Love Letter inOrange
HELEN MURPHY and NICK PELLING
There is a tender and rather poignant lovers’ story behind the exhibition The Stolen Orange, off Bond Street in Brighton. The tale begins back in 1994 when a fragile, young male art student named Hal Maughan attended a poetry reading by the great Mersey Poet Brian Patten at Falmouth Art College.
Alan Rankle, The Wide World Alone, 2025. Oils and pigmented ink on canvas, 40 x 40 cm copy.
A BEAUTIFUL MADNESS
Hal was too nervous to speak to Brian that night, but the poet’s book Love Poems became for Hal a cherished source of spiritual anchoring and reassurance. It was later at Falmouth College that he encountered the love of his life (and now co-curator) Sarah Shaw. Spool forward 25 years and Hal had the sweetest idea that he should give his book of poetry to Sarah as a birthday gift. But, in a moment of beautiful madness, he decided first to send the dog-eared copy of the book to Brian Patten and ask him to sign it. Incredibly, Brian not only signed and returned the book, but added a handwritten unpublished poem. Out of this came the idea that one of the book’s most uplifting poems, The Stolen Orange, could be the inspiration for an exhibition. And it was this that we went to see. In a painful twist, Brian died just before he could get to Brighton, and so the exhibition is both a celebration of love’s little acts and a memorial to Brian.
A TANGERINE DREAM
The show itself features over seventy artists, whose work revolves around the idea of an orange as if the humble citrus fruit was a magnetic sun. Obviously, there is not room to do justice to them all here, but it is worth pointing out that two of the stars of the show are based in Hastings but international in status. Geraldine Swayne brings a delightful piece, King Ludwig’s Dream, in her luscious, painterly style, But hidden away, if you care to search, is a tiny little jewel of a piece of hers, burdened with the title Celestial creature no.1. The ever-enigmatic Alan Rankle, who works between his studio in St Leonards and Copenhagen, gave us a submerged Wide World Alone, a bleached-out, intriguing version of which makes up the catalogue cover. Hal and Sarah were also exhibiting. Sarah’s painting, A bench for Brian, is haunting and freighted with a sense of the not-quite-explained, while Hal’s Bluebeard carries an impasto punch despite its quiet smallness.
Many of the artists involved had personal connections, some of which could even be tracked back to the distant Falmouth College. And in many ways the personal linkages seem utterly apposite. The human heart, with its tendency to reach out and stimulate tendrils of response, is the animating spirit of this exhibition. If you feel the need for a sunburst glow, get on your scooter and go there; failing that, reach out and find Brian’s amazing orange poem.
The exhibition continues daily until December 14 on Bond Street, Brighton, BN1 1RP.
The Stolen Orange
BRIAN PATTEN
When I left I stole an orange
I kept it in my pocket
It felt like a warm planet
Everywhere I went smelt of oranges
Whenever I got into an awkward situation
I’d take out the orange and smell it
And immediately on even dead branches I saw
The lovely and fierce orange blossom
That smells so much of joy
When I went out I stole an orange
It was a safeguard against imagining
There was nothing bright or special in the world
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