Press Release 29 | 04 | 24
Colour Stories
Vivid artworks in paint, print and clay
13thJuly to 14thSeptember 2024
Tokyo Spring I | Paul Furneaux RSA
For summer 2024, Velarde in Kingsbridge brings you an exhibition of works in bold and beautiful palettes. Bringing together leading contemporary artists from Edinburgh, to East Sussex, the coast of Northern Ireland and down to St Ives on the western edge of Cornwall, this collection shows how artists use the power of colour to challenge and inspire us.
Scottish PrintmakerPaul Furneaux RSAmakes work using traditional Japanese woodblock printing techniques. Paul first studied woodblock printing, also known as mokuhanga, during a scholarship at Tama Art University in Tokyo in 1996. In 2003 he took up a residency at the Center for Contemporary Printmaking in Connecticut, USA where he began a series based on gardens, both Japanese sand-raked and stone gardens, and the floral gardens in Edinburgh. A visit to Norway in 2007 resulted in a highly acclaimed Fjord series, and more recently a new period of work has seen him travel back to Japan to attend international symposiums and to take up a residency on the edge of Mount Fuji with five other international artists. Paul's interest in the landscape and his concerns for our environment are subtle but ongoing themes in his work. His practice aims to strike the balance between the limitless possibilities of his materials and an intuitive approach to creating abstract works of art, bycombining the controlled cutting typical of many Japanese printers, with a more expressive style more commonly associated with woodcut in the west.
Anthony Garratt's experimental paintings of wild landscapes such as Dartmoor and the South West coastline are designed to inspire an emotional connection with the imagery he creates. His works explore ideas of aloneness, encounters with the sublime, and the innate power of the world's remote natural landscape. By way of a strong colour palette and the dramatic use of light and dark, he skillfully communicates the thrill of isolation in lonely, bleak and unforgiving places.
Dorset based artistMichelle Griffithsstudied painting and printmaking in Brighton in the 1970s. Through a combination of drawing, painting and printing she creates brightly coloured butbalanced compositions built of a complexity of layers. Her work is process led, made in ‘conversation' with her materials and the progressive act of making.In this way,shapes emerge, disappear and re-emerge, so that in the final work they may have vanished altogether or become only traces.Michelle has exhibited at print biennales in Yugoslavia, Bulgaria and Holland and her work is included in public collections including the Victoria & Albert Museum, Arts Council England, Varna in Bulgaria and the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford. She is a member of the Printmakers Council and Vice President of the Royal Society of Painter Printmakers.
Mark Godwinstudied at the Central School of Art in London and graduated from the Royal College of Art with an MA in Printmaking. His work is defined by a powerful use of colour and a talent for complex compositions, often on a large scale. Combining his skill as a printmaker with his passion for painting and collage, Mark's practice is firmly rooted in landscape and explores the philosophical and art historical concept of ‘the sublime', the overwhelming beauty and power of nature. Mark exhibits regularly in the UK and abroad, and his work is included in numerus private collections worldwide.
CeramicistSam Hallwas born in West Yorkshire and now lives and works in St Ives, Cornwall. He studied at Harrogate College of Art and Design and graduated with a BA Honours in Ceramics from Loughborough College of Art and Design.His non-functional ceramics bring art and contemporary craft together in works where surfaces become a canvas for intuitive and painterly applications of colour. Sam's work is exhibited in the UK, Europe and USA.
Belfast born sculptorPatricia Volk RWA FRSSstudied Three Dimensional Design at Middlesex Polytechnic and graduated with a BA in Ceramics from Bath Spa University. Her practice is based on an intuitive exploration of the immediacy of clay, using techniques from coiling to slab building to make pieces which are fired and then finished with bright and transformative applications acrylic paint.Placing one powerful colour against another, and one powerful form beside another, she aims to achieve a satisfying aesthetic that she describes as "purely visual and non-intellectual".
Symbiosis | Michelle Griffiths
SeeColour Storiesfrom 13thJuly to 14thSeptember 2024 at Velarde,86 Fore St, Kingsbridge, Devon TQ7 1PP.Preview opening on Friday 12thJuly 6pm to 8pm.www.velarde.co.uk
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Editors Notes
Velarde
Opened in July 2023, Velarde is a contemporary Fine Art and Craft gallery in the heart of Kingsbridge, South Devon. The building includes 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 brings exceptional painting, sculpture, photography and contemporary craft to the heart of the Southwest.
For further information contact Velarde, 86 Fore Street, Kingsbridge, Devon, TQ7 1PP andgallery@velarde.co.ukwww.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
