A day out

Towner, the new contemporary art gallery in Eastbourne opens a new exhibition on Saturday 1st May - "A Walk in the Park-Images of the South Downs".

The exhibition shows work which features the South Downs and is selected from the Towner's permanent collection. This exhibition celebrates the creation this year of the new South Downs National Park.

If you would like to see behind the scenes at Towner and see more of the permanent collection there are collection tours on the first Tuesday of every month 4pm-5pm (£4.00/£3.00 concession) See: www.townereastbourne.org.uk or telephone: 01323 434670



Just round the corner from Towner is the Emma Mason gallery which is currently showing,

"Edwin La Dell - Lithographs". A show of lithographs made inthe 1960s and 70s by this influential printmaker with many of the prints being for sale.

The Emma Mason Gallery also represent printmaker Robert Tavener, who is featured in the Towner South Downs show with one of his linocuts "Chanctonbury Ring". For full details see: www.emmamason.co.uk



Why not make a day out to Eastbourne and enjoy the exhibitions.

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Julie Doucet prints at Castor and Pollux

Along side Mike's pot party, down on the seafront we are getting ready to hang Julie Doucet's lino print illustrations.

Opening on the 23 April, this small, but perfectly formed group of prints were made as illustrations for ‘Chroniques de New York’ by Jean-Francois Jouanne.

Born in 1965 in Montréal, Julie Doucet was educated at a girl Catholic school. Then she began Fine Arts studies, first at the CÉGEP du Vieux Montréal (the equivalent of junior college), later at the Université du Québec à Montréal, where she completed a degree in printing arts. During her studies Julie Doucet took interest into drawing comics, and eventually devoted herself completely to that funny art form. Her comic book, Dirty Plotte began life as a photocopied fanzine. In it Doucet would document in french and in english her day to day life, her dreams, angsts, fantasies. The series was first published in 1991 by Drawn & Quarterly, in the comic book form. Shortly afterwards she won the prestigious Harvey Award for Best New Talent. She left for New York city, where she spent a year related in ’My New York Diary’ In the 1990s, she abandoned the medium of comic books and went back to printing. Woodcuts, linocuts, silkscreen printing, followed by an abundant production of artist’s books. She took part in many group exhibitions and, finally, in 2006 she had her own solo exhibition of her print work at the galerie B-312. Julie Doucet now writes and makes collages. Mostly.

You can see the prints that will be on show here.
http://www.castorandpollux.co.uk/2010/03/print-exhibition-julie-doucet-23-april/

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Paddy Hamilton

After delivering some work to Rye Art Gallery for their Printmaking Show, for the first time we kept going and found ourselves at Dungeness under the shadow of the humming nuclear power station amid decaying fishermans huts, rotting wooden boats, as well as newly spruced up clapboard cribs and new fishing catamarans which seemed far too large to be hauled up on the large beach.

We saw a sign saying open studio and found ourselves in the exhibition spaces and studio of Paddy Hamilton who also came out to talk to us. Paddy moved from Vauxhall central London to the cul-de-sac at the end of the world - Dungeness beach, by the old lighthouse and Nuclear Power Station.Paddy's studio looks out over the beach to the English Channel where huge skyscrapers of bulk carriers and container ships pass close by, and fishing boats from slightly further back along the beach ply up and down trawling or hauling nets. His work is inspired by the location with relief prints of the people, dogs and prawn fishermen who walk the ridge of shingle outside the studio window. His paintings at the moment are of 'ghost ships' in oils and wax, appearing spookily out of nowhere when the sea mists shift and somehow magnify the ships. He says this new work has found favour in Eastern Europe speaking to something in the Russian character.


Other work is of the detritus of the beach, - fishing huts leaning alarmingly after years of driving wind rain and storms, piles of faded fishing crates, rotting wooden fishing boats and the vans and tractors the beach somehow attracts - many of which stay permanently.

Paddy has turned his garden and pathways into artworks - the path to the studio is bordered by a picket fence narrowing to create a false perspective, paths of plastic flotsom, gleamed from the beach, found objects and a 'grave' made from old paintbrushes.

Two galleries - painted beachuts - are open to the public each with a different feel and Paddy sometimes takes the exhibitions on the road, staying in his deliciously curvy 1960's caravan, aiming to bring a piece of Dungeness to wherever he ends up.

You can see more of his work at http://www.paintings-for-sale.net/
and he has a blog detailing new work and what's he's up to http://paddyhamiltonstudios.blogspot.com/

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New Book on artist Patrick Procktor RA (1936-2003)

A new book on the British artist Patrick Procktor (1936-2003) is due to be launched next week at the Redfern Gallery, London: "Patrick Procktor : Art and Life" by Ian Massey.

Patrick Procktor is probably one of the least documented of the artists to come into prominence in London in the 1960s. A notable painter and printmaker Procktor became a key figure in in the 1960s and 70s. The book, written by Ian Massey, is highly illustrated with illustrations of Procktor's work as well as fascinating documentary photographs of the artist and his circle. The book draws on interviews made with people who knew Procktor well at different stages in his life and include friends such as David Hockney, Kaffe Fassett, Lord Snowden and Celia Birtwell and Gilbert & George.

You can read about it in this recent Evening Standard Magazine article

Full details will be available on the Redfern Gallery website and the book will be available directly from the Redfern Gallery or through Amazon at £40.00 (hardback).

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