Bournemouth Art Collective

Just back from the BIC and the Bournemouth Art Collective's exhibition, a very mixed group but some real talent was evident. I'll cover each of the four artists on display in the order I saw them.

Matthew Cohn

From the brief bio available it's clear that Matthew is well travelled, but this is pretty evident in his artwork as some of the style echoes Japanese work I've seen while retaining some strong European influences. I also felt a sense of innocence and dreams to his work with a recurring delicate girl and a blending of colour that gave me the impression of impermanence. My favourite among the displayed works was Vanquished, the image to the left is another of his that he has kindly allowed me to publish here.

Gail Bannister

Gail's work is very different and at a distance they could be mistaken as photographs. Covering some very well known images the multi-layered paintings create a softness to the images that in no way detracts from the quality. Though mostly done in black and white the few that include other colours are equally skilfully handled. Personally I felt her 'Photopop' style was very effective. I particularly liked Times Square, Lemmy and the Godfather.

Dean Harold

Dean previously worked in oils though he is now working digitally. I had the opportunity to speak with him at the exhibition and it was great to have the chance to hear his thoughts about his work. Some of his abstract work was a little too controlled for my taste but among them I liked #18 which has a wonderful feeling of chaos in a very clean lined piece of work. Among his portraits #36 and #40 caught my eye with a sense that the colours were bring out the aura or personality of the subjects. Finally I should highlight #41 which I spent quite a while looking at. The odd colours and deep black eyes in this one make the whole thing feel slightly sinister, almost as though the colour was bleeding off and corrupting the painting, the result was quite startling.

Stewart MacArthur

Different again were Stewart's works, a blend of pen, watercolour and collage to create some very distinctive work. The blend of watercolour and collage included in the works contrasted starkly with some very precise pen work and text which was excellent. In other places such as with Persuassion the pen work felt slightly overwhelming, though I suspect that was intended. By far my favourite was Under Clear Blue Skies.

Cultural Wednesday

I had this Wednesday and rather than sit around the house I thought I'd get out and do something cultural.

First on my list was visiting Lighthouse, Poole's Centre for the Arts. I had hoped to see some works by Hazel Evans, but serves me right for not paying enough attention to the website as she is still working on pieces to be displayed later in the year. I was however fortunate to see two other exhibitions.

The first was a display of photographs from a local college course: the students had each been given a rubber duck and were under instructions that upon receiving a shout (presumable email or text) they had 30 seconds to pose and photograph their duck. Several of the photos were obviously spur of the moment place and shoot giving an interesting insight into some of the students lives, but equally others had been cleverly prepared.

Secondly I saw a local art group's works, if I'm being honest the quality of these varied greatly, but there were some that caught my eye, my favourites where the Jester and Family (above) and Fire and Ice (right).

I had planned then to go on to the Peacock Gallery to see the 3 Dimensions photographic exhibition, unfortunately the bus to get me there ran every four hours (man I can't wait till I've got a licence and my own car) and I wasn't sure I'd be back in time to visit the last stop I had planned for the day.

I'd only heard about the Russell Cotes museum recently thanks to Listed which is surprising considering it sits just outside the town centre and is such a fabulous place. When I read up on it I was immediately reminded of Sir John Sloane's museum in London which it resembles in many ways. They are both the former homes of voracious Victorian collectors of artefacts from what seems to be most of the world. The major difference I saw was in the organisation.

While Sloane's house was gradually transformed into storage space for his ever expanding and seemingly disorganised collections the Russell Cotes seems to have retained a sense of order.

You enter from the gardens and after the reception area you can head up one floor and you're first presented with a collection of items from Japan that are stunning in both the diversity and quality; swords, statues, pots, tea ceremony kits and pipes. In the centre of all of this stands a full suit of armour. on the next floor up you begin to enter into the house proper.

Firstly you notice that in each of the rooms all the walls contain paintings, that various stands and pedestals contain sculptures and that every table is filled with little mementos of the Russell Cote's travels. Then you realise the whole room is frescoed and that the ceiling either contains a stained glass window or is exquisitely painted. The rooms flow into one another with the curators managing to keep rooms distinct. You can also wander upstairs and enjoy the continuing splendour and the amazing view from the bedroom down onto the beach.

One other thing that I think is amazing about the Russell Cotes is that even with the seemingly endless supply of historical curios they have managed (at least on my visit) to set aside two rooms for contemporary artists. In the midst of so much traditional art the change was refreshing and I particularly liked the works by Diane McLellan and those of Paul Amey.

If you're anything like me a visit to the Russell Cotes museum will find you wandering back and forward trying not to miss anything, inevitably you will but that just strikes me as a good reason to visit again.