State of the Art 09.16.38 (3).qxp_Layout 2 19/08/2019 16:25 Page 1
EXHIBITIONS
STATE OF THE ART Image, Imagination and Experience, Clifton Contemporary Art, 14 September – 11 October This autumn, see a selection of layered, dynamic abstracts by Andrew Bird, informed and inspired by both the bustle of coastal life and the natural ruggedness of Cornwall and Derbyshire. “I try to capture the essence of a place or situation,” Andrew says of his work, “as well as trying to simplify the form and colour of what I see.” This formal manipulation of the essentials and gestural mark making combines with a lively, evocative palette – not to represent a specific scene, but to encapsulate a “particular slice of time”. • cliftoncontemporaryart.co.uk
Below the Rocks II by Andrew Bird
Bristol: The Birthplace of Photography, St Pauls Darkrooms, 13 – 15 September Awareness of light sensitivity began in the 1700s when Johann Schultz realised it was light, rather than air, that darkened silver salts. The Bristol link began when the potter Thomas Wedgwood thought he could use light to make images on pottery. In 1803 he met with the chemist Humphry Davy in Hotwells and the first photographic process was invented, resulting in detailed images of plants and leaves made with light. Although the pictures only lasted a few weeks, these ‘photograms’ were the world’s first images, 35 years before the announcement of photography in France by Daguerre. The first photograph of a ship was of the SS Great Britain and, several decades later, Bristol’s William Friese-Greene invented the moving image which went on to become film. In 2003 the darkrooms of the Watershed were moved to the St Pauls Learning Centre and three years ago the facility was taken over by the Real Photography Company with the aim to revive traditional photography and introduce new audiences to the wonders of optical science, silver and light. They have spacious, accessible darkrooms and will be opening their doors in September as part of Bristol Open Doors weekend. The drop-in event is free, and will feature hands-on experiments and demos of early processes; discover how experimentation in Bristol and the surrounding area led to the discovery of photography. • realphotographycompany.co.uk
Autumn Exhibition, Lime Tree Gallery, until 14 October Lime Tree Gallery, which specialises in representing artists known for the painterly use of colour and light, is welcoming two new artists for the first time; Ann Oram RSW and Elsa Taylor. Ann is one of Scotland’s finest artists in the colourist tradition and her feeling of paint and colour is hard to surpass while Elsa Taylor, a natural colourist, lives and paints in her beautiful cottage in the Cotswolds. Her abstract imagery, combined with a confident use of colours, create enchanting harmonies. • limetreegallery.com
42 THE BRISTOL MAGAZINE
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SEPTEMBER 2019
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No 183
Still Life on a Pink Table by Ann Oram RSW
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