Jeb Takes the Biscuit
by MARK WALTER
I was walking along Norman Road on a dark chilly Saturday evening when through the gloom I could see a light. It was coming from the Project78Gallery. I peered through the window, and could see large canvases hanging from the walls which looked intriguing; I had to step inside to find out more. Once inside, I was introduced to Patrick Jones, the owner of the Gallery for over 20 years. I later discover that his connection with the exhibiting artist, Jeb Haward, is that they have both taught at the Hastings College of Art for over 20 years.
Jeb Haward was born in Brighton but has lived in Hastings since he 1990s. It wasn’t his first experience of Hastings as he studied at Hastings College of Art in 1976. Haward explained: “It was for the want of anything better to do. Painting felt like the most productive territory and somewhere that surprising things might be possible. I made enough work to get a portfolio together and went on to the University at Brighton and then Newcastle University for my Masters.”
Haward’s work embraces the potential unpredictability of materials, canvas, paper, paint, charcoal etc. and pushes them to the limit. “Ideas are subject to the characteristics of the materials used,” he says. “They tend to collapse, and I must accept that any cleverness on my part cannot survive the process,” this is a good thing Haward explains “rather than start with an idea, I might end with one”.
Walking into Project78Gallery space you are confronted by two patched-up canvases hanging limp like a temporary hoarding; they cover the two large walls of the gallery. The remaining patches are framed as if on trial but have enough gravitas to stand alone. Haward’s subject matter in the exhibition Jeb Takes the Biscuit refers to domesticity i.e. pots, cakes, flowers, vases and, as the press release explains, although this might be considered banal, it celebrates the non-hierarchical content as well as the rejection of the artificial. Everything involved in the image and its making must go on trial and earn the right to exist. This includes the maker.
Haward tells me he is currently working on a proposal for a new group project, and in his own words is currently working in his studio “trying to make something that he hasn’t seen before”. As someone involved in art education in Hastings for over three decades, Haward says he counts himself lucky that he can now focus entirely on his art practice. The exhibition runs until 4 March so you can see for yourself that Jeb really does take the biscuit!
Project78Gallery, 78 Norman Road, St Leonards, TN38 0HJ.
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