Brighton Art and Design Guide - Hove Museum

Art and Design Map
Hove Museum sits on New Church Road, to the west of Hove, in shady gardens, a short walk from the shops and cafes of Hove. The Museum is housed in a Victorian villa designed in Italianate style c.1870 by Thomas Lainson. During the First World War the building was used to house German prisoners of war, and in 1926 it was purchased by Hove Corporation and opened as a public museum the following year.

Hove Museum is not a large museum well worth visiting housing as it does a Contemporary Craft Gallery of the national significant. It also houses an important Toy Collection showcasing items from the National Toy Museum and Institute of Play collection. It also has a great and well used cafe!


Hove Museum & Art Gallery attracts a wide range of people – from locals dropping in for tea and cake in the Tearoom, children and families, workshop participants, students, daytrippers to visitors from across the world. It is of especial interest to craft makers and enthusiasts.

The Craft Galleries have works by major 20th century craft pioneers like Bernard Leach, Alison Britton and Elizabeth Fritsch, alongside pieces by prominent contemporary makers including Tadek Beutlich, Fred Baier and Susan Cutts. The museum stages regular craft exhibitions featuring some of the most innovative and exciting international makers.


Hove Museum works with artists and local community groups: metal railings by Jon Mills and pupils from Peter Gladwin Primary School; gallery seating by Beatriz Matud and Brunswick Older People's Project; lift interior panels by Duncan Hoosen and Care Co-ops and a panel highlighting the many sponsors and funders of the redevelopment project by Ian McKay and BHASVIC students.


Hove Museum is one of the most family friendly and accessible centres of learning and enjoyment in the South East. It is also a comprehensive local history resource, providing an essential link with the past, keeping history alive and relevant for the local community.


Hove and Shoreham were one of the early pioneers of the moving image and the museum includes work by film pioneers – James Williamson, Alfred Darling, George Albert Smith and Charles Urban

Exhibitions taking place this year -

Follies of Europe
24 January to 3 May 2009
A photographic exhibition, which traces the development of architectural extravaganzas in Europe from the Baroque to the ultra modern.

Deviants: Irreverence in Contemporary Craft
6 June to 13 September 2009
An exhibition that boldly questions ‘what does craft look like?’ Deviants challenges the current popular opinion of craft as merely decorative or functional and presents objects from the Crafts Council Collection that shatter that notion. The ‘deviant’ artists featured make objects that – through a subversive use of materials, and irreverent exploration of form, function and concept – depart markedly from the norm and challenge accepted craft aesthetics. This is an anthology of surprising objects that invite exploration into the presence of deviance in craft.

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Online Shop of the Week - Pedlars

I've always loved the very idea of Pedlars. Initially a small mail order company set up by family Gladstone living the ideal rural life in deepest Scotland surrounded by children, friends, dogs and hills!

Pedlars main focus in the early days was clothes - knitted jumpers, patchwork tiered skirts and printed t-shirts - always sourced as locally and as 'earthily' as possible. In later years the clothing line made way for more quirky home accessories, toys, outdoor living ideas and even their own favourite music choices of the time!



This month Peldlars launch Made in Britain - a selection of gorgeous goodies from wellie stands to lights and clocks to coats all lovingly made here on UK soil.



Pedlars recently opened three shops based in London, Birmingham and Wales so you can leave the computer and go and see for yourself the treats they have to offer.

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Brighton Art & Design Guide - eikonoclast

Brighton Art and Design Map
eikonoclast

Former Fashion Designer Remus Au opened eikonoclast in 2003. The Shop is conveniently situated just off the seafront in the Lanes area of Brighton 200metres from the Palace Pier behind the Queen's Hotel


eikonoclast is a jewel of a design shop specializing in life style products including ceramics, jewellery, glassware etc. The shop is known for its exclusive merchandise, exquisite presentation and enchanting window display.


Remus says he wants the shop...
"to challenge, to enchant and above all to delight. In Eikonoclast you will find diversity and individuality combined with artistic integrity. Our philosophy is to seek out the innovative and the unconventional. For us, beauty and quality are paramount. We only sell that which we love and believe to be distinctive."


