Porthminster Gallery’s new exhibition ‘Sea Stories’ opened with a burst of Spring optimism on 1st May.
Featuring uplifting paintings, prints and ceramics by seven gallery artists, and one invited guest artist, in a celebration of the seaside and rocky coast for which St Ives and West Cornwall is famous.
mike bernard RI |
ANDREW BIRD |
IAN HARROLD |
JENNY HIRST |
MARTYN PERRYMAN |
TREVOR PRICE |
ANNE BARRELL
|
CRAIG UNDERHILL
|
WALK THROUGH A VIRTUAL TOUR OF THE SHOW NOW
Press Release
Sea Stories.New contemporary paintings and ceramics by leading British artists.
Porthminster Gallery, St Ives and porthminstergallery.co.uk
1st May - 26th June 2021
Featuring paintings by: Mike Bernard RI, Andrew Bird, Ian Harrold, Martyn Perryman, and Jenny Hirst; drypoint, relief, and lino prints by Trevor Price; ceramics and paintings by Craig Underhill; ceramics by Anne Barrell.
Porthminster Gallery, St Ives and porthminstergallery.co.uk
1st May - 26th June 2021
____________________________________________________________________________________Sea Stories.Upcoming exhibition … click here for press-ready images and artist statements
Porthminster Gallery's upcoming exhibition 'Sea Stories' opens with a burst of Spring optimism on 1st May, featuring uplifting paintings, prints and ceramics by gallery artists in a celebration of the seaside and rocky coast for which St Ives and West Cornwall is famous.
'Echoes', 2021 by Andrew Bird, acrylic on canvas, h 97 cm x w 126 cm
The large sweeping canvases, bold strokes and colours of Andrew Bird's acrylic paintings work in a mysterious dialogue with the small-scale, heavily layered and beautifully pigmented abstract oil paintings by Ian Harrold. Both artists choosing to use abstraction as a metaphor for their deep connection with the ocean, using hidden shapes, colours and marks to evoke the intense euphoria the Cornish coast can incite in those who discover it.
'Beyond the Sea Roads 1', 2021 by Ian Harrold, on board, h 19cm x w 47cm
Meditative sea vista paintings by Martyn Perryman recall the intense, indescribable blue and rising hypnotic light over St Ives Bay, show alongside the fine brushstrokes and details of Jenny Hirst's paintings of the wild, windswept, rocky shorelines of West Penwith's 'hidden' places.
'Water's Edge', 2021 by Jenny Hirst, acrylic on canvas, h 60cm x w 90cm
Devon-based painter Mike Bernard RI works with acrylic paint, collage, and pastel to create richly layered mixed-media paintings, from initial on-the-spot sketches. For this show, Mike has made a new series of works to capture the essence of St Ives Bay, and the quintessential fishing town with its characterful harbour. Mike's compositions complement the new works of St Ives-based printmaker, Trevor Price - well-known for creating intimate and romantic scenes with the view from his studio on Barnoon Terrace as an evocative backdrop. Filled with humour, tenderness and drawing on the influences of preceding artists, such as Pablo Picasso and Ben Nicholson, Trevor's prints are strongly imbued with a sense of a hidden story.
'Church and Bay, St Ives' 2021 by Mike Bernard, acrylic with mixed-media on canvas, h 60 cm x w 60cm
Moonlight over the Bay, 2021 by Trevor Price, linocut print, edition of 100, image size: h 48cm x w 53cm
Round The Point, 2021 by Anne Barrell, hand-painted with slips and sgraffito decoration, h 27cm x dia. 9cm
Showing with the gallery for the first time, Eastbourne-based ceramicist, Anne Barrell seems a perfect fit for a show referencing the stories the Cornish sea has to tell. Her handmade ceramics evoke a strong essence of the famous St Ives mariner and 'primitive' painter, Alfred Wallis. Layers of contrasting colours are revealed through Anne's sgraffito technique of scratching through the surface of the slips before firing. Reminiscent of times past, rum cups, pedestal bowls, platters, and jugs feature hand-painted boats and ships traversing stormy seas or sheltering in tree-lined harbours. Anne's pieces are sophisticated and charming at the same time and have been highlighted in a number of high-profile national media publications including Vogue, and Elle Decoration.
Having relocated to the area permanently in 2020, Craig Underhill's exploration and 'discovery' of the dramatic and beautiful coast of West Cornwall has inspired this stunning new collection of his distinctive hand-built ceramics, and paintings on board. Using surface mark-making, slips, underglaze colours and glazes onto hand-built ceramic slab forms, Craig creates works, which are painterly, playful and elemental. In demand amongst serious collectors, we are delighted to be able to include Craig in this mixed show.
Newlyn Harbour, 2021 by Craig Underhill, slab-built ceramic 'vessel' decorated with slips and glazes, h 16.5cm
Hayle Rivermouth, 2021 by Craig Underhill, mixed media on board, h 41.5cm x w 30.5cm
| All images: © the ArtistsCourtesy the Artists and Porthminster Gallery |
NOTES FOR EDITORS:
• Press-ready 300dpi CMYK images of the works shown as well as other examples are available to download with the following link: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/2yxnklb99ao7rn0/AAAC3jRwiJgHwcnHMuYwO23Sa?dl=0
• Detailed artists' biographies, statements, etc can also be downloaded as Word documents with the following link: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/mvl50l0ujsckgrj/AAD_CfDQi-3HX_Nobk_S5S8Ea?dl=0
