A Dream of Escape
By Helen Murphy and Nick Pelling
Who hasn’t dreamed of getting on a motorbike and hurdling the barbed wire at Stalag Luft III to freedom? The dream of some form of ‘escape’ is a pretty fundamental human concern. And so it was with high hopes that we headed to the exhibition at the Stade Hall entitled Great Escapes.
What confronted us was a mixed bag of stuff revolving around the mythical idea of ‘holiday bliss.’ The perfect dream state of what you might call ‘ice-cream nirvana’. And in many ways, the exhibition did deliver something along those lines. Much of the work was light and bright and almost delightfully meaningless. The perfect artistic equivalent of a daydream.
When you think about it, a ‘holiday’ can be quite difficult to define. I suppose for most people it involves going somewhere different. Seeking some form of break, maybe even a break from your normal self. A break from being you. A glimpse into another sort of life. Some of the paintings on show provided that sense of sun and vibrant colour. That very un-English sense that reality has become sexier than it was on the way to Lidl in the rain. On holiday, time itself changes. You can have a cocktail for breakfast if you want. Normal worktime evaporates. Several paintings managed to evoke that weird, dreamy, clockless state.
Holly Newman’s Afternoon at Sea perfectly captured the sense of just hanging about on a yacht under the lazy sun. But in my view, historically, the English have never really been good at holidays. Despite the fact that, in some ways, the English invented the seaside resort – St Leonards only exists because James and Decimus Burton thought it could be a made into a delightful watering hole where the gentry could slip out of their pantaloons.
Some of the weird Englishness of the seaside was caught nicely in Emma Hundleby’s picture of an Edwardian lady, curiously accompanied by a passing fish. For sheer luridness of colour, it would be hard to beat the work of Sarah Evans. This is ‘escape’ as sort of gigantic lollipop of fun. The artist Eleanor Carter approached the subject simply in terms of colour, creating small abstracts suffused with light and warmth.
In truth, there were so many artists, all of them female, that it’s impossible to do justice to each individual here. In fact, it was quite an odd mix. Some of them, such as Georgie Wheeler, Louise Whitham and Jude Montague are well known as local creative subversives, but the exhibition also featured numerous others, including Kate Delaney, Sian Tomlinson, Ruth Jones, Helen Bryant, Samantha Guertin, Maxine Simmonds and Julie Lowe. A big thanks to all of the contributors.
Escape six by Sarah Evans; Emma Hundleby’s Woman with Fish
The exhibition also came with a very holiday-esque surprise, in the form of a delightful singer by the name of Cordelia Gartside. It takes a bit of guts to rock-up with just an acoustic guitar and sing in front of a crowd of people who have wandered into an art exhibition for no particular reason. And she did it with gusto. It certainly added to the welcoming atmosphere.
You couldn’t say that this was a demanding or challenging exhibition; but escapism, by its very nature, is not meant to be difficult. This was instead more like an art fair – with ‘sex on the beach’ cocktails thrown in – and kids and oldies all mingling together. Pretty enjoyable really, and what’s wrong with that?
We hope you have enjoyed reading this article. The future of our volunteer led, non-profit publication would be far more secure with the aid of a small donation. You can also support local journalism by becoming a friend of HIP. It only takes a minute and we would be very grateful.
Leave a Reply