Summer Celebration at Hastings Contemporary
Following the news that Hastings Contemporary has been awarded a second significant grant from the Government’s ‘Culture Recovery Fund’, it has announced that it will re-open on 27th May with the long-awaited ‘spectacular summer blockbuster show’ Seaside Modern.
Seaside Modern celebrates and explores the relationship between artists and the beach from the 1920s to 1970s.The talents of more than sixty artists and designers are drawn together in the historic Shoreline gallery by guest curator, James Russell. Like many others who grew up in Britain in the 20th Century, the concept of a seaside holiday has deep significance for him. He says: “Having spent two weeks of every childhood summer at Sandbanks in Poole, I have an enduring love of the seaside. Putting this show together has been an absolute treat.”
The exhibition looks at “the broader social and cultural phenomenon of the British heading to the beach in ever greater numbers,” and includes paintings, sculptures and drawings by luminaries such as L.S. Lowry, Richard Eurich, John Nash, Laura Knight, William Roberts, Henry Moore and Barbara Hepworth.
It reflects the ‘Genuine Artistic Moment’ of a fifty-year period in the 20th century, during which artists were drawn to the beach – but for different reasons and with very different results. We are presented with a range of contrasting styles, moods and states of mind. There are depictions of traditional subjects including fishermen, boats and the harbour by Eric Ravilious, John Minton and Prunella Clough as well as more experimental or surreal pieces which draw inspiration from the liminality and strangeness of the shore, by John Nash, Edith Rimmington, Eileen Agar and Bill Brandt.
The joy of flocking to the seaside is something that may well strike a chord with today’s city-dwellers as Covid restrictions are eased. According to Russell, “this exhibition also celebrates the social revolution that gave millions of people the opportunity to enjoy their day at the beach. As we emerge from lockdown, Seaside Modern will serve as a timely reminder that life really can be fun.”
Hastings Contemporary has also announced that Sir Quentin Blake’s topical and much lauded exhibition We Live in Worrying Times is set to re-open. The exhibition was viewed by audiences from around the world during the lockdown via the gallery’s robot. This is a slightly ‘refreshed’ version of the original exhibition with a new body of work by Blake, called Hand in Hand.
• Go to www.hastingscontemporary.org for details.
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