Contemporary Sussex Artists – Page 4

Exceptional Art & Community ~ 2013 Brighton Art Fair

Artists and Brighton Art Fair organisers Jon Tutton and Sarah Young

The Brighton Art Fair celebrates its 10th anniversary this year. At the heart of this annual event’s success is the vision of its founders and organisers, Jon Tutton and Sarah Young, to bring together contemporary art of the highest quality by established names, providing a unique opportunity for the public to meet the artists whose work they can buy at the fair.

Jon says, “It is rare for the public to have unmediated, direct access to the artist,” and he is right. The art buyer’s relationship with the artist is very often mediated through a gallery or exhibition director. The relational quality that the Brighton Art Fair affords is extremely refreshing. There is a generosity of spirit among the artistic community too, as ideas are shared and expressed. “It helps that the exhibitors understand that we are artists too,” Jon remarks. “It really is important to bring the artistic community together, both artists and patrons.” I think that Jon, with his natural modesty, understates the sense of ownership and creativity which he and Sarah have inspired in their fellow artists.

‘Dryad I & Dryad II’, oil painting by Sarah Young

I ask Jon how the Brighton Art Fair came into being and he responds, “It was completely by accident. The idea arose from a conversation with fellow artists in a pub! At the time, there were no venues in Brighton where professional artists could come together and exhibit and sell their work.” Ten years on, how would they describe themselves, as exhibition organisers and directors as well as artists? Jon replies with a wry grin, “Reluctant!” To organise an event like this is a huge amount of work, but it is clear that these two artists are quietly proud of the Brighton Art Fair’s enduring success and what it represents to the visual arts community.

Sarah Young works in phases and in recent years she has been focussing on her painting. She explains, “For some time the Glyndebourne Gallery has been exhibiting my pictures, which are currently inspired by opera and music.” The work has proved successful with an appreciative audience of music and art lovers.

Sarah will be exhibiting again at this year’s Brighton Art Fair. Among her work on show will be two oil paintings, ‘Dryad I & Dryad II’ and ‘Naiad I & Naiad II’. They are inspired by the Richard Strauss opera ‘Ariadne auf Naxos’, which was performed at this year’s Glyndebourne Festival. Both characters are drawn from Greek mythology. Dryad, the nymph or spirit of the trees, and Naiad, the spirit of waterfalls and brooks, accompany the Princess Ariadne on the Island of Naxos, where she has been abandoned by Theseus. The tale ends well and Ariadne eventually finds love with Bacchus. Sarah’s paintings are at once still, out of time and mystical, reflective of the opera.

Sarah also continues to work as an illustrator and printmaker. As an illustrator, she has worked for an array of famous publishers, including HarperCollins and Dorling Kindersley. She has illustrated ‘20 Sussex Gardeners’, ‘20 Sussex Gardens’ and ‘20 Sussex Churches’ for the Snake River Press and has contributed to the artistic journal ‘Nobrow’. In 2010, she illustrated ‘Greek Myths’ by Ann Turnbull, published by Walker Books. A work perfectly suited to her subject matter, which often incorporates folklore and mythology, the book is her tour de force as an illustrator to date. Her book cover artwork for ‘Ariel’ by Sylvia Plath was shortlisted for the V&A Illustration Awards in 2011.

‘Naiad I & Naiad II’, oil painting by Sarah Young

Working as a painter, printmaker and illustrator, Sarah Young follows in the tradition of the Sussex artists Eric Ravilious and Paul Nash before her. There is a lyrical quality to her work, as there is to theirs. I am always impressed by the particular and coherent voice with which she gifts her pictures, while working in a variety of media.

This year Sarah and John have invited the exhibiting artists to create an ‘artistic cube’, which will be on sale for just £30 in aid of the charity Arthouse Meath. Arthouse Meath works with adults living with severe epilepsy and learning difficulties, who have varying needs and abilities. Arthouse Meath employs professional artists of a high calibre, who adapt their working methods to develop these people as artists, so that they become involved in the process of creating saleable artworks. It is extraordinary and exciting how the combination of art and community can be so transformative.

Jon concludes, “We are proud that we have a show which artists and visitors enjoy.” His view is clearly supported; last year the Brighton Art Fair attracted more than 6000 art lovers!

