Exhibitions Reviews 2006
BOOKSTORE BRIERLOW BAR - Wild Britain
Friday 14th July
Geoff Simpson is a man dedicated to his profession. Many of the images in this audio visual presentation were taken at three or four in the morning, when, in his opinion, natural light is at its best. An award winning nature photographer whose work has been used by the likes of the John Muir Trust, the BBC, and nationally known nature magazines, he has photographed some of Britain's rarest species of animal and plant. But it is from the realms of the ordinary that his sometimes extraordinary images are rooted.
During this illuminating talk Simpson lifted a veil on the origins of some of his seemingly pristine natural images. The close up of a Jay's wing that he scraped up off the tarmac outside his local Sainsbury's being a superlative example. Simpson seeks "the common photographed exquisitely". Many of his shots feature popular sights for tourists, but seen from a slightly different angle, and through the eyes of a very competent technician. From what he told the sell out audience tonight it would seem half his photographs have an ice cream van or car park just out of shot.
There are three threads to Simpson's work. First, the straightforward 'nature photographer'. Shots of animals in their environment, of which the audience appreciated the more cutesy. These, which are his biggest sellers, are good in their own right, and backed up by a thorough knowledge of his subjects, but it is the other two threads I found to be much more interesting.
His large landscapes show an excellent eye for composition and again, the essential element that runs through all his work, a beautiful sense of natural light. He also manages to capture that sense of scale which eludes many a landscape photographer.
The third element and probably his slowest sellers are the more abstract macro shots. A pine cone half hidden amongst two contrasting colours of lichen. Sea lettuce growing in rock pools. A complete Smoothsnake skin lying on grass. As images and as art these latter are some of Simpson's strongest.
The main difficulty I had with reviewing this event was the venue. Brierlow Bar Bookstore has a huge selection of very cheap and very interesting books. As a voracious reader this distraction proved by the end of the talk to be somewhat difficult to resist. I will return soon to sip coffee and sample more of its many delights.
Chris Robinson
BOOKSTORE BRIERLOW BAR - Two Rivers: Dove and Manifold from Source to Confluence
7th July Brierlow Bar Bookstore
Two Rivers: Dove and Manifold, is a photographic exhibition by Fran Halsall, 2nd prize winner in the most recent Buxton Photography Competition. The exhibition charts the journey of the two rivers through dramatic landscapes, from lush rolling farm land pastures, to harsh rocky surrounds with foreboding spires of rock and gaping cave mouths.
Situated in the unusual (but actually brilliantly apt) venue of the Brierlow Bar Bookstore.
Wonderfully captured are the lives of the rivers throughout the seasons, bleak winter scenes as the rivers banks struggle to contain the water after a heavy downpour, an almost dry riverbed in summer, bordered by a riot of colour from the fauna reliant on the rivers nourishment for survival. The viewer is also treated to a glimpse of times past, scars of human industry once at the mercy of the power of the water. Fran has a real talent for using one photo to tell a thousand stories, and presenting vivid images from intriguing perspectives. Whether interested in the subject matter, or just wanting to see some beautiful photographs, this exhibition is compulsory viewing.
Nick Wire
HIGH PEAK ARTISTS' & CRAFT WORKERS' ASSOCIATION - Pump Room Art & Craft Exhibition
The Pump Room
The Art & Craft exhibition located at the historic Pump Room combines the work of 38 artists. It is a wonderful mix of both established and modern techniques, which are put to good use to portray the beauty of the local area. The exhibition displays a wide variety of artistic media including: contemporary jewellery; photography; ceramics; textiles; linocuts; silk painting; calligraphy; tassels and a large range of prints and hand made cards.
The artists exhibiting at the Pump Room imprint their own styles, flair, and vision upon an exhibition which is at times exciting, ambitious, evocative, and powerful.
This exhibition is a must see for anyone wishing to take time-out from the hustle and bustle of life, and enjoy a few moments to appreciate the extravagant beauty of our natural surroundings.
