Tatha Gallery’s recent 10 x 10 (ish) exhibition puts an intriguing concept forward: every artwork is measured ten by ten inches (roughly 25 x 25 cm). Such narrow constraints permit a whole variety of artworks including colour, texture and composition, without seeming too ‘out there’ – they will appear uniform regardless. Thus, the polyphony of colours, textures and shapes jumps out at you, from uniform screens that tell their own tale. As Clare Mackie, the curator of the gallery, puts it, ‘it’s a big exhibition of small artworks.’
Altogether, there are twenty-four artists displayed at Tatha’s final exhibition of the year, including four ceramicists. Beyond the intriguing results that such constrictions may impose on art, they are intimate in scale, perfectly suiting the home-setting as well as ‘friendly on the purse’. The participants are a mixture of new and ‘old guard’ of artists – David Cass, Alice Campbell and James Castle, among others.
As always, there are beautiful ceramic works that act as interludes to the painting-oriented exhibition: Judith Davies’ myriad sea of blues sea-stones act as standalone sculptures. Their smooth texture, despite their rugged and patterned appearance, play on one’s perceptions. The surface mimics the ripples of water, aligning the form and the colour palette. The artist encourages us to interact with the objects, quite literally reflected in the title of the series, Touchstones.
Anna King’s flurry of trees and branches in various settings, from a greenhouse to wintry hill-scape, offers a quaint imagery of countryside, with a unique combination of media, notably oil, ink and pencil, lending it an almost photographic-like sensibility, with each branch being accurately outlined. Here, the trees are depicted without their fluffy leaf crowns, revealing the arboreal anatomy in its late-autumnal glory.
A highlight of the exhibition is Alice Campbell’s inviting canvases that emanate coziness, warmth and overall ‘hygge’. The leitmotif of the composition revolves around a group of people sitting around a dinner table, in various scenarios, evoking a sense of quiet joy and camaraderie. The colour palette is dominated by primary colours (red, yellow, blue) and their close neighbours on the colour wheel (orange and green) and pictured in a naïve and graphic manner, (especially the toppling-over table lamp) they evoke graphic quality of early twentieth century modern art of French persuasion, particularly Amadeo Modigliani. Continuous lines make them appear underwater or in a dream-like sequence; whether her characters are playing cards, sharing a drink, or an intimate conversation, their eyes are shut. They are expressing a quiet joy of simple pleasure passing times.
David Cass’ easily-recognisable works are a unique staple of several Tatha exhibitions: they underscore the gallery’s location by the river, and feature as wall sculptures; their miniscule size is always intriguing, and a perfect fit for this exhibition. The undulating waves offer a mesmerising and almost hypnotic effect. One of them is even hanging ‘in the wings’ of the gallery, next to a staircase that leads to the attic space.
Graeme Wilcox’s portraits stand in stark contrast with David Cass’ smaller pieces (although both adhere to the ten-by-ten parameter). Wilcox paints portraits of people from his life – acquaintances from various vocations, whether senior chef or a twilight porter. All possess an air of gravitas, reflected in the attention to detail these intimate portraits contain. The close-up view works well in these formats, too. The colour palette including red ochre, indigo blue, vert-de-mer, is reminiscent of the Old Masters. The gentle illumination of the forehead in the Red Study also reflects this idea. The old-world professions in a combination of traditional colour palette, yields a sense of dignity in these paintings.
Joseph Morgan creates intriguing robot sculptures that remind me of Lego pieces that appear on a narrow shelf. The artist seemingly plays with our expectations of the materials – considering their subject matter, robotic figurines, a viewer would except a plastic or metallic material, whereas they are executed in ceramics. Modern in subject matter and ancient in material yields an unexpected combination.
As one proceeds to the smaller space on the left-hand side, the lighting of the smaller changes from warmer to cooler in tone; with the sea tones dominating colour palettes of majority of works displayed here, it gives an impression of being underwater: an aquatic room, so to speak.
Judith Davies’ majestic textured pieces are another definite highlight of the exhibition. Rendered in predominantly aquatic colours, notably celadon, aqua, indigo and turquoise, many of them exceed the brief’s parameters – ten by ten inches. However, the ceramics appear to be the only exceptions to the rule in this show. Each sculpture can be interpreted as a sea capsule, or a water droplet, while in form appearing as stones; the surface realistically mimics the ripples of water, whether a sea, river or a shallow basin. Smooth and textured pieces all at once, these pieces are truly one-of-a-kind.
The ‘warmth’ of Madeleine Hand’s etchings on wood provide a certain ‘warm’ feeling to the overall cooler palette of the room. Hand usually paints watercolours, however for this exhibition she provided her rare etchings. Experimental in nature, the lines are etched into the plank of wood with a needle, and she uses oil-based crayons to fill out the lines and to get the tone of colours. Clare suggests that they have a nostalgic, 1930s feel to them, with a graphic sensibility and more forms where line dominates the plane.
Fluid line is the leitmotif for the smaller space in general – whether Anton Beaver’s landscapes with a blurred horizon line, the ripple visualised on surfaces of Judith Davies’ majestic ‘touchstones’, a series of sketch-inspired iridescent carborundum prints, or the contours of Alice Campbell’s characters and their surrounding furniture (where does one end and the other begin?).
Altogether, this is a marvellous show that presents as much variety as can be within a single exhibition – I have only covered fifty per-cent of the ground. Apart from the artists, the artworks are all captivating, and many include flights of imagination, in contrast to careful figurative studies of people. As always, an utter joy to visit!
With thanks to Anna Shevetovska for this review.
