Press Release
10 | 06 | 20
Neil Davies | Weathering the Storm
with ceramics by Akiko Hirai
13th June - 25th July
Landscape painter Neil Davies at his Hellesveor studio, April 2020
New Craftsman Gallery presents landscape paintings by Neil Davies, exhibited at a moment when nature, now more than ever, has had a crucial role to play in both our physical and mental wellbeing. Work on this collection began last September, when the colours of autumn were glowing on the moors, and a global pandemic was beyond anyone's imagining. Painting continued throughout winter and into the extraordinary spring of 2020, when thousands of us looked to the great outdoors for our once-daily exercise, and for some relief from life cooped up inside. Neil's beautiful paintings capture a flash of orange in the rusty bracken, pink and purple heather on a distant carn, waves of bleached winter grasses, and the kaleidoscope of colours in an approaching Atlantic storm. "Nature has a way of putting things into perspective" says Neil of his new collection, appropriately titled Weathering the Storm, "of making us forget our anxieties and everyday concerns, for it represents a stability and a sense of perpetuity in these days of chaos and uncertainty."
Accompanying these paintings are new ceramics by Akiko Hirai, who created the entire collection under lockdown at her London studio. Her decorative Moon Jars and functional tableware are a fusion of Japanese and British ceramic traditions, glazed in soft whites, greys, greens and other natural colours. These works are accompanied by a specially written catalogue essay on the artist's experience of working in self-quarantine, and an inspirational collection of extraordinary ‘stories' unique to each tea bowl. The exhibition is available to view online or by appointment at the gallery from 13th June. The gallery will reopen full-time from 4th July.
Akiko Hirai at her London studio
01736 795652 | info@newcraftsmanstives.com | www.newcraftsmanstives.com
-END-
Print Ready 300dpi images for press use:
Neil Davies at his Hellesveor Studio
Akiko Hirai at her London studio
Editors Notes
New Craftsman St Ives
With an international reputation amongst art and craft collectors for its painting, sculpture and quality studio ceramics, the New Craftsman is regarded as one of the most important spaces for contemporary artists in St Ives. Founded in the mid-1960s by Janet Leach, wife of Bernard Leach, it holds an unrivalled reputation as one of the country's leading art and craft venues. Today the gallery's annual programme of mixed and solo exhibitions continues to support the work of Cornwall's and the UK's very best painters and craftspeople.
New Craftsman Gallery, 24 Fore Street, St. Ives, Cornwall TR26 1HE | Tel: +44 (0)1736 795652 |info@newcraftsmanstives.com|www.newcraftsmanstives.com
For further press information or additional images contact Mercedes Smith at Fine Art Communications director@fineartcommunications.co.uk / Tel 07825 270235 / www.fineartcommunications.co.uk
