Galleries - August 2014

interest in boosting the glories of this still surprisingly unknown region to a wider audience. Hampshire Open Studios (16- 25 August) is different again, a large county-wide initiative comprising 200+ artists. By sheer virtue oftheir size, such ventures can sometimes be hard to get a handle on, so try smaller groups like, for example, the six artists and sculptors organised into a loose confederation (but still all in their own studios) by Jenny Hill-Norton in and around the village ofNewton Vallance – details in our listings/ad. Close to Gilbert White’s Selborne, you get some excellent art and stunning landscape all at the same time. Razzle Dazzle ’em Ofall the 1st World War commemorative displays none is quite so delightful nor as charmingly thoughtful as the newly decorated facade of the Chelsea Arts Club. Designed by Tony Common it celebrates the artists who painted the ‘dazzle’ effects on naval and merchant ships in an effort to outwit U- boats and their torpedoes. Dazzle patterns, invented by Norman Wilkinson, used geometric paintwork to cut up the shape of a ship, visually distorting it, rendering it more difficult to guage speed and direction through a periscope. This most unusual ofwar departments was housed in the basement ofthe RA. arboretum studded with lakes, is very comparable. There’s a huge range ofwork, predominantly figurative, and with a welcome emphasis on that ofemerging artists. Studio Visits The Open Studio phenomenon continues to develop apace, witness three ofAugust’s varied offerings. Bridport & West Dorset Open Studios , in its 16th year (23-25 August), not only presents 60 artists in 40+ venues but also, in gallery spaces like Sladers Yard, Bridport Art Centre and Eype Church Centre, provides excellent public exhibitions. This not to mention special events like the popular ‘6 x 9’ group exhibition at the Chapel in the Garden venue, or the resurgence in crafts, traditional skills and creative trades brought about by the St Michael’s Studios initiative, which led to the emergence of Bridport’s Art & Vintage Quarter. Drawn to the Valley has a very different character, the valley in question being the Tamar that forms the border between Devon and Cornwall. Such geographical entities often have a very particular feel, neither one county nor the other but distinct in themselves. Thus the 160 artists in this dynamic group have, apart from their own self-promotion via an annual exhibition in Tavistock (6-10 August) and Open Studio event (23-31 August), a declared 8 GALLERIES AUGUST 2014 ANTENNAE Visions for Sculpture Writing about Tremenheere in the May issue after a first visit there, I observed how I felt it “may well become the model for the sculpture park in the 21st Century, a place where the ‘park element’ of the term takes on equal significance with the sculpture”. I am not about to change my mind, even in the light of the Yorkshire Sculpture Park, a different sort of place, winning the 2014 Museum of the Year Prize. Tremenheere just keeps on doing things in its own idiosyncratic way. In June this included Tony Lattimer’s monumental ceramic column Companion and multimedia artist Ian Penna’s Skip, situated on the way to the Lime Street Cafe, a witty take on that symbol of waste. Film installation artist Roger Thorp returns for a one- night stand on 14 August, with a new multidisciplinary piece, The Waking Project exploring notions of pilgrimage, the journey and walking into the unknown. Like Neil Armstrong at Tremenheere, The Sculpture Park near Farnham in Surrey, also represents one man’s vision, that of Eddie Powell. While a different concept sculpturally to Tremenheere – the 600 works by 300 artists are almost all for sale – the emphasis on the continuous landscaping and planting of the 10 acre setting in the Surrey Hills, essentially an from left: M aylee Christie ‘Passion Flower’ at The Sculpture Park Tony Lattimer ‘Companion’ at Tremenheere Tony Common a detail of the Chelsea Arts Club