Friday 28 May 2010


St Michael's May Open Studios

THIS WEEKEND

Sat 29 - Mon 31 May 2010, 10-5pm daily

Enjoy recent sketches alongside major works by Kit Glaisyer

At St Michael's Studios, Bridport.

I grew up in 'deepest darkest' Dorset, several miles from any town, so the nights were truly dark, and the stars were bright in the sky, with just the sounds of nature, the wind and rain, and the strange noises of howling animals in the surrounding woods and fields. It was an unusual and magical childhood, free of television and pop culture and politics and the rest of the modern world. I didn't know any of the TV shows that my friends watched, but I didn't miss them either, because together we'd explore the world of trees and streams, in sun and rain and snow, as hunters and adventurers, and we felt like we had discovered something that the rest of the world had forgotten.

After school I went to London, in order to find like-minds and create a career as an artist. I loved the energy and excitement of the city, it introduced me to great art, and gave me a sense of the development of art and culture over the centuries. It also inspired my first serious works - an ambitious series of abstract paintings, through which I found my voice and developed my own language of expression.

But after a few years, and despite all of these amazing encounters and adventures, I began to miss the feeling of nature surrounding me, along with the deep sense of the sublime it inspires. And one day, while on holiday in Dorset I was introduced to an artistic community in Symondsbury, just outside Bridport, and within a month I'd moved back to live in the countryside. The following year I started a new studio in an empty warehouse on an old rope-making estate in Bridport, and St Michael's Studios has now grown to become one of the most vibrant art venues in the West County. Our Open Studio events have become very popular, and I find it's a great way for me to share my work, as it allows visitors to experience the gradual evolution of my paintings over several months.

My recent series of landscape paintings are inspired by the landscape of west Dorset, particularly around the Marshwood Vale, and they are intended as a contemporary update on the historic tradition of landscape painting. While I love the work of the Impressionists and Expressionism, I feel that these styles ultimately led to the idea that anyone could make a painting, and so much of what we see now seems so lazy and stylised. I've followed a different path, one closer to post-impressionist Paul Cézanne, who left Paris to go and live in rural France and painted around Montagne Sainte-Victoire for the next 25 years. He said he wanted "to make of impressionism something solid and lasting like the art in the museums", and desired to unite observation of nature with the permanence of classical composition. Cezanne's dogged pursuit of these principles led to the birth of Modern Art.

I also return to the examples set by the great masters, who all demonstrated this conviction to a personal vision, also evident in the great works of the British artists JMW Turner and John Constable, who were in turn inspired by the Dutch 17th Century painters like Jacob van Ruisdael and Filips Koninck - some of the first painters to establish Landscape as an independent genre. Turner and Constable were associated with Romanticism - the complex artistic, literary, and intellectual movement that originated in the second half of the 18th Century and included artists such as Caspar David Friedrich, Eugène Delacroix and William Blake. It also inspired the Hudson River painters, a mid-19th century American art movement of landscape painters that included Jasper Francis Cropsey, Thomas Cole, Albert Bierstadt and Frederic Edwin Church.

One thing all these artists shared is a deep respect for nature, and a determination to do justice to the subject. They all set out to achieve very ambitious paintings, requiring many months or even years of work, as well as the development of accomplished new painting techniques, and that's also the way I like to work these days - gaining confidence as I tackle ever more complex subjects.

I now feel like I'm beginning to do justice to my feelings for nature. I've learnt the necessary patience required to give my work the time it needs in order to capture the intricate subtleties of light and atmosphere, and to honour the incredible complexity and rhythm of this ancient landscape.

I look forward to showing you my latest works, and taking you on an emotional journey into the heart of the countryside.

Kit Glaisyer, May 2010

Please visit my website, explore the Artistic Quarter of Bridport, discover more of the Bridport art scene, and read about it in my recently published book "Portrait of the Artist".

Saturday 15 May 2010

Busy in Bridport

Never a quiet moment in Bridport!

Artists Invited to join BOS 2010

There's been some uncertainly about who would run Bridport Open Studios this year as Jaki Rabbetts decided to stand down after 5 years, but now artist Philomena Harmsworth has taken over. The event takes place over the three days of the August Bank Holiday, but this week is a crucial time as this is when we send out the Artist Entry Forms.

Because of the leadership transition I've been helping out with the BOS 2010 Entry Forms, and Philomena finally sent them out this evening. If you're an artist based within about 10 miles of Bridport and would like to take part in the event but haven't received an application form, please email philomena@philomenaharmsworth.com

"Portrait of the Artist" Exhibition down, Book still up!

