A Theatre of Plates – An exhibition of artist decorated ceramics
Stimulate the senses with a fusion of art, trickery and fun.
1 Take a piece of vintage, reclaimed China
2 A selection of porcelain pens in many colours
3 A visual artist
Combine these with imaginative flare and themes – maybe flora, mythology, follies or surrealism. Decorate and embellish with skill and confidence, bake to perfection and produce a work of art.
Plates by Louise Brosnan, Susan Disley, Rachel Eardley, Jackie Griffin, Edla Griffiths, Cornelia O’Donovan, Philippa Robbins, Alexis Snell, Sarah Thwaites
A Dinner Set for an Imaginary Banquet – A small exhibition of works on paper by Cornelia O’Donovan RCA
10 exquisite paintings in gouache and pencil.
Beautiful and Damned – photography by Camilla Broadbent
A ravishing series by multi-award winning photographer, Camilla Broadbent. With baroque colours, sumptuous textures and painterly light, her compelling images of fruit and vegetables lend these still lives a fatal beauty as they decay and transform themselves into objects of exquisite ambiguity.
The transformative power of ageing, and the secrets the process gives up, is a recurring theme in Camilla Broadbent’s dazzlingly original work, widely exhibited in solo and mixed exhibitions and recognized with numerous awards. These include photographs shown at the National Portrait Gallery, the Association of Photographers, a gold medal from the Royal Photographic Society International Competition and most recently, Gallery Huit in Arles.
As well as being known for her intriguing, constructed portraits of people, the London-based photographer and enthusiastic experimental cook, relishes the control that photographing still life images allows her – ‘you don’t have to flatter fruit’. With lighting that evokes the rich colours and sumptuous textures of Dutch old masters she imbues her photographs with gothic mystery. While the images arrest the decaying process, the narrative potential remains like a sinister fairytale. Eventually these neglected, menacingly decaying foods will vanish completely. Recognising that ‘there is no such thing as an innocent image,’ the aim of her Beautiful and Damned series as with Broadbent’s witty Now You Eat It Now You Don’t collection is ‘to style alluring, vaguely disturbing images.’ Sweetcorn never looked so exquisitely intoxicating.
… and of course not forgetting our platters, bowls and jugs by international makers, and a new special collection of functional earthenware by James Burnett-Stuart. James trained at Harrow College, made ranges of tableware for The Conran Shop, Designer’s Guild and Egg. Pots from this period were often featured in magazines like World of Interiors, Elle Decoration and Country Living. He held solo shows of more individual pieces at The Scottish Gallery, Edinburgh, Egg, London and Charleston Farmhouse, E.Sussex. James was also Artist-in-Residence at Charleston.