Galleries - September 2014

William Balthazar Rose, his works drawing on an eclectic range of sources from Picasso and Balthus to Italian Renaissance to create dark but often very witty narratives. RandomGlance The Lime Tree Gallery in the trendy Hotwells district of Bristol looks out over a splendid view of the celebrated floating dock. An offshoot of the Long Melford based Lime Tree, it shows a wide range of contemporary art, both mixed shows and themed exhibitions, currently a lively group of painters from the ROI (Royal Institute of Oil Painters). Further east into Hampshire and the Gilbert White village of Selborne, ten enterprising members of the Hampshire Artists'Co-operative have now taken over the whole of the Selborne Gallery space to show their work in two-monthly changing shows – three artists at a time. The gallery is supposedly to be sold at some future date so go and see them soon . . . In London something very much one of a kind, the Tribal Art London fair (11-13 September) which has this year moved to the Mall Galleries . Billed as “the only tribal fair of its kind in the UK”, with 15 top dealers in the trade taking part and proper professional vetting, this represents a wonderful opportunity for collectors and the simply curious to get up close to some extraordinarly powerful and often alarmingly beautiful and strange artefacts. Sunny Space The World's End – famously found at the end of Chelsea's King's Road has an established concentration of galleries, Cricket, Gagliardi, Tanya Baxter and those in Langton Street which make the area a destination for collectors and the glitterarti. Newly opened at 508 Kings Road this eponymous gallery offers light South facing access to those visiting and passing by on the gallery trail. Owner, former publisher Marc Burca brings his art enthusiasms to this gallery space which has a strong list of facilities to smooth the path of a hang including easy parking. With the recent closure of West End hire galleries in Mayfair, particularly Cork Street, it makes this opening in Chelsea a welcome strengthening of the area’s art draw. Because of our limited space and the large number of galleries in the magazine, many of the previews in Galleries focus on specific exhibitions rather than a broad area of stock in a certain field – eg Modern British (or Old Masters). The Wenlock Gallery , run by Peter Cotterell from his space in the centre of the Shropshire town of Much Wenlock, is a good case in point. Peter is an enthusiast with a remarkably original and idiosyncratic eye for 20th C. British Art. He shows major figures like Keith Vaughan, Ceri Richards (currently two rare and cracking depictions of tin plate workers), Alan Davie and Joe Tilson, but also more forgotten but equally significant artists such as the American born St Ives artist George Swan (up to Hilton standard), Mary Potter, Peter Kinley and Frank Beanland. There are occasional formal shows of current stock but mostly you take your chance – and you'll always end up seeing something possibly life- changing. Now heading into the Cotswolds Brian Sinfield in Burford runs a handsome space showing a mixed programme of group and solo exhibitions specialising in mostly 20th C. British traditional and semi- abstract artists – Len Tabner and Fred Cuming among his regulars. From mid-September there is a solo show of the eccentric visionary painter fromleft: C live Barker ‘For Rose XXX’ at Whitford Fine Art. Peter Kinley ‘Standing Figure’ at Wenlock Fine Art. William Balthazar Rose ‘Vor dem Gesetz, Before the Law’ at Brian Sinfield. Lucy McKie ‘Two Drifters’ at Lime Tree Bristol. Untitled image courtesy of Tribal Art London/Mall Galleries SEPTEMBER 2014 GALLERIES 13