All Kinds of Everything
NICK PELLING and HELEN MURPHY
It’s not unusual for galleries to have a café or for restaurants to chuck some quirky art on the walls, but at the Kino-teatr on Norman Road, the synthesis of high quality-art, good food and booze – and of course the vintage cinema – is quite unique. We dropped in to have a look at the current offerings.
WHEN JEWELS COLLIDE
The gallery is now showing a Winter Exhibition of primarily small works curated quite brilliantly to maximise the diversity and range of surprises given to the eye. The striking aspect of this exhibition is surely the way that so many different styles – both figurative and abstract – rub shoulders against each other. A similar point can be made about the juxtaposition of historical eras: modern works sit alongside Russian pieces from the Soviet era and the timeframe keeps jumping.
At the contemporary end of the spectrum you can find great stuff by Mark Godwin, Tim Nathan, Antonia Baker and the brilliant Russell Baker, and many more. But there are also pieces by older English artists such as the remarkably subtle David Tindle. Indeed, there are little jewels of all sorts to be found. Although it carries the title Winter Exhibition, it’s really themeless, more of a collage of colliding and occasionally harmonising images and colour.
A LITTLE TIME
It would be invidious to focus on one painter among so many, but let’s do it anyway. Mark Godwin’s work is some of the most striking in the exhibition. Godwin was trained in printmaking at the Royal College of Art and some of the delicacy and precision required in the printer’s process can be seen and indeed felt in his paintings. The paint often seems as though it has been put on in layers or washes, with subtle light somehow emanating from within. It is probably true to say that his work is inspired by land and seascapes but it is not imitative or illustrative. There is something a little deeper going on. His work, at its best, gets to what the Romantics used to call the sublime, the ineffable. The other aspect of his work that strikes you is his brilliant and often quite daring use of colour. However you describe it, the important thing is that the viewer needs to spend a little time absorbing the paintings.
KEEPING IT REEL
The in-house restaurant, Reel, also deserves a special mention. It is after all forced to play at least three roles at the same time: a restaurant, a cinema café, for those who often want multiple different coffees and a working bar for those who just want to have a glass of something to lubricate the important business of putting the world to right. Dr Sam, the manager, sees the whole place as a sort of “non-private, private members club.” He elucidates that “the staff know almost everyone by name and their usual order, right down to the sausage versus bacon preferences of their dogs.” It is this sense of community that makes the space so unique; that and the sheer hard work of the amazing chef Jo, alongside Rosie and the whole team.
It might be thought that Kino has often been focussed upon in this paper – perhaps particularly in this edition – but imagine if it closed its doors. Something vital about St Leonards would be lost.
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It’s interesting to see how the space merges multiple functions while keeping a cohesive experience. From a financial and accounting perspective, tracking revenue streams separately—gallery sales, café, bar, and events—would be critical to understand profitability and tax obligations. Ensuring accurate allocation of overheads and keeping tight inventory records for the café and bar could prevent distortions in reported margins.