I think that the Brighton Art Fair’s success is due to the quality of the art and artists exhibited and the generosity of spirit engendered in this event by Jon Tutton and Sarah Young. I hope you will treat yourselves to a visit this weekend and perhaps discover a piece of art for you – at the very least you must buy a cube! The 2013 Brighton Art Fair runs at Brighton Dome Corn Exchange in the heart of Brighton, just around the corner from the Royal Pavilion, from Friday 20th September until Sunday 22nd September. For opening times and further information about the Brighton Art Fair, visit www.brightonartfair.co.uk. More information about the work of Arthouse Meath is available at www.arthousemeath.com.

By Revd. Rupert Toovey. Originally published on 18th September 2013 in the West Sussex Gazette.

Arundel Gallery Trail 2013

The artist Josse Davis working in his potter’s studio

This weekend marks the beginning of the Arundel Gallery Trail, which opens on Saturday 17th August 2013 at 12.00noon. It combines the delights of discovering art from more than 100 established and emerging artists in many of the historic houses and gardens of Arundel not normally open to the public. These homes provide the perfect setting for this annual selling exhibition and celebration of Sussex as a centre of art. The Arundel Gallery Trail is now in its 25th year. Founded by Arundel artist Derek Davis (1926-2008), Renee Bodimeade, Ann Sutton and Oliver Hawkins, the event is an essential part of the Sussex art calendar.

Josse Davis has played an active role in the Arundel Gallery Trail over many years and will be exhibiting his pottery again this year. The son of ceramicist and painter Derek Davis and the painter Ruth Davis, he works from his home town of Arundel. His affection for Arundel is clear. Asked if he plans to stay put, he answers wryly, “I am reluctant to move now I have a kiln or two.” Having grown up happily in Arundel and inspired by his parents, Josse is very grounded in the town. “Potters don’t move often… kilns don’t budge easily,” he continues with a smile.

‘Salad I (The excuse me)’, thrown stoneware bowl by Josse Davis.

This wit is expressed in his work and its titles, like the bowl ‘Salad I (The excuse me)’ illustrated here, which clearly shows the influence of his father’s work. Josse describes his decoration as being “divided into two distinct styles: the spontaneous and the disciplined”. “As a confident draughtsman,” he says, “my designs are figurative and often described as traditionally English in approach.” His work is, though, a contemporary take on this tradition.

Another important contributor to the Arundel Gallery Trail is Susie Jenkins, whose art employs photography to challenge our perceptions of the world in which we live. Susie comments, “My work intends to immerse the viewer into a different world or abstracted view, but are, in truth, extreme close-up photographs of the bottom of boats or other ‘found’ objects. It is up to the viewer to decide whether a specific image is a landscape view of the world from above or a piece of abstract art.”

Susie’s view of the world is practical as well as abstracted. Together with her daughter-in-law, Beatriz Huezo, she founded the charity ‘Art for Life’, holding art auctions in conjunction with other Arundel Gallery Trail artists. My brother Nicholas and I have been privileged to work with Susie on this project, which has raised money for the homeless and children in El Salvador in Central America. Houses, a community clinic and a school for children in poverty are part of the fruits of this collaboration of artists. Susie Jenkins’ work, both as an artist and for charity, deserves to be celebrated. It always interests me that when we set off on our own in life, we invariably end up going round and round in ever decreasing circles. But when we bring our gifts together with the gifts of others and share them in a common and generous purpose, exceptional things happen. This collaborative spirit is deeply ingrained in the Arundel Gallery Trail and Arundel Festival, which celebrate community as well as the arts.

‘Event Horizon’, colour photograph by Susie Jenkins, © the artist 2006.

The 2013 Arundel Gallery Trail will take place between Saturday 17th August and Bank Holiday Monday 26th August alongside fireworks, Shakespeare at Arundel Castle and many other Arundel Festival events. The Arundel Gallery Trail is open 12.00noon to 5.30pm on weekends and Bank Holiday Monday, and 2.00pm to 5.30pm on weekdays. It provides an exciting opportunity to enjoy and buy art from leading Sussex artists. For more information on this year’s exhibiting artists and where you can see their work, go to www.arundelgallerytrail.co.uk. The whole town becomes a gallery – you really must go!

