Loading...
June - October 2023
Images available here
Watts Contemporary Gallery today announces its exhibition programme for the period June – October 2023.
Located in the original Compton Pottery building at Watts Gallery – Artists’ Village, Watts Contemporary Gallery offers a frequently-changing and varied exhibition programme of art and crafts. The Gallery presents work by established and emerging artists and gives visitors to Watts Gallery - Artists’ Village an opportunity to see and buy contemporary art.
Funds raised through sales support Watts Gallery Trust’s Art for All Learning Programme which, inspired by the charity’s founders – the artist George Frederic Watts OM RA (1817-1904) and his wife, the artist and designer Mary Watts (1849-1938) - seeks to make art accessible to all.
The exhibitions are:
Old and discarded objects provide jumping off points for fantastically creative work in this exhibition, featuring new work created with, amongst other items, old books and magazines, cardboard boxes, empty tins, bent cutlery and driftwood.
Artists in this exhibition include Hannah Battershell, Tudor Evans, Christine Hopkins, Stephane Godec, Zoe Rubens, Dee Evans, Rachel Sumner, Adam Robinson, Naomi Beevers and Celia Lewis.
Taking inspiration from the exhibition, visitors will have the opportunity to make their own ‘upcycled’ works of art. Using the hashtag #ArtForAllByAll, visitors will be encouraged to share images of their artworks online to create a virtual exhibition running alongside the Watts Contemporary show.
Combining painting and sculpture, both artists in this exhibition have a deep fascination with the landscape around us, how it has been shaped by previous generations and continues to impact those who inhabit it today. By distilling the essence of natural forms down to their simplest elements, both artists manage to capture the timeless quality of landscape.
In her paintings, Fiona Millais – who lives in Surrey and whose great grandfather was the Pre-Raphaelite artist John Everett Millais (1829-1896) – explores the connection between the natural rhythms of the land and how ‘it reflects our presence, or the lack of it.’ Fiona’s practice involves painting and re-painting canvasses, so that traces of original images remain present echoing how landscapes are shaped by us through time.
Lucy Lutyens takes inspiration from the organic farm she lives and works on near Colchester in Essex. The great great niece of celebrated architect Edwin Lutyens (1869-1944), Lucy creates abstract sculptural forms which she describes as having a ‘birdlike or botanical essence’.
Gwen Hughes, Watts Contemporary Gallery Programme Manager, said:
“With five different exhibitions each year, covering art, ceramics and craft, we are able to support a large number of artists and I am really looking forward to our summer and autumn shows.”
“Whilst making art from found or previously-used material is not a new phenomenon, it has become increasingly popular in response to climate change and, as The Art of Upcycling will show, it is a source of extraordinary creativity.”
“I am thrilled to be bringing Lucy Lutyens and Fiona Millais to Watts Contemporary Gallery – whose illustrious ancestors were connected with our founding artists. Edwin Lutyens commissioned Mary Watts’s Compton Pottery to produce terracotta ware for several architectural projects, and John Everett Millais and G F Watts were close friends for many years. Watts’s portrait of Millais (1871), a gift from the artist to his sitter, was widely admired.”
Alistair Burtenshaw, Brice Director & Chief Executive, Watts Gallery Trust, said:
“The environment is close to our hearts here at Watts Gallery - Artists' Village and it is deeply rooted in the Trust’s ethos.”
“Environmentalism was a key concern of George Frederic Watts. When our Grade I and II* listed Arts & Crafts buildings were first constructed, provisions were put in place to ensure that they functioned sustainably and with minimal impact on the surrounding landscape. Today, nestled in the Surrey Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, we are acutely aware of our responsibility to care for and preserve the local environment for future generations – and we are delighted to be holding our first exhibition dedicated to the Art of Upcycling.”
For further information:
wattsgallery.org.uk
Twitter @WattsGalleryInstagram @wattsgalleryFacebook /wattsgalleryartistsvillage
- ENDS -
For further press information:
Tamsin Williams – tamsin@wigwampr.com – 07939 651252
Watts Contemporary Gallery provides visitors with an opportunity to see and buy contemporary art and craft that resonate with the history and heritage of Watts Gallery – Artists’ Village. Located in the old Compton Pottery, today Watts Contemporary Gallery presents five exhibitions each year. All profits raised through Watts Contemporary exhibitions support Art for All, Watts Gallery Trust’s learning and outreach programme inspired by G F and Mary Watts, founders of Watts Gallery – Artists’ Village.
Open daily, Monday to Sunday, including Bank Holidays, 10am - 5pm, free entry. Located above the Shop. For further information: Watts Contemporary Gallery
Current exhibition:
Watts Ceramics: Living Traditions (until 18 June)
Watts Gallery Trust is an independent charity established in 1904 to enable future generations to connect with the art and ideas of George Frederic Watts, one of the leading artists of the nineteenth century, and his artist-wife, Mary Seton Watts.
G F Watts OM RA (1817-1904) was widely considered to be the greatest painter of the Victorian age. He became the first living artist to have a solo exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, and the artist’s ‘gift to the Nation’ made a significant contribution to the founding collections of Tate Britain and the National Portrait Gallery.
Mary Watts (1848-1939) was an artist, designer, writer, businesswoman and philanthropist. Her art supported and inspired the people around her, involving local communities in her projects. She was the creative powerhouse behind two significant enterprises: the Watts Chapel and the Compton Potters’ Arts Guild.
Today, Watts Gallery - Artist’s Village continues George and Mary Watts's legacy of Art for all by all. This vision to make art accessible to everyone is realised through a dynamic and multi-sensory programme of creativity, exhibitions, contemporary art projects and community engagement. Read more