Events & Exhibitions – Page 5

Off The Wall Opens at Horsham Museum & Art Gallery

()Offthewallposter — Off The Wall Exhibition at Horsham Museum, click to enlarge

Horsham Museum and Art Gallery opened their ‘Off The Wall’ exhibition to the public today. It follows the successful private view yesterday evening where artists and collectors gathered to see the diverse selection of art which will be taken ‘Off The Wall’ to be sold at Toovey’s Contemporary Art Auction on July 21st. Event organiser Nicholas Toovey overheard comments such as “The standard is so high this year”, “What an incredible mix”, “So much seems good value” and Nicholas’ personal favourite “I want to buy all three”.

Nicholas says “It was a fabulous evening supported by lovely people, all willing to share my enthusiasm for promoting Contemporary Art in Sussex. Horsham Museum provides the framework to display items of our local heritage. In an ever-changing society this provides an important sense of ‘place’. It is wonderful and rare to find a local museum that not only displays these items from the past, but is willing to showcase works of art for the future. I am always incredibly grateful to Jeremy Knight, Museum and Heritage Manager, for sharing this unique vision and displaying the works so beautifully. Thanks must also go to the artists for creating the works for the exhibition and auction. The variety on offer is testament to each artist’s individual approach to his or her subject and medium. I hope the eclectic mix will provide something for everyone.”

Rupert Toovey, Director at Toovey’s and a Trustee of the Museum, remarked “I would like to thank Jeremy Knight whose vision and curatorship at the Horsham Museum and Art Gallery has resulted in this remarkable ‘Summer of Art’ series of exhibitions. I would also like to thank the Horsham District Council for its continued support for this important resource for local residents and businesses. Horsham Museum has one of the highest visitor numbers of any museum or art gallery in the South of England and its footfall and location in the Causeway is of vital benefit to businesses not only in the town centre but across the Horsham District.”

The June issue of All About Horsham (AAH) magazine, also out today, features a fascinating write-up on pages 56-60 about the exhibition and auction by the editor, Ben Morris. The whole magazine can be viewed online by clicking here.

‘Off The Wall’ runs until 7th July at Horsham Museum and Art Gallery, 9 Causeway, Horsham. The museum is free to enter and is open Monday -Saturday 10am – 5pm (excluding bank holidays, open Monday 4th June 11am – 4pm). All works will featured in the preview exhibition will be sold at Toovey’s Contemporary Art Auction on 21st July.

A Summer of Art at Horsham Museum & Art Gallery

“We saw this at Frankfurt; we never expected to see it at Horsham!” was one such exclamation from a delighted visitor last Saturday after the successful launch of ‘Matisse: Drawing with Scissors’―the new month long exhibition at Horsham Museum & Art Gallery. Thanks to support from Toovey’s auctioneers and in association with Horsham District Arts, the Museum should be hearing further exclamations of delight as this summer sees a showcase of truly great and remarkable art.

From May to mid-September Horsham Museum and Art Gallery has pulled together a fantastic exhibition programme. After a year of discussions and networking, using the connections brought together by Horsham District Arts working with Toovey’s and University of Chichester Bishop Otter Gallery, the public have the chance to see great contemporary art with a focus on British art of the 20th and 21st centuries.

Following on from the riot of colours and shapes that is the Matisse exhibition, the Museum hosts ‘Off The Wall’ where 50 artists and craftspeople display their finest work in a preview show for the best Contemporary Arts Auction to be held in the South East. Using his contacts and a great deal of persuasion Nicholas Toovey has curated an exciting showcase, which Horsham Museum & Art Gallery is delighted to host. With artists of the calibre of Chris Kettle, Christine Tongue, Eve Shepherd and Muju, we know the public will value the opportunity to see, debate and be inspired by this fantastic collection, and perhaps dip their toes in the Contemporary Art market. With 150 works on display it will be an exciting and rewarding time. Some may even decide to bid for a work at the auction on the 21st July and take it ‘Off The Wall’ and home to their own interior.

From July to September the Museum & Art Gallery has engineered a once in a lifetime opportunity to see name-dropping art that for many a year has lain awaiting discovery by art lovers. Works by Henry Moore, Jacob Epstein, Paul Nash, Stanley Spencer, Ivon Hitchens and other great artists will be on show at Horsham Museum. The exhibition ‘A Summer of Great British Art’ is only possible because The University of Chichester Otter Gallery is closing this summer for refurbishment and Toovey’s Auction House has generously helped support this exhibition.

‘Matisse: Drawing with Scissors’ runs from 28 April – 26 May; ‘Off The Wall’ runs from 1 June to 7 July; and ‘A Summer of Great British Art’ runs from 17 July to 15 September.

Henri Matisse Exhibition at Horsham Museum & Art Gallery

Tristesse Matisse at Horsham Museum — Henri Matisse - 'Tristesse du Roi (Sorrow of the King)', 1952 Gouache découpée, 292 x 386cm Copyright: DACS

Thanks to sponsorship by Toovey’s auction house and the Hayward Gallery, Horsham Museum and Art Gallery is able to host an exhibition of Matisse’s later work. Opened just two years ago the Art Gallery was a new venture for the Museum, with the hope that it would be able to offer visitors and the community of the district the opportunity to see, admire and become inspired by art. ‘MATISSE: Drawing with Scissors, Late Works 1950-1954 – A Hayward Touring Exhibition from Southbank Centre, London’ is an amazingly colourful exhibition that reveals how Matisse was one of the twentieth century’s leading artists and designers – even while bedridden he was able to create iconic work with his ‘drawing with scissors’ series. It will inspire those who find the brush and pencil a barrier to art.

