The Moon, the Sea and all the Queens
By Sarah Milne
Something wonderful has been happening through June at the The Dirty Old Gallery on West Street. Every Summer, since opening her gallery in 2018, Megan Donfrancesco has curated an open submission exhibition. This provides local artists, work-ing in a wide variety of styles, media and with a wide range of experience, an opportunity to have their work featured in an exhibition and raise funds for charity at the same time. Previous exhibitions have supported animal charities, with exhibitions around fun and silly themes such as Cats at the D.O.G. This year, Megan felt humans needed all the support we could offer, and the theme became obvious.
CREDIT: Sarah Milne
“I was looking in my diary to see when in June the opening would fall,” she says, “and my little calendar informed me of the Queen’s Jubilee. So naturally, I thought, ‘Can we make everyone a queen?’ I wanted people to think of their nans and partners. I wanted to see paintings of Sylvia Rivera and offer up a crown to those who needed it. And that’s exactly what we got!”
Among works portraying family members and partners, are paintings, drawings, sculptures and installations of famous people revered as queen: friends who claim their throne with their flamboyance and charisma, a dog who is the queen of the home, a dancer who is the queen in the moment she holds the stage; the feminine energy of the moon, nature and the sea, single mums, women who cope with or have overcome trauma, self-love and hope as the queen of all virtues.
One of my own favourites is a clever little piece by eight-year-old Opal Blaze, exploring how sisters need each other to make the day as much as they need light and dark. I love art that makes me feel something and that’s certainly what I got from this exhibition. Each piece either amused or moved me. I was especially inspired by a painting called The Queen of my Dreams, a bold and sassy mixed media piece about becoming a queen through overcoming trauma.
As Megan says: “It was the handful of works inspired by people’s grandmas. This last year I have lost three great aunts, all daughters from my Italian great grandmother who settled here during the second world war. My family has a strong matriarch, but now it’s my nan alone, without her sisters – including her twin. A painting by Sam Telford got me the most. It is a bold coloured acrylic painting of a discarded passport photo of his Gran. In his description, Sam described how, ‘for my 18th, she bought me the easel I still use today, and whenever I feel low or discouraged, I try to summon her voice. She will always be a queen in my life.”
It was this last sentiment that particularly struck a chord with Megan, whose nan was her first art teacher!
Howie Whale, a volunteer at the gallery and lifeline, spent weeks putting his heart, blood sweat and tears into a beautiful piece about his grandmother, which resulted in a drawing of all three generations of women on his mother’s side. It’s a beautiful drawing! Howie was also brilliant at getting the word out to encourage artists to participate, especially those who have never thought to put art on the wall of
a gallery before.
Blooming and emerging artists share the walls with some of Hastings’s great artists, including a new drawing, especially for the occasion, by Quentin Blake. This can be bought through a sealed bids auction running throughout the exhibition. Funds raised through the art on sale will be donated this year to Change Grow Live, a Sussex charity that offers physical and emotional assistance to all those who have experienced domestic abuse, including support for the LGBTQ+ community, helping them to realise their goals and be the best they can be.
• Who’s Your Queen? can be seen at The Dirty Old Gallery, 31a West Street, TN34 3AN until 26 June. Bids for Quentin Blake’s original drawing also closes on 26 June.
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