Jasmine Harmer
ARMELLE PERRIN - Itinerary
Project X
Armelle Perrin's 18 tiny pictures conjure up a wordless, cinematic narrative of Parisian nightlife, Latino gangsters, sex and violence which plays in the viewer's mind like the storyboard to a movie of their own devising.
She employs a photographic technique, augmented by other media, to create a vivid, colourful series of snapshots that I found reminiscent of Ralph Bakshi's groundbreaking work on the animated 1979 movie of The Lord of the Rings, or the fragmented, multi-media narratives of comic books pioneer Bill Sienkowicz.
This is a small but intriguing exhibit which will repay further viewings as different nuances of its plot present themselves to the imagination.
Robbie Carnegie
SUE MORTIN - Terrazza Angels
La Terrazza, Cavendish Arcade
Sue Mortin's handful of paintings, displayed in La Terrazza restaurant, form a striking exhibit. Large, colourful and full of character and energy, they leap off the walls. Her painting style is nave and entertaining, and if you like your visual arts bold and lively, this is for you. Her angels are miles away from the sentimentalised versions sometimes presented, appearing rather more vengeful than beneficent.
It will not take the interested viewer much time to check these paintings and, while I would recommend you do so, perhaps this brevity is just as well, since their location of this exhibit is perhaps not ideally suited. Having this reviewer squinting over their heads at the paintings seemed to prove uncomfortable for the diners in the restaurant, while the fact that it was the smoking area proved uncomfortable for the reviewer.
Robbie Carnegie
PAUL SMITH (SCULPTURES) - Grizzly Tales
Buxton Museum and Art Gallery, museum opening hours
Whilst on a smaller scale than I had imagined, this exhibition of figurative sculptures in bronze and ceramic repays detailed examination, offering a fascinating reworking of European folk tales and fairy stories.
There is a childish appeal to Paul Smith's work, not just because of the subject matter but of the stylised nature of the sculpture. The artist, who lives on the edge of the Peak District National Park, claims to have been influenced by the Polish sculptor Elie Nadelman, who was in turn influenced by American folk art, and that nave charm is present here, yet with something else mixed in. Bearing Up! Shows Goldilocks cheerfully on top of the two parent bears with baby bear on top of her in a kind of totem pole formation. It is a cute image but what is it trying to say about the power struggle between the four characters? As ever, there is a serious edge to Smith's humour.
The artist has suggested that his Red Riding Hood sculptures subvert the fairytale by depicting her as a femme fatale. Certainly in Girl with Wolf, the wolf has its snout raised devotedly and is pressed against her, offering no visible threat. In another sculpture however, the curved position of the sleeping wolf mirrors that of the sleeping Red Riding Hood creating a kind of equality. In Love Is Blind, Red Riding Hood is tenderly hugging the wolf as though she were blindly in love with him (though the title could work both ways of course).
As you can see, I am still working out the significance of Smith's sculptures but this ambiguity is part of their bewitching charm. It would be interesting to see what children made of them - would they think his bears cuddly or too close to the humans for comfort; is the Foxy Lady (half lady, half beast), funny or scary?
Smith has an eye for curves and symmetry making each of his sculptures uniquely, visually satisfying. As for the meanings behind them, these tend to lead us in many different directions making this one of the most intriguing exhibitions in the Fringe.
Stephanie Billen
BUXTON MUSEUM AND ART GALLERY - Wildest Dreams
Buxton Museum and Art Gallery, museum opening hours
The Buxton Museum and Art Gallery is one of the key destinations for any art lover visiting this year's Fringe.
In addition to the monumental Derbyshire Open, there are several other rewarding exhibitions here including Wildest Dreams, Jeff Beaumont's sensitive watercolours of scenes mainly depicting the Pennine hills and moors.