By Revd. Rupert Toovey. Originally published on 14th August 2013 in the West Sussex Gazette.

Hans Feibusch Drawings and Prints For Sale at Toovey’s

Design for Christ in Glory in St Sidwells, Exeter — Lot 8: Design for Christ in Glory

A group of twenty works by the 20th century artist Hans Feibusch is to be offered for auction in Toovey’s specialist fine art sale on Wednesday 12th June. Feibusch had strong links with Sussex and worked in a particular figurative style, influenced by the painters of the Renaissance.

Hans Feibusch arrived in England in 1933 from Nazi Germany to escape persecution as a Jew. He had become an established painter in Germany and was awarded the German Grand State Prize for Painters in 1930 by the Prussian Academy of Arts in Berlin. His talent was soon recognized in England and he exhibited regularly, often with the London Group, to which he was elected in 1934. The London Group included many of Britain’s leading artists.

His first public commission came in 1937 when Edward D. Mills invited Feibusch to paint a mural, ‘Christ washing the Disciples’ Feet before the Last Supper’, for the new Methodist Hall in Colliers Wood, London. The painting attracted a great deal of interest from the national press and brought the artist to the attention of Kenneth Clark, later Lord Clark. Clark was very influential and was director of the National Gallery in London during the war. His television series and book ‘Civilisation’ would subsequently capture the imagination of a generation.

Bishop George Bell of Chichester wrote to Kenneth Clark at the National Gallery in 1939 asking for suggestions as to artists who might be prepared to accept commissions. Clark introduced Feibusch to Bell and the two men met for lunch in Brighton on New Year’s Day 1940. It marked the beginning of a lifelong friendship, during which Bell would be Feibusch’s leading patron. Both men were unprepared to turn their backs on evil. Feibusch personified Bell’s deep and active concern for the plight of the Jews in Germany and its refugees.

In 1929 Bell became Bishop of Chichester, bringing with him patterns of worship and the arts from Canterbury Cathedral, where he had been dean. He wished to see churches once more filled with colour and beauty. Eternal truths could be proclaimed anew in music, modern art and poetry. More people would be drawn into the Christian community by the revival of this old alliance and renewed vitality. Among visitors to the Bishop’s Palace in Chichester were Gustav Holst, Vaughan Williams, Henry Moore, T.S. Eliot, Vanessa Bell, Duncan Grant and, of course, Hans Feibusch.

Rupert Toovey comments, “The friendship between Bell and Feibusch blessed Sussex with a number of murals by this artist. These can be seen at St Wilfred’s, Brighton; Chichester Cathedral; The Bishop’s Chapel, Chichester, and St Mary’s, Goring-by-Sea. Painting onto the walls of churches and cathedrals requires painstaking preparation and these pencil cartoons by Feibusch give us a valuable insight into his work. The sketch for the mural ‘Christ in Glory’, painted in 1957 at St Sidwell’s, Exeter, shows striking prompts from Feibusch’s earlier works in Sussex. The ‘Christ in Majesty’, painted in 1954 at St Mary’s, Goring-by-Sea, has similarities with the sketch for St Sidwell’s. The mural and cartoon display Feibusch’s knowledge of Renaissance artists and their influence on his work. Christ’s arms open in a gesture of welcome and embrace. The figures are convincing, almost sculptural, with a quality of mass and light. Feibusch gifts them through their poses with grace and nobility. In the St Sidwell’s sketch, men and women look up to Christ with gestures of praise and thanksgiving, reminiscent of the figures in the Ascension scene painted by Feibusch in the Bishop’s private chapel in Chichester.”

While the attention of the art world moved on to focus on the abstraction of Ben Nicholson and the new depiction of naturalistic forms by artists like Henry Moore and Graham Sutherland, Hans Feibusch continued to paint and draw figuratively. His style of painting has been the subject of renewed interest in recent years with retrospective exhibitions held at Pallant House Gallery, Chichester, in 1995, and more recently at the Bishop Otter Gallery, University of Chichester, in 2012.

