East to East is an exhibition of artists and makers based in East Anglia, who share their appreciation for the aesthetic and techniques originating in Chinese and Japanese art and craft. They explore how a natural colour palette, handmade techniques in glass and ceramics, and structured textiles like weaving have struck a chord in the east of England, finding favour with an audience looking for more sustainable design principles.
Contributing artists and makers trace the most recent stages of the long and winding path between eastern and western art and craft, to the present day. They encompass sculpture and handmade objects, as well as paintings on canvas, wooden panel, paper or fabric, ceramics – with expertise in Japanese and Chinese techniques like Raku, porcelain, decorative glaze, and lacquer work, folded and cut paper and woodblock prints.
Most of the artists and makers taking part in East to East follow in the tradition of creating their work by hand, using techniques that require skill in the manual manipulation of material. There is a conceptual precision
running through all their work, with many working in series, producing variants on an initial idea.
East to East proposes that there is a bridge between art from the east and what is happening now in East Anglia as creative people seek inspiration. Eng-
land’s maritime trade routes were opened throughout the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, as western contact with China introduced new styles in painting, decor, ceramics, and garden and landscape design, which flourished in the eighteenth century. Europe’s infatuation with all things Japanese only took hold in the latter half of the nineteenth century upon the reopening of Japan to diplomacy and trade in 1853.
As Europe grew wealthier both through its economic expansion from industrialisation and it reliance on colonialism, naval merchants began the importation of Japanese artwork and objects in regular consignments.
The Impressionist and postImpressionist movement, including artists like Vincent van Gogh, Paul Gauguin and a little later, Henri Matisse, were heavily influenced by Japanese art, particularly Ukiyo-e, or colour woodblock prints as well as ceramics that were
mimicking traditional Chinese designs. Within twenty years the birth of the English Aesthetic Movement cemented interest in Japanese culture. Their design principles, including approaches to subject choice, perspective, and colour, became distinctive features in European art and craft. The cultural significance of art from the east
has travelled on throughout the twentieth century championed by figures like the potter Bernard Leach and, designer and silversmith Christopher Dresser, becoming part of modernism’s lingua franca, which has meant the influence has remained a feature in the arts and crafts to this day.
PAINTINGS
MARY BLUE
CLAIRE CANSICK
SIMON CARTER
KATARZYNA COLEMAN
HELEN DERBYSHIRE
AMANDA EDGCOMBE
MELANIE GOEMANS
JANE HINDMARCH
LINDA JAMIESON
ELLA PORTER
TASSIE RUSSELL
VICTORIA SEBAG
NESSIE STONEBRIDGE
PETER WYLIE
The artists C&C feature in this collection are figurative and non-figurative depicting the natural landscape of our coastal reaches, open fields, fens and woodland by employing traditional painting techniques in oil, watercolour and acrylic media.
PAINTINGS
MARY BLUE
CLAIRE CANSICK
SIMON CARTER
KATARZYNA COLEMAN
HELEN DERBYSHIRE
AMANDA EDGCOMBE
MELANIE GOEMANS
JANE HINDMARCH
LINDA JAMIESON
ELLA PORTER
TASSIE RUSSELL
VICTORIA SEBAG
NESSIE STONEBRIDGE
PETER WYLIE
PAINTINGS
MARY BLUE
CLAIRE CANSICK
SIMON CARTER
KATARZYNA COLEMAN
HELEN DERBYSHIRE
AMANDA EDGCOMBE
MELANIE GOEMANS
JANE HINDMARCH
LINDA JAMIESON
ELLA PORTER
TASSIE RUSSELL
VICTORIA SEBAG
NESSIE STONEBRIDGE
PETER WYLIE
WORKS ON PAPER KERON BEATTIE
MARY BLUE
CLAIRE CANSICK
SIMON CARTER
AMANDA EDGCOMBE
JONATHAN GIBBS
MELANIE GOEMANS
JANE HINDMARCH
RUTH HOWES
LIZ MCGOWAN
ELLA PORTER
TASSIE RUSSELL
NESSIE STONEBRIDGE
PETER WYLIE
Our works on paper collection encompasses original work by artists, illustrators and printmakers, a wide selection of drawings, etchings, screen prints, paper cuts and collage.
WORKS ON PAPER KERON BEATTIE
MARY BLUE
CLAIRE CANSICK
SIMON CARTER
AMANDA EDGCOMBE
JONATHAN GIBBS
MELANIE GOEMANS
JANE HINDMARCH
RUTH HOWES
LIZ MCGOWAN
ELLA PORTER
TASSIE RUSSELL
NESSIE STONEBRIDGE
PETER WYLIE
WORKS ON PAPER KERON BEATTIE
MARY BLUE
CLAIRE CANSICK
SIMON CARTER
AMANDA EDGCOMBE
JONATHAN GIBBS
MELANIE GOEMANS
JANE HINDMARCH
RUTH HOWES
LIZ MCGOWAN
ELLA PORTER
TASSIE RUSSELL
NESSIE STONEBRIDGE
PETER WYLIE
MAKERS CERAMICS KAREN DOWNING
KATHRYN HEARN
LAURA HUSTON
KATHARINA KLUG
STEPHEN MURFITT
ELLA PORTER
YVE SLATER STEVEN WILL
CECILIA WILLIS
Our makers fashion desirable handmade objects and decorative pieces for a domestic space, in a diverse range of natural materials: including seashells, turned wood, ceramics, baskets, textiles, beaten metal and blown glass.
