TEN YEARS ON: SHOWING OFF

PRESS RELEASE FOR IMMEDIATE PUBLICATION

'Ten Years On: Showing Off'

Exhibition: 'Ten Years On: Showing Off'

Location: Porthminster Gallery, Westcott's Quay, St Ives, Cornwall, TR26 2DY, UK

Exhibition Dates: Saturday, 25th March 2017 to Saturday, 6th May 2017.

Preview Reception with Drinks: 6 – 9pm, Friday, 24th March 2017.

Opening Times: 11am – 5pm. Monday – Saturday. Closed Sundays.

Free admission.


The award-winning Porthminster Gallery celebrates its tenth year in St Ives, Cornwall with a celebratory and diverse show of original art by eight new faces alongside gallery favourites. The exhibition opens on Saturday 25th March at the gallery's waterside premises at Westcott's Quay in St Ives.

Established by art patrons and gallery directors Dee Bray and David Durham in York in 1999, the business was relocated to St Ives in 2007 to concentrate its focus on the art of St Ives and Cornwall.  Since then the gallery has championed the work of more than 80 living British artists through its progressive and expertly curated shows, and has showcased and introduced many young up-and-coming artists to an appreciative local and global collectorship.  The gallery has also gained a strong reputation during the ten years for its impressive shows and changing stock of Post War St Ives and British Art.

To celebrate this milestone achievement, gallery director and curator David Durham has curated the celebratory show Ten Years On: Showing Off to showcase selected works by eight guest artists, all new names for 2017 – many being shown for the first time in St Ives, alongside an overview presentation of the gallery's key permanent artists, and a collection of Modern St Ives and British Art.

The new names featuring in the show are:

Mike Bernard RI – semi-abstract, impressionistic St Ives and Cornish harbour and coastal mixed-media paintings. Mike is a multi-award winning Devon based artist who graduated BA from West Surrey College of Art and Design in 1978, and the Royal Academy schools from 1978–81. His work has been exhibited in numerous solo and group shows since 1999 and he was elected to the Royal Institute of Painters in Watercolours in 1997;

Lizzy Bridges – memory-evoking paintings that focus on the architecture and the less-explored viewpoints of St Ives.  Lizzy is a young emerging artist who graduated from Falmouth Art College in 2009;

Ali Cockrean – expressionist Cornish coastal landscape paintings.  Ali is a well-established Dorset based artist who studied at Central St Martins College of Art and Design and the Slade School of Fine Art. Ali's paintings have been acquired for private collections around the world, including Europe, Hong Kong, US and Canada;

Sara Dudman – painterly, gestural landscape-based works in oils. Sara has specially created a new body of work for this show that explores the flocking 'dynamics' of shorebirds at the nearby Hayle Estuary RSPB reserve. Based in Somerset, Sara graduated from Loughborough College of Art and Design, BA in 1987, and De Montfort University, Leicester, MA in 1997. Her works have been exhibited in group, two-person and solo shows nationally since 2010;

Gordon Ellis-Brown – bringing a new perspective to classic seaside holiday images from the 1960s and 70s, Gordon’s photographic print works 'curate' and 'repurpose' found objects. Gordon is an award-winning artist who graduated in Graphic Design and Typography. Based in Winchester, Gordon's work has been exhibited widely since 1998 and is in many private collections in the UK and Europe;

Helen Ward – startlingly eye-catching 'entomology' themed artworks pay a contemporary tribute to the golden age of collecting. Helen uses rare Victorian hand-marbled papers, to create incredibly detailed cut paper insects, butterflies and bugs, with some works also incorporating gold and silver leaf. Based in Bristol, Helen has been exhibited widely in the UK and abroad since 2008;

Stacey West – contemporary handcrafted jewellery inspired by the rugged Cornish coastline. Stacey's latest collection of jewellery, 'Interlocking Strata' is inspired by the stratified lines and colours found in the geology of the coastline. Stacey is an award-winning jeweller based in Bude, North Cornwall. She graduated from Plymouth College of Art, BA (Hons) Degree in Jewellery and Silversmithing in 2016;

And a special spotlight focus on a new collection of St Ives inspired hand-built ceramics by guest artist,

Emily-Kriste Wilcox – eagerly-awaited new collection of hand-built, multi-faceted ceramic vessel forms draws inspiration for its painterly colour palette from the skies and coastal landscapes of St Ives. Emily-Kriste is an award-winning Birmingham based ceramicist who graduated from Bath Spa University with BA (First Class Hons) 3D Design: Ceramics, in 2005. Her works have been shown in many solo and group exhibitions across the UK and in Denmark, France and the Netherlands since 2005. Works are in private collections across the UK, USA and Europe.

Also in exhibition will be selected works by the gallery's permanent artists, including the paintings of Andrew Bird, Nick Bodimeade, Anne Davies, Martyn Perryman, and Ann Winder-Boyle. Along with sculptures by Margaret Lovell and Robert Fogell and Peter Hayes, with ceramics by Charlotte Jones, Sun Kim, Sarah Perry, John Pollex, Antonia Salmon, Barry Stedman and Geoffrey Swindell.

Running alongside this exhibition will be a collection of collectible Modern St Ives and British Art by Barbara Hepworth, Roger Hilton, Peter Lanyon, Victor Pasmore, Bryan Pearce and other names.

Ten Years On: Showing Off will open to the public on Saturday, 25th March and will run till Saturday, 6th May at the Porthminster Gallery, Westcott's Quay, St Ives, TR26 2DY. Open Monday to Saturday, 10am – 5pm, closed Sundays. Admission is free and all works are for sale.

PRESS-READY IMAGES
Please contact the gallery for press-ready images.


NOTES FOR EDITORS
Relocated from York to St Ives in 1999 by art patrons and gallery directors David Durham and Dee Bray the Porthminster Gallery specialises in Modern and Contemporary St Ives and British Art, showcasing paintings, prints, sculpture and ceramics by emerging and established artists.

The gallery has featured on BBC TV and won the prestigious Cornwall Today magazine award for ‘Best Art Gallery in Cornwall’, 2014/15 (voted by readers).

Porthminster Gallery works to raise awareness of, and funds for local and national charities including Shelter Box and Breast Cancer Care. through gallery exhibitions and events.

The gallery offers buyers and collectors the easy and affordable incentive to buy original art up to £25,000 at 0% APR over 10 equal 0% APR monthly instalments with the Own Art and Own Art Plus purchase schemes.

If you require further information or press ready images please contact
Helene Chaussavoine, at the Porthminster Gallery on 01736 795888 or email info@porthminstergallery.co.uk

www.porthminstergallery.co.uk

Porthminster Gallery, Westcott's Quay, St Ives, Cornwall, TR26 2DY, UK

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