Press Release  21 | 04 | 23

Velarde Gallery Opening Exhibitions

July 2023 sees the opening of Velarde Gallery, a new 1,400 square foot space for contemporary art in rural Devon. Velarde aims to bring the very best in British and international art to South Devon, giving collectors the opportunity to connect with emerging new talent, as well as established artists and makers. The launch show includes a solo exhibition by Italian painter Alessandro Twombly, andA Passionate Nature, a mixed exhibition by leading and emerging British artists.
 

A Passionate Nature

Contemporary works exploring the drama and beauty of the natural world

21^stJuly to 9^thSeptember 2023

Julia Fullerton Batten |Ophelia after Millais,2018 (from theOld Father Thamesseries)

TitledA Passionate Nature, Velarde's opening mixed exhibition responds to the show's leading artworkOphelia After Millais, 2018, byBritish photographerJulia Fullerton-Batten.This spectacular staged photograph pays homage to one of the 19^thcentury's most dramatic paintings by Pre Raphaelite artist John Everett Millais and is the starting point for a mixed exhibition that explores the drama and beauty of the natural world. Taking centre stage alongside Julia's work are a series of sculptures by eminentRoyal Academician Peter Randall-Page, whose work explores the relationship between man and nature and the sophisticated geometry of organic forms. These exemplary works are carved from Venetian marble and demonstrate the artist's lifelong study of the principals that underpin the complex mathematics of natural structures. Also on show are paintings by London based artistSue Williams A'Court,whose ‘appropriationist' landscapes borrow from historic works and explore ideas of the visual sublime through a combination of painting, collage and graphite drawing. Her work is held in various private and public collections including the V&A in London.  A group of works on show by award winning painterLucy Markscapture the energy and immediacy of the natural landscape in both oil and watercolour. With a focus on atmosphere and natural light, she creates ‘en plein air' works with a powerful sense of place. Lucy is a Member of the Chelsea Arts Society, and an Associate Member of the Royal Watercolour Society and the Society of Women Artists.

Ceramics on show include work by Kent based potterClaire Conrad,whose chalk white, sky blue and sea green stoneware vesselsreflect the raw beauty of weathered coastal surfaces and natural erosion, exploring the point of balance between existence and decay.The show's collection of ceramics byRosa Wiland Holmesare influenced by her childhoodamid the isolated landscape of Denmark's Bornholm Island in the Baltic Sea. Her pieces explore the shapes, textures and colours of that unique natural setting, of sea foam on the sand and rain glistening on granite, expressed through the subtle interaction of clay, oxides and glaze.

Contemporary craft on show includes new work byJayne Armstrong,who is a maker of functional and sculptural objects in wood. She is known for turned works created from green oak, which changes and distorts from its original shape as it dries. Once each piece has achieved its final form, the work is bleached or charred before being finished with oils and waxes to enhance the beauty of the natural oak surface.

Visitors to Velarde will also be able to enjoy the gallery's sculpture garden, which displays work by some of the UK's leading artists includingPeter Randall-Page, Jilly Sutton, Clee Claire Lee, Richard Perry,andAntonio Lopez Reche.

Alessandro Twombly | Solo Exhibition

New work by the Italian-born painter and sculptor which reflects his intimate connection with the landscape

 21^stJuly to 9^thSeptember 2023 
 

Alessandro Twombly |Acceso,2020, Acrylic on Canvas

Velarde's opening solo exhibition by painter and sculptor Alessandro Twombly (b. 1959, Rome) reflects the artist's intimate connection with the Italian landscape.Taking botanical forms as his primary motif, he makes works that combine emotive mark and colour to convey the vivid, sensory beauty of the natural world. His passionate, semi abstracted rendering of wildflowers, by way of an unrestrained and instinctive application of paint on paper and canvas, take on an almost calligraphic quality, a nostalgic visual language that inspires emotion, sensation, desire and the visceral memory of floral textures, scenes and scents. Twombly is a colourist at heart, an artist whose palette carries the weight of nuance and meaning in his paintings, and whose work connects by way of colour to the deepest level of human feeling.

Alessandro lives and works in the countryside outside Rome in theItalian region of Lazio. He is the son of celebrated 20^thcentury abstract artist Cy Twombly (1928 - 2011)whose own gestural vocabulary of line and colour made him one of history's most noted and influential artists. Alessandro's works have been exhibited in New York, London, Rome and Zurich, and are held in public collections of the Museo Jumex in Mexico and The Glass House (Philip Johnson Foundation) in Connecticut, USA.

See theAlessandro TwomblyandA Passionate Natureexhibitions from 21^stJuly to 9^thSeptember 2023 at Velarde,86 Fore St, Kingsbridge TQ7 1PP | Private View Friday 21^stJuly |velarde.co.uk

-END-
 

Print Ready 300dpi images for press use:

JULIA FULLERTON BATTEN Ophelia After Millais

ALESSANDRO TWOMBLY Acceso


Editors Notes

Velarde

Currently under construction and opening in July 2023, Velarde will be a contemporary Fine Art and Craft gallery in the heart of Kingsbridge, South Devon. The building will include a 1,400 square foot exhibition space, a sculpture garden, and two boutique apartments.Velarde aims to bring the very best in British and International contemporary art to Devon, giving collectors the opportunity to connect with emerging new talent, as well as established artists and makers. With a focus on quality, diversity of practice and creative innovation, Velarde's year-round programme of exhibitions will bring exceptional painting, sculpture, photography and contemporary craft to the heart of the Southwest.

For further information contact Velarde, 86 Fore Street, Kingsbridge, TQ7 1PP, www.velarde.co.uk
 

For further press information, interviews or additional images contact Mercedes Smith at Fine Art Communications director@fineartcommunications.co.uk 
Tel 07825 270235 | www.fineartcommunications.co.uk