Out and about in Chichester

As the electricians are  still installing power to the studio we decide to escape and check out the Oxmarket in Chichester where there is an exhibition /preview of the Open Studios . This is a great idea it means you can see all the work and decide which studios are of interest , so plan your trip when on the trail instead of relying on the photos in the booklet.

There is a huge variety of work , something for everyone , its  makes an interesting exhibition.http://www.chichesterarttrail.org/

Next up we walk over to Pallant House to see the new Mervyn Peake show in the old house.

Mervyn Peake: A Centenary Celebration

28th February 2011

9 April- 17 July 2011

Pallant House Gallery is delighted to host an exhibition of the classic book illustrations of Mervyn Peake (1911- 1968) to commemorate the centenary of the artist's birth. Most famous for his best-selling Gormenghast series of Gothic fantasies, Peake was one of the most multi-talented artists of the twentieth century. Painter,novelist, author of children’s books and nonsense verse, war artist, poet and dramatist, he also illustrated classic
works such as Treasure Island and Grimm’s Fairy Tales.

The exhibition coincides with the publication of Titus Awakes, the ‘lost’ final part of the Gormenghast sequence which was completed by Peake’s widow after his death and recently discovered by his granddaughter.
Born in Kuling, Central China, Peake later lived for a time with his family in Burpham, West Sussex where he is now buried, alongside his wife, Maeve Gilmore. The landscape of the Downs and countryside of the area was a rich source of creative inspiration for Peake – the titular castle of Gormenghast which he both wrote and illustrated is loosely based on the famous Arundel landmark. In his first published novel, Titus Groan, the flints, paths and skies he had observed during wartime, formed the backdrop and opportunity for many characters and situations.
Peake's economical illustrating style can appear disarmingly simple yet every stroke was purposeful and controlled. Often cross-hatched, his images appear almost as engravings with a rich variety of texture and shading. In his choice of subjects, Peake’s imagination frequently tended towards the grotesque; on the borderline between beauty and ugliness. When his 1939 pirate story, Captain Slaughterboard, was first published it received mixed reviews as some critics thought it too dark for children.
This dark side of his imagination seemed to come at a price. Peake suffered from mental fragility throughout his life and later developed Parkinson's Disease at a time when it was little understood. He underwent intensive and unnecessary electro-shock therapy treatment for the condition. He died prematurely in 1968 at the age of 57.
Mervyn Peake: A Centenary Celebration will include seminal examples from throughout the artist’s career such as key illustrations from his own works of fiction Gormenghast and Captain Slaughterboard, as well as his illustrations for classic children's literature such as Treasure Island, Swiss Family Robinson and Grimm's Fairy Tales. The show will also include examples of drawings for his adaptation of Jekyll and Hyd.




Quite amazing to see all these drawings and some paintings , Peake was such a skilled draughtsman..some of his pencil drawings /portraits are extraordinary.  Joel is particularly  interested in seeing the use of cross-hatching with pencil to build up the image.

We go upstairs to see the Print collection and there is a particularly striking lithograph of a head, its huge ! So beautiful ...its by Graham Flack  'Of Man and Angel'  ...Check it out on link below...or even better go and see it ! (its free entry on thurs 5pm-7.30)

http://www.pallant.org.uk/whats-on/exhibitions/current/main-galleries/ten-years-of-the-golder-thompson-gift

Theres another wonderful Paula Rego print  of a Jane Eyre type figure collapsed on the floor , like a broken doll ... Joel is drawn to this and says it makes him want use charcole again, on a large scale.

Its part of The House of Fairy Tales  Portfolio:

The House of Fairy Tales Portfolio

25th March 2011

19 March – 19 June 2011

Pallant House Gallery presents The House of Fairy Tales Portfolio, 22 prints inspired by Fairytales, folktales, myths and legends, specially-commissioned by the artists Gavin Turk and Deborah Curtis. Displayed as a trail throughout the Queen-Anne townhouse the exhibition includes works by Peter Blake, Mat Collishaw, Kiki Smith, Gavin Turk and Rachel Whiteread.

There is so much going on at Pallant House  , I have to say I love the interventions that are scattered around from the Degree Students of Northbrooke College ... they aren't labled in any way so at first you wonder what these treasures are and then start to look for them , love the concept ... its the fresh blood creeping quietly into the old establishment.. the tide of the new ..there if you care to look !

The PV for the Northbrooke students is tomorrow evening ... I'll definately be there .