Galleries - February 2014

Cotswold Capital Moreton-in-Marsh would seem to be taking over rapidly as the art-capital of the Cotswolds, a title held in the past variously by Stow-on-the Wold and Broadway but, with John Davies already well established in a large ex-dairy site close to the town’s station, Celia Lendis is now also busy expanding from her charming base in the middle of the High Street to a second, large business park gallery space on the edge of town. Entitled The Inventory, it opened to visitors at the end of last month (with a great sounding party!) and will remain hung with a selection of new works by gallery artists until the end of this month. Visiting is by appointment only through February. Then, on the weekend of 1/2 March – there is the public launch of an event christened “The Very Best Affordable Art Weekend”. Describing itself as “a public art fair without the dross of so many others!” – you can tell by such forthrightness Celia is Aussie by birth – there will be 1,000 works of art all under £2,000, quality guaranteed!This will be open Wednesdays to Saturdays 9.30-4.30 but check with the space’s direct line (01608 65271) nearer the time for more detailed info. Worth its Salt By sheer coincidence February also marks an opportunity to celebrate the culture of another Eastern bloc country – Slovenia – with the exhibition at the 12 Star Gallery in Smith Square, of the work of the celebrated Slovenian landscape photographer Arne Hodali č . Opening on 4 February – appropriately enough Slovenian Cultural Day – the show consists of Hodali č ’s photo-essay on the remarkable Medieval salt-pans at Piran on the country’s Mediterranean coast. This is a huge and astonishingly beautiful park, much of it an important nature reserve but another part of which is still dedicated to producing salt by methods that have remained unchanged since the Middle Ages. Without getting too technical, the process involves making use of a particular biosediment which both purifies and protects the salt, giving it a particular taste much prized by gourmets apparently. Hodali č , who has photographed for the National Geographic among others, has a wonderfully spare, abstracting style which captures perfectly the strangeness of the salt-pans’ extraordinary working structures and environment. 8 GALLERIES FEBRUARY 2014 ANTENNAE Pole Position A substantial anniversary this month with the Posk Gallery in Hammersmith celebrating 50 years of the Polish Social and Cultural Association (ie POSK) of which it forms such a notable part. Entitled ‘Joint effort – joint success. Posk 50 years’, the gallery’s curator, Joanna Ciechanowska, has brought together a fascinating group of paintings drawn from the collection of 200 or so formed between 1939-89 by artists who came to Britain after the war, mostly with General Anders, together with other memorabilia, to tell of its remarkable story. Situated close to Ravenscourt Park, the large purpose-built early 70s structure, with its handsome gallery space, excellent restaurant, library and numerous meeting and performance rooms has long provided a vital focus for the large population of Polish exiles and ex-pats who came to live in this area of West London after the war. Meanwhile, since the end of the Cold War nearly a quarter of a century ago, it still continues to operate as an important social and cultural meeting-point for London, and the UK’s, now larger Polish community. The excellent shows the gallery presents are always well worth a visit for all. from left: Z dzislaw Ruszkowski ‘Dwie polskie głowy (two Polish heads), Anna Ruszkowska and Kasia Szurlej’, 1954 at Posk Gallery. Arne Hodali č ‘Piran Salt Pans’ at 12 Star. Mark Shields ‘Angel-Numbered, Weighed, Divided’ at Grosvenor Gallery/Browse & Darby. James Turrell, ‘Sojourn’ (detail), 2006 at Pace London. Maria Biryukova-Dutton ‘Wind, Hair and Umbrella’ Menier Gallery. Roxy Walsh ‘Heat’ at Leyden Gallery