MAKERS CERAMICS KAREN DOWNING
KATHRYN HEARN
LAURA HUSTON
KATHARINA KLUG
STEPHEN MURFITT
ELLA PORTER
YVE SLATER STEVEN WILL
CECILIA WILLIS
MAKERS CERAMICS KAREN DOWNING
KATHRYN HEARN
LAURA HUSTON
KATHARINA KLUG
STEPHEN MURFITT
ELLA PORTER
YVE SLATER STEVEN WILL
CECILIA WILLIS
MAKERS GLASS / WOOD / WEAVING
KAREN BEK
STEVE GORE-ROWE
STEWART HEARN
TIM PLUNKETT
JACK WHEELER
MAKERS GLASS / WOOD / WEAVING
KAREN BEK
STEVE GORE-ROWE
STEWART HEARN
TIM PLUNKETT
JACK WHEELER
ESMOND BINGHAM
VICTORIA FENN
JANE HINDMARCH
ANDREW JONES
ELLA PORTER
NESSIE STONEBRIDGE
ANNIE TURNER
JACK WHEELER
The artists C&C feature in this collection are figurative and non-figurative depicting the natural landscape of our coastal reaches, open fields, fens and woodland by employing traditional painting techniques in oil, watercolour and acrylic media.
SCULPTURE
KERON BEATTIE
ESMOND BINGHAM
VICTORIA FENN
JANE HINDMARCH
ANDREW JONES
ELLA PORTER
NESSIE STONEBRIDGE
ANNIE TURNER
JACK WHEELER
HELEN DERBYSHIRE LIZZIE KIMBLEY LIZ MCGOWAN
Our environmental collection of art is becoming increasingly relevant as our climate changes. C&C have recognised that in our exhibition activities we have a responsibility toward making the carbon footprint as small as we can make them. All of the work featured on this site is produced in small numbers, it is locally sourced within East Anglia, our area of operation and where possible uses recycled or found materials or materials from sustainable sources. However, this collection takes this one step further by including artists whose voice clearly chimes with the issues around climate activism. These artists use their creative practice to communicate the temporal nature of a changing landscape more directly, often working in a conservation area or vulnerable environment to make their work.
Contemporary and Country (C&C) present art and handmade objects by emerging as well as established artists and makers from the east of England in non-gallery spaces celebrating our rural surroundings. We work with those who include the natural world in their subject matter or production process. They bring about a closer understanding of the countryside, what makes the east of England landscape so unique. Looking creatively beyond the passing trend they encourage greater consideration for nature, as its appreciation and preservation becomes ever more prescient to our time. For more contact paulvater@contemporaryandcountry.com
OUR FUTURE PLANS
We will announce our forthcoming exhibitions and events online so be the first to hear about them by joining our mailing list. Drop off your derails when visiting our exhibition in person or join our mailing list via our website - see bottom of home page to find the link to add yourself to our mailing list.
VISITING HOUGHTON HALL IN 2023
Celebrated artist Sean Scully takes over the grounds and historic interiors of Houghton Hall in Norfolk in a solo exhibition that showcases the breadth of his painting and sculpture.
Sean Scully - Smaller Than The Sky, 23 April29 October 2023 has been s curated by the art historian and curator, Sean Rainbird, formerly
Director of the National Gallery of Ireland (2012-2022) and a Senior Curator at Tate.
Set in extensive parkland, with its famous white fallow deer, an award-winning Walled Garden, Model Soldier Museum (the largest private collection of model soldiers in the world), Cafe and Gift Shop. Many spend a full day at Houghton Hall, enjoying their permanent collection including impressive works by James Turrell, Richard Long, Anya Gallaccio, Stephen Cox, Jeppe Hein, Rachel Whiteread, Ryan Gander, Claudio Parmiggiani, Phillip King, Anish Kapoor, Tony Cragg and Henry Moore.
See opening times and ticket prices by visiting houghtonhall.com
EXHIBITORS
Keron Beattie (sculpture)
Karen Bek (basket weaving)
Esmond Bingham (sculpture)
Mary Blue (paintings)
Claire Cansick (paintings / drawings)
Simon Carter (paintings / drawings)
Katarzyna Coleman (paintings / prints)
Helen Derbyshire (paintings / textile art)
Karen Downing (ceramics)
Amanda Edgcombe (paintings / prints)
Victoria Fenn (sculpture)
Jonathan Gibbs (wood cut prints)
Melanie Goemans (paintings / prints)
Steve Gore-Rowe (turned wood)
Kathryn Hearn (ceramics)
Stewart Hearn (blown glass)
Jane Hindmarch (sculpture / paintings)
Ruth Howes (paper cuts / prints)
Laura Huston (ceramics)
Andrew Jones (kinetic sculpture)
Lizzie Kimbley (textile art / weaving)
Katharina Klug (ceramics)
Linda Jamieson (paintings)
Liz McGowan (environmental)
Stephen Murfitt (ceramics)
Ella Porter (ceramic art / prints)
Tim Plunkett (wood turning)
Tassie Russell (paintings / prints)
Victoria Sebag (paintings)
Yve Slater (ceramics)
Nessie Stonebridge (painting / prints)
Annie Turner (sculpture / ceramics)
Jack Wheeler (sculpture / handmade)
Steven Will (ceramics)
Cecilia Willis (ceramics)
Peter Wylie (paintings / prints)
SOCIAL MEDIA
INSTAGRAM @contemporary_and_country
TWITTER @cc_art_handmade
FACEBOOK contemporaryandcountry
LINKEDIN paulvater
CONTEMPORARYANDCOUNTRY.COM