Arcadia

“Here are cool springs, soft mead and grove, Lycoris; Here might our lives with time have worn away.” Virgil, Eclogues X

During the numerous lockdown periods of the pandemic, artists returned to nature as subject matter, embracing the stripped back everyday, while attempting to expand suddenly myopic existences. A rotating exhibition involving pastoral depictions of the outside world such as birds, landscapes, and insects, Arcadia’s depiction of evergreen utopia sets itself against the backdrop of the climate crisis - a dwindling wilderness of undervalued species that may just be our last hope of saving the planet’s biosphere. Pieces serve as reminders: even in Arcadia, extinction is a possibility.

“’Et in Arcadia Ego ’ - ‘Even in Arcadia, there am I.” A reference to death in the Guercino painting ‘The Arcadian Shepherds’.

Enter the Fishing Quarter Gallery, a heritage fisherman’s arch on Brighton’s seafront in late summer 2021 to see paintings, prints, works on paper, and artist books by eight contemporary artists inspired by these lockdown experiences. In stark contrast to the contemporary works, are a selection of historical works by Sussex master printmaker James T.A. Osborne whose passion for native wildlife is untainted by fears of its imminent destruction.

Artists
The artists include Carolyn Trant whose artist books are collected by some of the world’s leading museums and libraries, including the VandA National Art Library, British Library, Tate, USA University Library Special Collections and the Library of Congress. Andrew Gifford is internationally recognised for landscape and cityscape paintings. Solo public shows of his work have been held at Leeds City Art Gallery (2004), Fruitmarket Gallery Edinburgh (2001) and Middlesbrough Art Gallery (2000).

Artists / Speakers: James T.A. Osborne, Andrew Gifford, C.A. Halpin, Rowena Easton, Sarah Weedon, Derry Mountford, Suzanne Hennegrave, Rosie Gifford, Carolyn Trant

Category: Arts | Visual Arts