Art GUIDE
Pathway to Abstraction
Legacy'84
Neil Rands at the BrevanArt Gallery, Bass Terrace, DN1 2HZ Closes 30th November 2014
What’s Left Doncaster Museum & Art Gallery 8th Nov 2014 - 4th Jan 2015
If you have never visited the small, friendly, amply-stocked BrevanArt Gallery, now’s the time. It is the studio home of resident artists like Terry Chipp, Nathan Turnbill and Katherine Bailey, who have been offering classes in painting and life drawing along with artists’ website advice. Sadly, it closes its doors on 30th November. Currently the gallery is hosting an exhibition of works by local artist Neil Rands. A selection of his pieces displayed on the second floor features bold colour, faux-naif figurative elements and unusual substrates, incorporating some of the tools of his art. Outside in the small courtyard stand a number of unfinished works inspired by travel and everyday experiences, tall facets of the artist’s persona in reclaimed doors, mirrors and junk wood. Each piece seems to reveal a blend of Arte Povera, NeoExpressionism and Fauvist colours, taking in found objects and symbols of Christian faith. But there is nothing offensive, shocking or pretentious here. To the contrary, I found myself strangely comforted by being with these everyday characters. This wasn’t just because I identified parts of myself in them, like in a fairground hall of mirrors. There is something fascinating about old doors, like old books, each with a history of their own. Rands’ exhibits in “Pathway to Abstraction….outside” took me back to my childhood in the North East, where a variety of multi-coloured weathered doors featured in the construction of allotment boundaries and pigeon lofts along the coast. It would be interesting to see these works again in a few months time, when the elements have altered them further. The BrevanArt Gallery closes it’s doors on the 30th November, you can still catch Pathway to Abstract in the courtyard area until then. The gallery is a local treasure, I’ll be sorry to see it close.
What’s left 30 years after the 1984 miners’ strike? What traces have the industry, its rapid closure and regeneration activities left on the landscape and communities? These are the questions behind the latest group show curated by New Fringe. Launching on 8th November at Doncaster Museum and Art Gallery, the exhibition promises to be one of the groups’ most ambitious projects, with the intention to tour it around the former mining villages across Doncaster throughout 2015. Formed in 2006, New Fringe hosts events, exhibitions and projects throughout Doncaster, including the annual art show at Church View Centre. What’s Left? brings together eight artists from varied disciplines, including sculpture, photography, installation, painting and illustration. The show explores the folklore and impact of the coal mining industry since the miners’ strike. The exhibition also features the artwork and sketchbooks of overseas artist Cheryll Kinsley Potter, an established international artist working from her studio in the South of France. Her work produced during the 1984 strike sits alongside images from the present, overshadowed by the long and growing collective memory of the region. The show runs till 4th January. Doncaster Museum and Art Gallery is open Wednesday to Friday, 10am-4.30pm, and Saturday and Sunday, 10.30am-4.15pm. For more information, email chair.newfringe@gmail.com doncasternewfringe.wordpress.com Guy Russell (photo Martin Pick ©2014)
Karen Huzzard (photo BrevanArt ©2014)
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