Most people feel reluctant to travel in these landlocked Covid times. Yet it is still possible to ‘travel’ to various places in memory while exploring documentaries, films, food in Italian, Spanish, French, Indian restaurants. And at exhibitions. HOT’s Lauris Morgan-Griffiths explored the Two Worlds art exhibition at Hastings Arts Forum – the work of photographer Brian Rybolt
Two new shows provide more momentum to the revival of the visual arts in Hastings. Anna Bachène will open a new exhibition at the Zooms Arts gallery at Warrior Square station next week, while Nick Hill already has an exhibition under way at Oscar’s on the Square. Nick Terdre reports.
Hastings Contemporary is open again with Covid regulations intact and two very different exhibitions. First you walk through Quentin Blake’s rather forlorn We Live in Worrying Times and then enter something completely different in Victor Pasmore’s abstract exhibition: Line & Space. After five months in the cultural desert HOT’s Lauris Morgan-Griffiths went to visit the gallery.
Although we are always surrounded by colour, the changing tones of the sea, sky and trees the world has seemed a little bleak of late. So it is interesting to be reminded of the strength of colour – reds, oranges, blues and greens – that can lift a mood and evoke memories. HOT’s Lauris Morgan-Griffiths found colour writ large in Harriet Macaree’s paintings at Hastings Arts Forum.
During the long wait for a bus, local artist and writer, Maureen Connett, has been pondering what can be done to cheer up the town centre, in particular the bus stops at Queens Road. She would have liked to share her art portraying local places in Hastings on the empty spaces at the bus shelters, but it looks like the Pandemic may have put paid to a ‘laudable initiative’. We can take another look at Maureen’s art here.
Sir Quentin Blake, greatly respected artist, renowned illustrator of children’s books and much loved Hastings resident, is living, like all of us, in these Covid-19 suspended animation times. Understandably, as many artists are – and will in the future – he has been exploring the effect of these times, which has resulted in an exhibition We Live In Worrying Times. HOT’s Lauris Morgan-Griffiths was intrigued to see some of the images which differ markedly from his previous work.
There is much to love about Hastings and St Leonards: not least the seaside and creativity here, but also the sense of community and support of people who are less well off or generally find life challenging. Project Art Works is a very special organisation that works creatively alongside people with complex needs. HOT’s Lauris Morgan-Griffiths met up with creative director Tim Corrigan to talk about one of their artists/makers, Sharif Persaud, who has an exhibition of his work in London.
An exhibition of botanical drawings by Marianne North, who travelled the world practising her skill, will be held at Horntye Park during this year’s international chess congress. Nick Terdre reports. All illustrations by kind permission of the Royal Botanical Gardens Kew.
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