Rowley Gallery Blog
A couple of months ago I drove down to Southampton to collect a car load of paintings and prints from Jonny Hannah. Since I was going one of Jonny’s publishers asked if I might return some of his books. I couldn’t refuse. It was a privilege to carry this select library of his marvelous book jacket designs. And I couldn’t miss the opportunity to photograph them. Feast your eyes. Continue reading “Jonny’s Jackets”
There’s a great little Chillida exhibition at Ordovas until the end of July. It is the first dedicated exhibition of his sculptures to take place in London for almost twenty years. It features work made in steel and in alabaster as well as some of his paper works. There is also a wonderful film by Susana Chillida which is not to be missed; you can see it here – The Artist, his Work and his Art. And if you enjoy that you might also like this – Signs Of Chillida.
This painting by David Hollington was for me the highlight of his recent exhibition, Apocalypse Of Love, at Lauderdale House. I suspect it is a self-portrait; he’s not drowning like Ophelia but enjoying a moment of rejuvenating hydrotherapy amongst his friends and familiars. The painting takes its title from a poem by Thomas Stanley, one of the English metaphysical poets; another, Andrew Marvell, is commemorated with a nearby plaque on the wall of Waterlow Park. Continue reading “The Magnet”
If I could take off for 24 hours I think I’d like to walk on Alderney, stepping from stone to stone of Andy Goldsworthy’s recent installation of rammed earth boulders positioned around the island. I read about it at The Island Review; please take a look, it’s a great website, and also see Alderney Stones on Andy Goldsworthy’s own website, and Sticks & Stones by Kevin Rushby at The Guardian. Further information can be found at Art & Islands Foundation. And what a perfect cow photo this is!
The latest issue of Christie’s house magazine arrived on my desk last week. It was unexpected and a nice coincidence because there was a feature on Chillida, just as I was writing about him: Signs Of Chillida. But what was even more surprising, what made me sing and dance, were four lovely pages of Jelly Green! She was interviewed at home in Suffolk for a piece entitled Rural Revival. Continue reading “Christie’s Magazine”
Soon after I first arrived at The Rowley Gallery, maybe in 1988, I took advantage of the opportunity to use the shop window. I started making small drawings specifically to sell to benevolent passers-by. I began with a sheet of paper which I carefully tore and cut into pieces, each piece was worked on separately, lines inscribed/impressed into the paper, rubbed with layer upon layer of wax crayon, shaved with a Stanley knife blade then reassembled as a single sheet again. Continue reading “Scullery”
Last time we visited Lottie in Toledo she showed us this sculpture by Eduardo Chillida, hidden away beneath the city walls and previously overlooked. It’s called Lugar de Encuentros V (Meeting Place V); it’s like an open hand, positioned low to the ground, immediately inviting, waiting to hold you. I instinctively wanted to climb inside but I had to wait my turn, others were already in its embrace. Continue reading “Signs Of Chillida”
On the Spring Bank Holiday weekend, aka Whitsun Bank Holiday or maybe even Whitsuntide, we went down to Kew. It was a slow journey. There was a UEFA Cup Final at Wembley that evening and a Premiership Rugby Final at Twickenham that afternoon, there were roadworks in Ealing and there was a continuous traffic jam around the North Circular. There was a long queue to Kew. By the time we arrived I was stir crazy. Once inside the gates I was snap happy. The resulting photostream begins with eucalyptus, smooth-skinned and animal-like with aromatic blade-shaped leaves. Continue reading “Kew Gardens”
Andrew Walton reminded me of Margaret Mellis when he wrote Schwittering. It prompted me to go looking for more. I found this film about her at Culture Unplugged. I also found a letter she sent me in 1996 (in a junk-mail envelope – she liked to recycle) inviting me to the Bede Gallery in Jarrow for an exhibition of her own constructions and of collages by her late husband, Francis Davison. His work gets a brief mention in the film at 49:25. For another mention please also see Postcard From Southwold. Margaret Mellis died aged 95 in 2009, one year after this film was completed.
