The private view had finally come, after weeks for planning and an amount of design work it has all come down to this big night; the private invites had been sent, the posters, flyers and emails had been sent out all to get the best attention possible for this night.
I have just come back from the Castle Mall where the party is still going on; this being the actual private view and not the night out to celebrate party planned for this evening, or morning as it will become. On arrival; which happened to be 15minutes later than the official start, I was glad to see that not only was the place busy it was set up in a logical and thought out manner which enabled all persons to walk around the seemingly large open planned space with ease; something that smaller places should think about when organising art work for a show.
-The Show-
Like always there are a few pieces of work that stand out and those that seemingly merge into their environments, a neither good or bad thing on either part; as both the previous statements can help to communicate the art work on show. Firstly you are greeted by the food, a strange concept by all accounts as this led to a lot of people loitering by the entrance eating food, even some that did not even enter the rest of the show, but this became a good place for it as it attracted the publics attention and appetite as they walked by.
To illustrate the layout I’ll give a run down from left to right then the central items.
Katie – Moo – Large Canvas painting with bright childlike colours ,on black in an illustrative manner.
Julianna– Faces – A series of paintings/ small reliefs depicting the sections of a human facial features, accompanied by a large hanging circle sectioned out in the same principles.
Ruth – Swirls – A set of paintings made up of vivid colours and textural items which would be seen around the home.
Kitty – Dead Things – Two part artefact consisting of a picnic blanket, basket and animal fur as well as a small decorated table with a candle and the complimentary hanging maggots from the table-cloth.
Debbie – Trees – Six panels depicting a seemingly simple woodland scene, but in amongst that there are a few hidden items.
Charli – Blood – On the floor you see a spread of hand-made blood cells; being made from wool, dough and cotton and accompanied by a letter from the blood donation people.
Josh – Head – Two portraits of a head, displayed in both Portrait and landscape orientations.
Ed – Large Canvas littered with stenciled lettering and ‘graffitti-like’ styling.
Sarah – Shirts – A series of studies into a shirt, an embossment, a casting, a dissected and photographed shirt hanging.
Amy – Portrait – A photo realistic monotone painting of a blind man’s face.
Kirsty – Cups – A huge selection of fabric cup and saucers arranged on a table that looks as if the worker has left the space as is.
Hollie-ann – Yellow food – A regimental set up of bright yellow bread like food that begins to mould, with a clear plastic box acting as captain.
Now that you know a basic layout of the space you can hopefully visualise the atmosphere that was around tonight; due to a few minor electrical problems a few of the lights at the front of the shop were not on, which did in the end help as this is where the nibbles were kept throughout the night, which not only allowed them to be cooler but kept the entire focus on the artwork. I cannot say any more about the show as a whole as this may stop more people from coming, spoilers an all; but I will say that it is a must see for anyone in and around the area for the next week or so, as there is a lot of talent show cased in this exhibition that will not only continue to grow but flourish as modern artists.
-Music-
Once again we have been graced with an appearance by Charles, who also played at the Stew Gallery back in February; his selection of atmospheric melodies and tunes kept the exhibition space at a nice manageable level of ambiance throughout the 2ish hours I was there, ending on a song which was meant to be a classic sing-along but didn’t get off the ground with the remaining visitors. I’m hoping that he will continue to play at student private views as it would be a diabolical shame to replace such a talented performer.
-My favourite pieces-
In accordance with my normal view I will be mentioning the pieces of work of which I feel to be great for whatever reason.
Amy’s ‘Chris’ portrait is constructed to a high standard, much like her previous work (stew gallery). The painting itself is about 80x45cm rectangle on a chunky frame; the brush work is delicately constructed to enhance the striking image portrayed, a master piece of talent and style.
Debbie’s ‘Woodland Scene’ on six panels is not only beautifully painted but she has added in a few quirks for the viewer to notice, I have to admit that on the first few looks I hadn’t seen them, but once I had finally stood and looked at it they became apparent very quickly.
Hollieann’s ‘Bright Yellow Bread’, a choice that I do not normally make, it seems too modern and pretentious for me but it seemed to standout as being very good on the night; the grid like organisation coupled with the structure and colours made the work lift itself out of the bizarre bin and onto a platform of innovation, the bright yellow is very saturated compared to its surroundings, which helps its visibility and gives it extra credibility.
Julianna’s ‘Faces’ gained a lot of attention throughout the evening, and its partly to do with there being a massive gridded up ring hanging in the room and mainly because they are stunning paintings, more so the first 2 in the series as that have an elegant charm to them that is not only fantastic craftsman ship but details and styles that have been perfected.
The rest of the work has its charms but not something that I can get into, fabric cups, bright textural swirls and blood related work I have seen before (Stew Gallery), although these incarnations have been developed they don’t have the same level of style that I like to see.
-Overview-
The exhibition seems to be going well, with at least half the artists selling a piece of work or making contacts for later use, the private view went amazingly well despite the previous post’s comments although there is still an element of regret that further avenues of promotion had not been developed, and that a few of the designs had been changed for financial reason despite the style that was set up previously.
For more information on the exhibition visit: amomentsuspendedintime.wordpress.com or even better visit the gallery space in Castle Mall Norwich, Second Floor, next to Rymans Stationers.