The shop had to be in Brighton because...
"It has always been a fun and exciting place to live. It has a young, lively atmosphere and attracts a wide variety of people"


The shop stocks makers from around the country including,
Adrian Briscoe Photography
Melanie Bowles Digital Textile
Wendy Jung Ceramics
Katrina Alexander Jewellery
Remus Au Bespoke Greeting Card//Lighting
Gemma Rees Canvas painting and installation art
Alan Mcleod Water colour
Diane Matthes Illustrator
Jonathan Buck Wood sculpture

eikonoclast
7 Kings Road
Brighton
BN1 1NE
01273 821881

Open Monday, Wednesday to Saturday 10.30 - 18.00 and Sunday 11.00 - 17.00 Tuesday close.
info@eikonoclast.com

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Towner opens in Eastbourne

Eastbourne's new art gallery – Towner – is open!
The state-of-the-art gallery, next to the Congress Theatre, and by the seafront was opened on Friday 3rd April by Tate director Sir Nicholas Serota . Towner was designed by award winning Rick Mather Architects.

For anyone looking to spend some time in Sussex over Easter, do make a visit to Towner. There are exhibitions with work from the permanent collection on one floor (including several watercolours by Eric Ravilious) and an exhibition by Chilean artist Iván Navarro on the upper floor gallery.

Towner has exhibition galleries of international standard, fully accessible Towner Collection display, storage and research facilities, a suite of rooms for workshops, events and meetings, large-scale exhibition halls to be used for both conference and art exhibitions, a top floor café and terrace with views of the South Downs, and a well stocked shop.

Entry is free. Open every day except Monday.

Towner - Devonshire Park, College Road, Eastbourne BN21 4JJ Tel: 01323 415 470

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Brighton Art & Design Guide - Brass Monkeys

Brighton Art and Design Map
Brass Monkeys Jewellery Workshops and Gallery


Jenifer Wall and Samantha Maund moved their workshop/gallery to Portland Road Hove in December 2007 after 6 years in a drafty garage in St Johns Road Hove (now Boxbird Studio and Gallery).

Samantha Maund

We are both makers and so just had a workshop before. Because we are makers we know all our suppliers personally, and we understand how the work is made.

Jenifer Wall

Brass Monkeys are trying to offer their customers something special and unique, unusual and original pieces that they won't find on the high street. Everything is displayed in antique cabinets creating the impression of a collection in a museum.

Sarah Packington

We currently stock the work of over 30 designer makers including Jenifer Wall, Samantha Maund, Anne Massey, Annabet Wyndham, Becky Crow, Joanne Tinker, Ruth Wood, Julia Groundsell, Mike Gell, Penny Warren

Jennifer Kidd

Kate Orton

Hannah Bedford

Sam Maund

Jenifer Wall

Ruth Wood
David Poston

Anne Massey



Open Tues - Sat 10-5pm
Closed Sun - Mon

Or by appointment

Brass Monkeys
109 Portland Road
Hove
East Sussex
BN3 5DP
01273 725170

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Brighton Art & Design Guide - Cardigan Studio Shop

Brighton Art and Design Map
Kate Jenkins opened the Cardigan Studio Shop in 2007 in a Mews behind Sussex Square Kemptown. The shop is in part of her design studio and workshop.


Kate had been a freelance fashion knitwear designer for many years before starting the independent label Cardigan which now produces a large range of products including wraps, scarves, gifts and crocheted pieces of art.


Kate says that Cardigan had to be in Brighton "Because it is such a creative and beautiful town I couldn't see myself working and living anywhere else"



"I wanted to create an exciting space to show that anything can be made out of yarn. When I first opened, the products were mainly fashion accessories but this has now grown into a space where I can develop my ideas which have resulted in producing pieces of art which I feel complements the whole concept of the shop.
The space works on many levels - A design Studio, A Showroom & Shop and an Exhibition Space."
Cardigan Studio Shop is open Monday-Friday 9.30 -6.00. During the May Artists Open Houses Cardigan will be open weekends and will be launching a new range of limited edition prints. Kate has has a solo show of her crocheted artworks entitled 'Kate's Cafe' June at the Rebecca Hossack Gallery in London.


