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NSA 125
Tremenheere Gallery
16 October to 7 November 2021
Bartine Castle, clay and burnt gorse installation | P Wilson Smith
This autumn, the Newlyn Society of Artists, one of the longest-surviving and most prestigious groups of professional artists in the UK, celebrates one hundred and twenty-five years since its founding in 1896. The NSA currently has close to ninety members, including artists working across all disciplines from painting, printmaking, sculpture and film, all of whom either live in Cornwall or have close links with the area.
For this NSA 125 show at Tremenheere Gallery, the NSA asked members to find inspiration from the society's influential history. The NSA began as a group of radical artists breaking away from tradition and seeking to create work which was fresh and unconfined by tradition, and that line of radical thought continues in the NSA today. The Society was established by Stanhope Forbes and other innovative artists including Walter Langley, Dod Proctor and Dame Laura Knight, who challenged turn-of-the-century convention by painting the social and economic realities of real people in real-life settings. This included many of the people of Newlyn: the fishermen and women who worked in the fish industry, their children and extended families, and the local harbours and village settings of the time. Later came other waves of ideas, from Ithell Colquhoun, Peter Lanyon, Bernard Leach, Terry Frost, Sandra Blow and Kurt Jackson bringing new ways of seeing and making art, including Surrealism, Modernism, 70s Pop Art and Modern Expressionism, to the Newlyn Society.
Accordingly, the works in the NSA 125 exhibition might be inspired by a 20th century NSA artist, or ideas which NSA members have introduced and popularised over the last 125 years, such as working from real life, plein air painting, or using freer brushstrokes or bright colour.
Regarding this important anniversary exhibition, current chair Yolande Armstrong said:
"We are thrilled that NSA 125 is being curated by Lisa Wright, award-winning painter and ceramicist. Our artists push the boundaries and make work which is challenging in its content and form and continues to explore and experiment - it is an amazing community of artists. Many have been showing exciting work with the NSA over a period of time, while others are new and will continue to bring welcome change. NSA shows are always vibrant and exciting and in this exhibition, presented in the lovely space of Tremenheere Gallery, you might find the work of our members moving, challenging, or simply beautiful and inspiring. In strange and difficult times, I think we all benefit from a pause for reflection, time to consider our past and our present, and to ponder our future."
(Left) Dream a Little Dream of Me, (right) In The Flow, mixed media on panel | Charlotte Turner
Home, glass construction with photography | Susan Kinley
Edna St Vincent Millay | Mike Newton
See NSA125 from 16 October to 7 November 2021 at Tremenheere Gallery, Tremenheere Sculpture Gardens, Gulval, Penzance, TR20 8YL. For further information see www.tremenheere.co.uk or www.nsanewlyn.com
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Print ready 300pdi images for press use:
P WILSON SMITH Bartine Castle
CHARLOTTE TURNER paintings
MIKE NEWTON Edna St Vincent Millay
Editors Notes
Newlyn Society of Artists
Founded in 1896 by an influential group of artists, the NSA today is a diverse group of around 85 contemporary artists working across all disciplines from painting and sculpture to performance, the moving image and more. The NSA is run by an annually elected voluntary committee, who continue to seek new opportunities and welcome new membership applications. In 2017, the NSA began an exciting new partnership with Tremenheere Sculpture Gardens, whose new, contemporary gallery space is the venue for their twice-yearly exhibitions.
For further press information or additional images contact Mercedes at Fine Art Communications director@fineartcommunications.co.uk | Tel 07825 270235 |www.fineartcommunications.co.uk