“The murals deserve to be celebrated,” Rupert Toovey enthuses. “They represent the work of a gifted artist whose life was inexorably bound up with the extraordinary history and events of his time. For me, though, it is Feibusch’s sketches and drawings that reveal his true talent.”

Hans Feibusch’s work rarely comes to the market and it is with some excitement that collectors are looking forward to Toovey’s sale. The group of sketches, studies and prints will be offered in twelve lots at 10am on 12th June at Toovey’s Spring Gardens Auction Rooms, Washington.

Below: a selection of other works by Hans Feibusch to be offered in Toovey’s June auction.

Click on an image to enlarge.

NADFAS & Toovey’s Raise £780 for Mary How Trust

NADFAS Day at Toovey's — Rupert Toovey and Chris Winter with members of the Storrington NADFAS at Toovey's

The monies are now in and Toovey’s Special Interest NADFAS Day in aid of the Mary How Trust has realised £780.

For the second year, fine art auctioneers Toovey’s, on the A24 at Washington, teamed up with the Storrington Branch of the National Association of Decorative and Fine Arts Society (NADFAS) in March to raise money for the local charity Mary How Trust. Rupert and Nicholas Toovey put on a series of lectures on Sussex as a centre for Modern British Art in the 20th century and collecting vintage postcards. The day also included lunch, a private view of the forthcoming auction and a valuation session of objects brought by the NADFAS members. NADFAS event organizer Chris Winter commented, “This event was oversubscribed last year, so Rupert kindly offered to run it again this year.”

The Mary How Trust, based at Pulborough, was set up in memory of Mary How by her husband and doctor in response to her battle with cancer. Today the charity screens around a thousand people a year, saving countless lives. Rupert Toovey, director of Toovey’s, said, “I am proud to be a patron of the Mary How Trust. The work its dedicated team does saves countless lives. It receives no funding from the NHS, though, so it is terribly important that we give generously to this exceptional local charity, especially in its Silver Jubilee year. I would like to thank the members of the Storrington NADFAS for their generous help.” The talks and lunch were given free of charge by Toovey’s so that all the proceeds could go to the Mary How Trust. Chris Winter concluded, “I would like to thank Rupert, Nicholas and all the team at Toovey’s for a memorable day.”

For more information on the Mary How Trust and how you might get involved, visit www.maryhowtrust.org

Major Exhibition at Horsham Museum

Ivon Hitchens - Autumn — 'Autumn' by Ivon Hitchens, one of the exhibits at Horsham Museum & Art Gallery

Thanks to amazing good fortune Horsham Museum & Art Gallery is able to showcase work by Henry Moore, Jacob Epstein, Paul Nash, Ivon Hitchens, Stanley Spencer and twelve other greats of British art in a temporary exhibition called ‘A Summer of Great British Art.’

Good fortune is the key to an amazing opportunity that has blessed Horsham this summer. The University of Chichester’s Otter Gallery had the good fortune to have a major refurbishment. It also had the good fortune to have a fantastic collection of contemporary British art. While it is being refurbished 17 pictures from its collection are being loaned to Horsham Museum & Art Gallery. This is an incredibly rare opportunity, literally once in a lifetime, as galleries don’t often lend out the crème of their collection, yet thanks to an investment by the University in its facilities, that is exactly what University of Chichester’s Otter Gallery is doing.

The exhibition, which runs for two months from 17th July to 15th September, was only possible through the support of Toovey’s, the Washington-based auction house that assisted with the insurance of this major collection of art. For two months the art will adorn the walls of Horsham Museum’s recently opened art gallery, a venture which has attracted a whole new audience to the Museum. An audience that would go to the Tate to see a David Mitchie, or Elizabeth Blackadder, or Richard Eurich, or a Walter Sickert can now come to Horsham to see these works for the summer of 2012 only.

2012 is a remarkable summer for Britain with sporting and cultural highlights. For the town of Horsham it is also a remarkable summer that started with Matisse and now with this outstanding exhibition on display, an event only made possible through the work of Horsham District Arts, Toovey’s and The University of Chichester’s Otter Gallery. It is an exhibition that will go down in the annals of the town’s cultural history.

‘A Summer of Great British Art’ opens at Horsham Museum on 17th July and closes 15th September 2012.