Images Rachel Whiting

Cardigan
Unit 5
Arundel Mews
13 -18 Arundel Place
Kemp Town
Brighton
BN2 1GG

Tel: 01273 671390
Website: www.cardigan.ltd.uk

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Brighton Art & Design Guide - Brighton Museum and Art Gallery

Brighton Museum & Art Gallery
Brighton Art and Design Map

Brighton Museum is housed in a beautiful regency building - completed in 1808, by architect George Porden, the building was commissioned by the Prince Regent (who became George IV) as a stable block and riding school. It was then one of the largest buildings of its kind in the world, with room to stable up to 60 horses. As well as the museum and the Brighton History Centre, the building now also houses the Brighton Dome Concert Hall and the Corn Exchange.

The Museum sits in the beautiful restored regency gardens of the Royal Pavilion – perfect for a picnic on a grass. The Gallery and related cafe are well used by locals for a break at lunchtime as well as visitors to the town.


Brighton Museum is an excellent smaller museum with well designed galleries ranging from the Story of Brighton, told in all its glorious and ‘inglorious’ detail, to one of the country's most significant ethnological collections; from punk rock renegade fashion to an international celebration of 20th-century art and design. The collections also contain 2,000 paintings – almost as many as the National Gallery – 15,000 artefacts of world art, 2,000 pieces of historic pottery, and some 10,000 items of costume.


The Museum excels in creative planning and thematic contextualisation. Its objects are displayed with wit and imagination, employing a range of interpretive techniques including the latest interactive information technology. It also encourages local participation. Many of its objects have been donated by the local community, while its oral histories and personal testimonies help bring the city's history to life.


One of the highlights of the Museum is Mr Willett's Poplar Pottery - Willett was convinced that ceramic figures and vessels could tell stories from political, social and cultural history through the images with which 'homely pottery' were decorated.

The main hall of the museum houses the Twentieth Century Art and Design Gallery - a stunning collection of 
20th-century furniture, ceramics, glass and metal work from Europe and America including pieces by Gallé, Lalique, Clarice Cliffe and modern masters such as Ron Arad and André Dubreuil. Salvador Dali and Edward James’ Mae West's Lips sofa c1936


Fine art highlights include an important collection of Dutch 17th century paintings, 19th century British landscapes and a major bequest from Paul Heyer’s personal collection of late 20th-century American artists such as Frank Stella, Jules Olitski and Alexander Calder.

Upcoming Exhibitions

Ray Kyte: Shirt Tales 10 February to 10 May Café Balcony
The shirts in these photographs are used as a vehicle to explore light, form and texture. They celebrate weave, pattern, colour and design. Most of all they are a means of using fabric as a filter, allowing light penetration to be the purveyor of drama, the nature of each shirt becoming the dictator of mood.

The American Scene: Prints from Hopper to Pollock A British Museum Tour 2 May to 31 August 2009
Admission payable
The American Scene features around 80 outstanding prints by 56 leading modern American artists, including George Bellows, Edward Hopper, Grant Wood, Josef Albers, Alexander Calder, Louise Bourgeois and Jackson Pollock.

The Land Girls: Cinderellas of the Soil 3 October 2009 to 14 March 2010
This new exhibition focuses on Sussex and the land girls who were trained, lived and worked on the Sussex Downs and surrounding areas.
It considers three main themes: women, land and army. Using personal stories, memories, propaganda, paintings, posters, photographs and other objects The Land Girls weaves a narrative around surviving items of their distinctive uniform - where it was made, who wore it, what they did, how women felt about wearing it and the reactions they encountered.
The exhibition also considers the lives of former land girls today and the enduring appeal of an idealised image of the Women’s Land Army in memorabilia, vintage and fashion clothing and re-enactment.

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