 | It wasn't what I was expecting - my mistake, I didn't read the blurb with enough attention. Turned out that what I was going to see wasn't the most recent Discerning Eye show, but what the organisation had collected from down the years - the collection (I know, I know, the clue was in the name). It was inevitably smaller than I had expected, therefore, but it was a perfect size for the room housing it. Hundreds of works would have been something of an overload, too, without several hours to dedicate. And, to be honest, as much as anything else I was just surprised but pleased that an exhibition I link entirely with London was being shown in Trowbridge, of all places (apologies to Trowbridge - I can change). |
Discerning Eye invites (relatively) small entries for its juried exhibition each year, limited to 50cm height, width and depth. There were a couple of 3D works here, but the majority hung on the wall, and of those most were oils. As a printmaker, I was a little disappointed by that, but I shouldn't be too narrow about these things, and there were some beautiful pieces - hover over pictures for the artists. This time the weird angles aren't down to ineptitude but to a desire to avoid reflections - I did my best.
The collection is being shown at Bridge House Drawing Centre, also home for Drawing Projects UK - the brainchild of Anita Taylor, current Dean of Bath School of Art and Design at Bath Spa University who returned from Australia to take up the post, and her partner. The house is an elegant building - as are many in Trowbridge, though somehow they're too easy to overlook (that could be baggage from growing up locally and, basically, dismissing the town - perhaps time to review my tired attitude) - and I'm looking forward to seeing what happens next, both at the Drawing Centre and with Trowbridge Arts generally. Until fairly recently I hadn't even been aware that there was a Trowbridge Arts at all, though in fairness to me it's been a long time since I've been local. Another wonder of social media, no doubt about it - I can be ersatz local to anywhere.
 | Anita generously came over from Bath to allow me to view the exhibition outside of opening hours, for which I was very grateful. I was stunned by exquisite, detailed paintings on copper by Dean Marsh (this is a better picture on the left than my own photo, though it still doesn't do it justice) - I didn't know that painting on copper was a thing (though it's pretty obvious, I know, that artists will paint on anything and everything given enough time), but Anita informed me that both Frida Kahlo and, occasionally, Goya did, so the trip was properly educational. It's apparently a very pure substrate, allowing for exactly that exquisite level of detail that I was appreciating. I loved, too, Blaze Cyan's oil pastel Little Skellig - incredibly immersive. Anita's own fantastic - and fantastically large - work is on show in the foyer, wrapping the visitor immediately into the building's new identity as an artistic venue. Next I'd like to follow up on some Trowbridge Arts events - A Common Thread looks interesting, though I'm finding it surprisingly awkward to discover the dates of the exhibition, or times. More investigation needed. |
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