I needed to go to the Holden Gallery yesterday, for a quick look round in connection with the Manchester Artists' Book Fair (taking place in October). At my previous drop-in visit there had been a graphic art exhibition on and I was quite looking forward to a bit of a browse while I was there. However, it turned out that the exhibition had been coming down when I was last there, not going up, and instead I arrived to see 62@50.
Which was great! Apparently the 62 group was formed - guess what? - in 1962, 50 years ago, to support embroiderers and promote its members as serious artists, rather than allowing embroidery to languish as a hobby for genteel ladies. Nowadays it includes textile artists too. I was terribly short of time (an hour's worth of parking, and a good walk away) so I'm reluctant to say that I liked any artists best after what barely amounted to a whistlestop tour, but I'll do it anyway. The first works I saw were by Elaine Megahey (the only person there, I think, without an informative label) and her pieces are still among my favourites of the exhibition - a combination of layered support, embroidered, printed and goodness knows what else, both wall pieces and an artist's book. I took no photos (almost certainly photos wouldn't have been allowed anyway) but here's another piece by her - I love it too.
Which was great! Apparently the 62 group was formed - guess what? - in 1962, 50 years ago, to support embroiderers and promote its members as serious artists, rather than allowing embroidery to languish as a hobby for genteel ladies. Nowadays it includes textile artists too. I was terribly short of time (an hour's worth of parking, and a good walk away) so I'm reluctant to say that I liked any artists best after what barely amounted to a whistlestop tour, but I'll do it anyway. The first works I saw were by Elaine Megahey (the only person there, I think, without an informative label) and her pieces are still among my favourites of the exhibition - a combination of layered support, embroidered, printed and goodness knows what else, both wall pieces and an artist's book. I took no photos (almost certainly photos wouldn't have been allowed anyway) but here's another piece by her - I love it too.
I also liked works by Sîan Martin ('Pentathlete' - a digital print of stitched drawings on vellum, cut into strips and threaded on to, well, threads - inspired by Edweard Muybridge), Ann Goddard ('Going going gone' - a grid of 12 prints, of the same image but in various combinations of black, grey and white) and Caroline Bartlett ('At Rest' - something very tactile, felted, with lace imagery and in soft shades of grey and cream) but my other favourite piece there was Penny Burfield's 'Endangered' - again in soft shades, 562 oversized smoke-fired paperclay seeds, heaped on a giant list of the 562 most endangered British Isles flora.
Having claimed these as special, I'm dying to go back (it's on till mid-august) and spend more time on all the exhibits. There were some lovely quirks - two tiny and characterful guinea pigs perched on the frame of a work by Rachel Howard reminded me of my own two from childhood (Streaky Bacon and Smoky Bacon), and I definitely want a longer look at Caren Green's 'Desserts - she had her cake and she ate it - D-I-E-T-S F-A-I-L' which I think was the ways in which diets fall by the wayside, printed over a number of handkerchiefs. And then there were all the other works that didn't have enough time spent on them because they didn't immediately make me go 'ooo that's nice'. A return visit is definitely a must.
Having claimed these as special, I'm dying to go back (it's on till mid-august) and spend more time on all the exhibits. There were some lovely quirks - two tiny and characterful guinea pigs perched on the frame of a work by Rachel Howard reminded me of my own two from childhood (Streaky Bacon and Smoky Bacon), and I definitely want a longer look at Caren Green's 'Desserts - she had her cake and she ate it - D-I-E-T-S F-A-I-L' which I think was the ways in which diets fall by the wayside, printed over a number of handkerchiefs. And then there were all the other works that didn't have enough time spent on them because they didn't immediately make me go 'ooo that's nice'. A return visit is definitely a must.
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