rhythm guitarist Dave Kushner (Wasted Youth) the band had a pedigree and heritage that could not be denied. The band didn’t disappoint and during their five-year career they released two multi-award-winning albums and seven singles. Disbanding in 2008 to record and tour with their original bands, any chance of reformation was halted abruptly by the death of lead singer Scott Weiland in December 2015.

Them Crooked Vultures Formed by Dave Grohl (Nirvana, Foo Fighters), Josh Homme (Queens of the Stone Age) and John Paul Jones (Led Zeppelin) this band loosely formed in 2005 and arguably have as members, the best drummer, frontman and bass player in rock. Their self-titled debut album went platinum in multiple countries and made old and new fans alike hungry for more. This however has not transpired and the three members are still discussing the possibility of a follow-up some thirteen years later.

Audioslave 2001 saw the interesting pairing of the rhythm and lead section of Rage Against the Machine (Tom Morello, Tim Commerford and Brad Wilk) with the lead singer and frontman of Soundgarden (Chris Cornell). Six years together saw

the release of three albums, each one improving on the previous. Their sound combined the huge stadium rock range of Cornell’s voice with the powerful alt-metal sound of the guys from Rage. They also incorporated some soul/funk and R&B influences and did indeed become larger than the sum of their parts. The band went on hiatus for some years while members pursued solo projects and albums with their original bands. They got back together for a one-off show in 2017. Talk of further development for Audioslave ceased with the tragic suicide of Chris Cornell later that year.

A Perfect Circle Billy Howerdel, guitar tech for Nine Inch Nails, Smashing Pumpkins and Tool had been producing his own demos for some time and played them to James Maynard Keenan (Tool) who gave them a great reception. Imagining singing these songs himself, Keenan agreed to form A Perfect Circle. In my mind, the best incantation of this band consisted of Howerdel on guitar, Keenan (Tool) on vocals, James Iha (Smashing Pumpkins) on guitar, Jeordie White (Marilyn Manson, Nine Inch Nails) on bass and Josh Freese (Nine Inch Nails) on drums. This combination of musicians and attitudes created one of the best supergroup albums, in my opinion, ever recorded. The Thirteenth Step has it all. Great lyrics, fantastic harmonies, heavy in places and serene in others. This album is definitely a 1+1=3 scenario. Still going to this day the members belong to their respective original bands but continue to record together.

EM_ST.qxp_Layout 1 12/08/2022 14:03 Page 1 3rd Secret On the 11th of April this year, with no prior warning, the debut album by 3rd Secret was released. An album of heavy grunge-driven tracks mixed with an equal number of more folk-orientated songs. Two female vocalists, a solid rhythm section and some great overdriven guitar work. Who was this band? 3rd Secret turned out to be members of Nirvana, Soundgarden, Pearl Jam and Giants in the Trees. The band is the brainchild of Krist Novoselic (Ex-Nirvana and Giants in the Trees) who has, compared to Dave Grohl, kept a fairly low profile musically since the death of Kurt Cobain. Teaming up with Soundgarden guitarist Kim Thayil and Pearl Jam/Soundgarden drummer Matt Cameron, the line-up of the band was completed with two vocalists, Jillian Raye and Jennifer Johnson both of whom played with Novoselic on his Giants in the Trees project. If you were expecting Nirvana or Soundgarden MkII you would be disappointed. If you approached this band with an open mind and an appreciation of Novoselic’s previous, low-key efforts you’ll be a fan. This is an example of a supergroup that do their own thing, generate no hype and produce the music that they enjoy making together. A supergroup that has snuck in under the radar and are happy that way.

These are just some of the supergroups out there, some huge, some virtually secret, all fascinating.

thebeatandtrack.co.uk

THE CHESTERF!ELDS NEW MODERN HOMES

New album available on Friday 23 September 23 September: Vinyl Van, Dorchester, 7pm 24 September: HMV, Yeovil, 1pm 24 September: The Lyric Theatre, Bridport, 7.30pm

The_Chesterfields