Self taught, Beaumont is one of those sickening, naturally gifted artists who seems to have soaked up the atmosphere of his surroundings having lived in the Holmfirth area all his life. A regular exhibitor in the north of England, he has had paintings accepted at Leeds City Gallery and Stockport Art Gallery and regularly accepts commissions.
The pictures featured here are of some of his favourite landscapes including some Derbyshire scenes. Naturalistic as he is, his detailed foregrounds contrast excitingly with splashy, loosely painted skies that are so unrestrained and colourful as to take us away from mere photographic realism.
His hues are often unexpected. A Winter Warmer eschews traditionally cold colours to bring us the sandy tints of the houses, the brown of the earth and a warm yellow in the sky.
Frequently, the pictures draw us in with the promise of a narrative. Thus Sally Down the Alley depicts an old-fashioned car nestling invitingly under a tree between two houses. It's Been Worth the Risk seems to convey the experience of a day's walking as we gaze, like ramblers, at a view that is visibly sodden yet still beautiful.
Some of Beaumont's chatty, punning titles are more successful than others. Rolling It In cleverly makes us wonder whether the artist is referring to the circular hay bales or the puffy, fast-moving clouds rolling in from above. A Churn Up for the Books, featuring, you've guessed it, a milk churn, seems to be trying a little too hard.
Sometimes it feels as if we scarcely need titles at all. Looking at A Place of Our Own, we know instinctively that, given half a chance, we would make this moorland property ours. For those like Beaumont who appreciate beautiful countryside and the ever-changing skies above, this is an exhibition that does full justice to nature while also celebrating the many facets of the tricky medium of watercolour.
Stephanie Billen
BUXTON MUSEUM AND ART GALLERY - The Derbyshire Open 2006
During museum opening hours
The Derbyshire Open is one of the highlights of the museum's calendar and it is exciting that this major exhibition should have chosen once again to be part of the Fringe.
As ever, professional and amateur artists of all ages, including sculptors, were invited to submit work for consideration by a panel of independent judges. A selection of prizes has been awarded with the top prize being worth 750 plus the inclusion of the winning work in the museum's collection.
This year's event is as riveting as ever with Clare Yarrington's unusual mixed media Silver Shafted Moon, a work that seems abstract yet becomes pictorial on further examination, winning the coveted Derbyshire Trophy, but plenty of artists including one-time Fringe chair, local artist Alan Bailey, picking up other awards.
Inevitably one's eyes are drawn to these winning entries, from Bailey's atmospheric watercolour of Buxton's Temple fields to Stephen Ashurst's colourful, loosely painted oil portrait entitled Martin (Work Experience). Likewise, Laura Fotherby's Munro Trophy-winning Wainwright's Farmhouse, startlingly realized in black and white oils, commands attention.
It is part of the fun however to disagree with the judges. I didn't like the hard outlines in Raymond Beddow's Morning Mist oil, winner of the Tarmac Central Landscape Prize, and was underwhelmed by The Friends Trophy choice, a small brass band picture in pastel.
Among the young people's art, I loved Will Kerr's commended pencil drawing, Park Life, in which the miniature train in the Pavilion Gardens becomes a home for aliens, Father Christmas and assorted beasts.
Mixed media was particularly strong this year. Take H McArdle's Lea Woods, semi-abstract yet unmistakably capturing the essence of a glade of silver birches, or Kathryn Morton's collage Rudbeckia at Mappeley Village, in which the petals seem to float in front of an angular background of buildings.
As ever, artists have interpreted the brief of 'capturing aspects of life and landscape in Derbyshire' in widely different ways with abstracts and landscapes hanging alongside portraits and historical works such as Barrie Rawcliffe's tribute to Vera Brittain.
My imaginary trophy would probably go to Robert Wilson's commended mixed media, The Audience, a bold collage featuring newsprint and embroidery and depicting crowds converging on the Opera House, linked to each other by subtle lines, and basking in the light pouring out of this historic building. This for me was a picture that, like this superb exhibition, captured all the excitement of the Festival.
Stephanie Billen