2020 Vision: Looking Forward

 

 

I began 2020 looking back at what was, for art in Kettering, a very busy 2019.

2020 has started in the same positive way with a fantastic new exhibition at the Art Gallery.

Art from the Tate collection has come to Kettering for the first time and features in a stunning new exhibition in the Alfred East Art Gallery. Modernist work from artists such as Leon Kossoff and Howard Hodgkin are on show in Kettering’s art gallery, complementing and enhancing the wide variety of art in the core collection.

 

(2020 vision: works by Leon Kossoff from the Kettering collection and the Tate collection, side-by-side) 

The exhibition closes on March 7th so it is worth getting down to enjoy these paintings over the next few days.

The carefully relaxed mood of the hanging reminds us how moving simple abstract works can be.  A triumph - although,as the Gallery team expected, not all agree.

 

(stunning and striking modernist canvasses in Kettering's 2020 exhibition) 

 

(John Piper)

 

(Howard Hodgkin)

The exhibition has enjoyed some welcome sponsorship and the opening night was certainly a convivial occasion.  A landmark in the history of the Alfred East Gallery - and let's hope it opens the way for more exhibitions of this sort.

Key loans for the 2020 Vision exhibition have been made possible through The Ferryman Project: Sharing Works of Art which is supported by The National Lottery Heritage Fund, the John Ellerman Foundation and the Art Fund.

2020 vision: Looking Back

 

The last year has seen a lot of activity in Kettering around the Friends and KDAS joint community project known as ARTworks (a gallery and meeting place in Newlands Shopping Centre ... and if that just came as news to you, you need to pop down and have a look round) ...

The project is entirely volunteer run and, whilst providing an exhibition space for local artists, hopes to raise additional funding through donations to help its main ambitions to support the Gallery and Museum.

 

Meanwhile an ongoing feature at the art gallery itself has been the very popular film nights ...

 

And every third Wednesday evening, the Friends host their talks on art and local history topics (here, printmaker John McGowan explains how he works) ...

 

And exhibition previews remain popular (here, the KDAS annual exhibition)

The Fiends made two excursions to prominent local heritage sites ...

 

Apethorpe Hall (or Palace, if you follow the modern naming) ... and in August ...

 

... a rare opportunity to visit Rushton Hall.

The sun also shined for the Museum and Gallery's games event in the gardens (where Friends ran some of the activities) ... 

 

And also on our now regular Cemetery Walks ...

 

(Friends Chair David Brown leading the August heritage walk in London Road Cemetery)

Evening talks have included how women prortray themselves in art ...

 

Kettering's connection to the Newlyn School ...

 

And the wartime art of Henry Moore 

 

(complete with a demonstration of the techniques involved)

Friends of the Art Gallery and Museum have supported the Mayor's Charity events ...

 

... and lent a hand in Kettering's regular monthly art fairs (Spring to Autumn, on Sundays at Kino Lounge) ...

 

Not forgetting an outing to Holdenby in July for the Northamptonshire Heritage Awards (where the Museum picked up Best Exhibition for 'Local Treasures' - the British Museum comes to Kettering) ..

 

(Northampton Heritage Forum Award Winners 2019)

Indeed, Kettering welcomed the Heritage Forum in October, hosting the popular NHF History Day at the Cornmarket Hall

 

This year saw the annual Open Exhibition and Youth Open move to September ...

 

(The very popular preview event for the Open Exhibition 2019)

 The Winter show at the Gallery had a Scandinavian flavour this year ...

 

Kettering was at play in the Museum

And the exhbits were constantly refreshed at ARTworks ...

 

Coming into 2020, the Long Gallery has concentrated on local views both from the Permanent Collection and from local artists working now ...

And 2020 Vision has just opened ... a fantastic collaboration between the Alfred East collection and the Tate.  Stunning ... The year to come looks rich indeed.

Looking back at Local Treasures

Looking back indeed: Local Treasures featured locally found archaeological pieces, from the most modest to the most spectacular - celebrating over 2,000 years of occupation of Kettering and surrounding areas.

(From a broken sword to the Duddington hoard: local treasures reunited at Kettering Museum)

It was also a landmark in that, in assembling the exhibition, the Kettering team were able to have some genuine treasures brought back to Northamptonshire on special loan (probably - for some of us, at least - the only time it will happen in  our lifetimes) ... the Desborough Mirror and the Desborough Necklace are first rank exhibits usually on show in the British Museum.

(the Desborough Necklace in its usual display at the British Museum)

(Phil and Emma at the BM check out the local treasures while collecting the Roman ring acquired with funding from the Friends)

(that beautiful Roman ring, recently dug up in Kettering and now in the Museum collection)

The exhibition was funded by the Weston Loan Programme and Art Fund.  Councillor Scott Edwards, KBC's portfolio holder for Community, Leisure and Youth said it was 'fantastic news to hear that these treasures are coming back to our Borough for the first time and that local people will get a chance to see them.'

Philippa Charles, Garfield Weston Foundation director said -

'We have been blown away by the ambition and creativity of museums and galleries across the UK and Kettering's idea really stood out.'

Councillor Paul Marks reviewed the exhibition for the Friends ...

I went to see the Local Treasures exhibition several times - and each time I became aware of different aspects ... there were a great many aspects to try to grasp.  And what is hard to see, must have been far harder to actually make - the standard of craftsmanship is very high, people in the past were certainly not stupid brutes.

The styles of craftsmanship in the different periods were distinct. But there was a common thread.  What would have been considered beautiful in the Celtic Iron Age would have been considered beautiful in the Roman age, or among the Anglo Saxons.   Yes each style is different - but with a common core understanding of what is beautiful and what is not beautiful ...

Paul adds, ruefully ...

The Modern age, from the 20th Century onward, appears to have decided that the previous standards of aesthetics (what is beautiful and what is not) no longer apply - we have lost that common thread of understanding that united previous generations over time.

(this tiny silver coin was a favourite of mine - depicting a 4-horse Roman chariot)

STOP PRESS

Reflecting the success and quality of the Local Treasures exhibition, Art Fund featured Kettering's Museum Officer as their Curator of the Month.  A deserved accolade for Karen and a pat on the back for the whole team -click on the picture to read more of the feature.

Investigations of a Dog - Colin Smith - June/July 2018

Investigations of a Dog ran through June and July at the Alfred East Gallery in Kettering.

Ian Luck went along for a look ...

The title of this exhibition at the Alfred East Gallery is taken from a Kafka short story in which a dog tries to rationalise episodes from its past but sees misapprehension or confusion ...

Here the viewer is faced with a series of large works, all oils, all with vigorous brushwork.  Although the figurative paintings do seem to suggest anxiety, this is not a disturbing exhibition.

 

Only one portrait faces the viewer, even then the subject is wearing shades, giving a feel of detachment.  There are many questions among these works, as if time is captured, but not explained.

In 'the wardrobe' series, human contact has left, these are shapes hanging over each other, were they ever worn?  An empty jacket, a solitary overcoat, somehow just staring at the viewer.

Much of the subject matter has the distant feel of Edward Hooper, both in subject matter and pallet.  The viewer must add their own narrative - is there misapprehension or confusion?  This is precisely what the artist wishes.

An important exhibition for the Gallery, which should be viewed.  I hope it is.

Ian Luck

 

(photos supplied by Ian Luck)