As the Hayward Gallery notes, “The French painter, sculptor and designer, Henri Matisse (1869-1954) was one of the twentieth century’s most influential artists. His vibrant works are celebrated for their extraordinary richness and luminosity of colour. Matisse: Drawing with Scissors, a Hayward Touring exhibition from the Southbank Centre, London, features 35 lithographic prints of the famous cut-outs, produced in the last four years of his life, when the artist was confined to his bed. It includes many of his iconic images, such as The Snail and the Blue Nudes.” Matisse continued creating highly original works into his eighties. For his cut-outs he used paper hand-painted with gouache, laid down in abstract or figurative patterns: “the paper cut-out allows me to draw in the colour… Instead of drawing the outline and putting the colour inside it… I draw straight into the colour.” The colours he used were so strong that he was advised by his doctor to wear dark glasses.

The lithographic reproductions in this exhibition are taken from a special double issue of Verve, a review of art and literature, published by Tériade, a major publisher of fine art books in 1958.

Matisse began his working life as a lawyer, before going to Paris to study art in 1890. At first strongly influenced by the Impressionists, he soon created his own style, using brilliant, pure colours, and started making sculptures as well as paintings. In 1905 he and his colleagues were branded the Fauves (wild beasts) because of their unconventional use of colour, and it was during this time that he painted his celebrated Luxe, Calme et Volupté (Luxury, Tranquillity and Delight). “There is no gap between my earlier pictures and my cut-outs,” Matisse wrote “I have only reached a form reduced to the essential through greater absoluteness and greater abstraction.”

‘Matisse: Drawing with Scissors’ opens on 28 April and closes 26 May 2012. For further information contact Horsham Museum.

Dora Gordine Exhibition at Worthing Museum

Dora and Richard — Dora Gordine and Richard

8 October 2011 to 21 January 2012

Fearless and feisty Dora Gordine stormed the art world of Europe from the 1920s to the 1950s, producing sculptures of nudes, portraits and public commissions. She also became involved in the early use of mass media advertising for the cosmetics industry. This is a rare opportunity to see this unique loan of over 25 sculptures, drawings, photographs, letters and magazines from Dorich House Museum and private lenders. The exhibition tours to Estonia in 2012 and Singapore in 2013. Guest Curator Brenda Martin from Dorich House Museum said: The social history of the 20th century is told through Gordine’s extraordinary life as an artist – wild Paris of the 1920s, exotic Singapore in the 1930s, war torn London of the 1940s and flamboyant America in the 1950s. The exhibition is accompanied by a series of talks and workshops for adults and family groups sponsored by Toovey’s Fine Art Auctioneers and Thomas Eggar LLP, a leading law firm in the south. John Bunker, Thomas Eggar LLP partner said: Thomas Eggar LLP Worthing is pleased to support the Dora Gordine exhibition at the Worthing Museum and Art Gallery. It’s part of our contribution to the vibrant life of the town. At the same time we are delighted to be a joint sponsor with Toovey’s. The collection brings something a bit different, some new cultural life to the town and with Worthing Museum being in a great central position it is one of those features of our community which is easy to take for granted. We’d wish to encourage the use of this valuable resource for Worthing, starting with this exhibition. Discover more about Gordine and her link to Worthing Museum by visiting the Museum’s website.

Nicholas Toovey visits the Brighton Art Fair

The Brighton Art Fair held its Private View this evening and opens the doors again on the 23rd, 24th and 25th of September. Nicholas Toovey had his usual snoop around the show viewing the contemporary art on offer. Familiar faces from the Contemporary Art Auctions were present and offered some of the highlights of the show. Dan Bennett was showing his amazing work inspired by phosphenes – the intricate swirling patterns that form before the inner eye. Natalie Martin had two wonderful depictions of the West Pier, Brighton on display, whilst Sheila Marlborough’s bright and vivid landscapes leapt from the white background of her stand. It is always a pleasure to have a chat with Eve Shepherd especially when you can admire her fascinating bronze ‘Broken’ in the process. It was also nice to see some ceramics on display, with Contemporary Art Auction regular Claire Palastanga having arguably the most subtle but eye-catching display in the Corn Exchange. A heart-shaped dish similar to the one pictured was truly beautiful in the flesh – unsurprisingly she had already made her first sale by the time Nicholas got to say hello. Sarah Young, Bill Phillip and Frances Doherty made up the other exhibitors that can regularly be found at Toovey’s Contemporary Art Auctions. Other artists that have not participated in the auction before, included Christine Tongue, Claire Bibaud and Gillian Bates, whilst the two printmakers Janet Brooke and Flora McLachlan are well worth seeking out at the 93 stand art fair. For more information visit www.brightonartfair.co.uk.