I had mixed feelings when I took down the "Portrait of the Artist" exhibition from the Bridport Arts Centre last week. It's been a really popular show, and I love to get my work out there, but of course this exhibition and book have been very time consuming for me, so I'm happy to be back in the studio painting again.

We're also really pleased that the 1st edition of the book sold out within the first week of the show, so now we're onto the 2nd edition. I'm still working to get the book out into the bookshops, and I'll be taking some copies up to London soon.

What's On?

Exhibition wise you'll find "Coming of Age: South West Textile Group" at the Bridport Arts Centre

Members have contributed new work from an idea that challenges either, or both, the maker and the viewer. The starting point for all makers, from embroiderers, feltmakers, papermakers, printers to weavers, may have been the same, but as can be seen in the varied nature of this exhibition, the end results show a wide interpretation and a stimulating spectacle which should appeal to the whole family.

Visit this exhibition in the Allsop Gallery daily, Tuesday to Saturday, 10am to 4pm.

At Sladers Yard, West Bay you can see work by Julian Bailey, Vanessa Gardiner, Alex Lowery, Clare Trenchard and Petter Southall.

And 9 gallery artists are showing at Artwave West in Morecomblake.

Art Inspiration

I've been indulging in some online exhibition viewings via YouTube, and I've collected a selection of them for you to browse. First up are several New York artists I particularly admire -

Inka Essenhigh opening
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m3XUKJ4ro3M&feature=related

Lisa Yuskavage opening
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j0HBpW_9RTM&feature=related

Dana Shultz exhibition opening
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F59L4OJfRQ4

Dana Shultz interview
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jzRUMRv7mAs&feature=related

Then some British artists -

Peter Doig Tate Britain Retrospective
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7174WN_5kUQ&feature=related

at Gavin Brown (New York)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cTrPokQd8Jg&feature=related

Damian Hirst interview
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xHbAHyECYpY&feature=related

Chapman Brother's interview
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9QeNatsDV4I&feature=related


And the old school -

Francis Bacon interview
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x10BjZa-lyk&feature=related

Francis Bacon 50 minute interview (1/5)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M5sBhaAYJRs&feature=related

(Rare) Lucien Freud 50 minute interview (1/5)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3D_euSA7ryg&feature=related

Balthus hour long documentary (1/6)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZzjmpIMQDhI&feature=related

Saturday 1 May 2010

Packed launch night for "Portrait of the Artist" at Bridport Arts Centre


Wow, what a week!

First up I've got to mention that we've got an Open Studios event on this weekend at St Michael's Studios. It's already started and continues until Mon 3rd May, 5pm, so come along if you can! As always, it's a great opportunity to meet the artists and see works in progress, as well as buy or commission new work. You can find the address of St Michael's Studios on my website www.kitglaisyer.com

Anyway, I put up the exhibition for "Portrait of the Artist" at the Bridport Arts Centre, last week, helped by fellow artist Jollyon Carter. It was quite a challenging hang, as we had to show works by 23 diverse artists, and I asked Jolly to help because I knew he would complement my approach, bringing his own New York sensibility to inform the layout. It was a good combination, with my more conservative thematic perspective and Jolly's more abstract and contrasting approach.

The launch night on Saturday 17th was totally packed, and George (the photographer), Lu (the writer) and I were kept busy signing copies of the book and talking to everyone. Good old John Hubbard formerly introduced the project shortly after 7pm. It was a fantastic evening, so thanks to everyone who came!

I'm happy to say that we also sold out of the 1st edition of the book within the 1st week, so we're now onto the 2nd edition. You can order your copy online at our "Portrait of the Artist" Book website.

The exhibition has proved to be really popular and goes on for another couple of weeks, until Tues 11 May. My personal favourite pieces are the amazing new sculptures by David Risk Kennard. I really can't do them justice in words, just to say that they're strongly emotional figurative pieces cut from blocks of wood. I really recommend you go and see them.

There are also sculptural pieces by Greta Berlin, Ian Middleton, Andrew Whittle, David Worthington and Dan Bendel. Thinking of these pieces makes me realise that I'll have to come back in a couple of days and write a more in depth review of the exhibition, as there are many pieces I should mention.

The rest of the pieces are paintings and drawings from full on abstracts by the likes of Ian Dunn and Jollyon, to figurative pieces by Andrew Leppard and John Rabbetts, and of course landscapes by the likes of myself and Gerry Dudgeon.

St Michael's Open Studios runs until 5pm on Mon 3rd May.

"Portrait of the Artist" exhibition at the Bridport Arts Centre, runs until Tues 11 May.

The book "Portrait of the Artist - 25 Bridport Painters & Sculptors" is available for £19.95 from our website, also at the Bridport Arts Centre and from St Michael's Studios. It will also be available at all good book shops from next week.