Sally Woodcock with Christopher Wood's Self Portrait, Kettle's Yard

Painting conservation / Christopher Wood / Tuesday 17th July

Painting conservator Sally Woodcock has been brought in to prepare Christopher Wood’s Self Portrait for its journey to Norwich Castle Museum later this year where it will be on display as part of Cedric Morris and Christopher Wood; A Forgotten Friendship.

Sally Woodcock with Christopher Wood’s Self Portrait, Kettle’s Yard

This autumn Norwich Castle will host the first exhibition devoted to the British artists Cedric Morris (1889-1982) and Christopher Wood (1901-30) focusing on their friendship and the many artistic links between them. Cedric Morris and Christopher Wood; A Forgotten Friendship runs from 20 October to 31 December 2012 at Norwich Castle Museum , Norfolk.

Malcolm Simmons / Sunday 7th April

Certainly the portrait of Christopher Wood was the star exhibit in the show, A Forgotten Friendship curated by Nathaniel Hepburn. The exhibition of works by Christopher Wood and Cedric Morris which then moved on to Mascall’s Gallery in the South East was a real insight into the work and relationship of these talented painters.

Harewood gardens

Friends of Kettle’s Yard / Yorkshire Art Trail / Wednesday 4th July

  • The Friends of Kettle’s Yard hit the Yorkshire arts trail

From Gaudier Brzeska’s sketch of Ezra Pound nestling between the superb Old Masters at Harewood House near Leeds to the ebullience of Miro’s late 3D works at Yorkshire Sculpture Park , via Fiona Rae’s dazzling show at the Leeds Art Gallery, the David Hockney collection at Salts Mill and of course the great new Hepworth Wakefield ….48 Friends lapped up the Yorkshire arts scene over a packed 3 day weekend in late June. We all came away believing there must be something special in the Yorkshire air that gave life to such giants as Moore, Hepworth, Hockney and now of course, Hirst. This lively yet relaxed trip was typical of the great programme of events that Friends of Kettle’s Yard can enjoy.

- Martin Thompson

Click here if you’re interested in joining the Friends of Kettle’s Yard , which would allow you to take part in their outings, holidays, talks and parties.

Matthew Darbyshire and curator Lizzie Fisher in studio

Matthew Darbyshire / Studio Visit / Monday 2nd July

Guy and I headed to Kent to visit Matthew Darbyshire in his studio on a wet April morning.

Preparations were underway for an exhibition in Paris. Matt is a
sculptor who is interested in the objects we surround ourselves with,
especially the things we can buy, what they mean to us and where that
meaning comes from. His critical eye for a kind of contemporary
vernacular forces us to think about how we shape our world and how that
shapes us. Looking forward to some interesting conversations when Matt
comes to Kettle’s Yard .

Matthew Darbyshire – Untitled: Shelves No.5, 2008, 
Various glass and plastic components, 110 x 140 x 30 cm, Herald St. Gallery

Not many people know this, but a colleague recently told me that Jim had a couple of trays in bright pink plastic and yellow perspex in the 60s. So tea with Jim would have been lapsang souchong in a broken china cup held together with staples on a yellow perspex tray.

- LF

Curator’s blog / studio visit with Lorna Macintyre / Friday 29th June

After 2 weeks on a Clore programme in Northumberland I flew up to Glasgow to catch the last day of Matthew Darbyshire’s show at Tramway, and visited Lorna Macintyre in her studio. It was Matt’s largest public exhibition to date – and the product of a number of intense collaborations. I learnt a new phrase: ‘developers vernacular’.

I had a cold so Lorna made me tea and we talked about the work she’s making for Glasgow International, the jars containing strange crystalline growths hiding under tables and on windowledges, Virginia Woolf and the view.

 

Matthew and Lorna, along with Jeremy Millar and Matei Bejenaru , are working with Kettle’s Yard over the next year as Associate Artists, and we have invited them to engage, make work and intervene creatively with us onsite, offsite & online. They start work in earnest later this month, and the first opportunity to get to know them and their work will be around a display in the gallery this summer, when they will select works from the collection and show works of their own alongside.

LF

House extension ground floor, lower level

Curator’s blog / Kettle's Yard House / Tuesday 29th May

The man from Istanbul brought our rug back today. (Literally, he flew over with it under his arm). He’s been restoring it for a whole year and it looks amazing. He uses vintage yarn to preserve the antique colours and works with traditional weavers from Anatolia to help us keep our rugs in the best condition to resist the daily wear and tear of visitors’ feet.

Next time you visit, don’t forget to look at what’s under your feet. And tread carefully!

LF

 

 

Alfred Wallis, Steamboat with two sailors, lighthouse and rocks, n.d, reserve collection

Andrew Nairne / Director's Blog / Monday 14th May

Hello and welcome to our development blog site – we want this to be an active online space where you can find out about the ‘behind the scenes’ stuff, especially at this time of great development for Kettle’s Yard (for details about the new Education Centre that we are building, read more here ).

All the formal information about what’s on and what’s open can still be found on our main website .  This site is a more informal space where we’ll invite comments from artists, educators and audiences who we are working with to contribute.

There will be opportunities to find out more about our four Associate Artists who will be working with us during 2012 /13: Mate Bejanru, Matthew Darbyshire, Lorna Macintyre and Jeremy Millar.

Over time this website will grow and a bigger and richer picture of all the activity that Kettle’s Yard is involved with during the building works will emerge.

This is new for us so please do give us feedback and let us know what’s working or not and what you would like to see more of.

To illustrate my first post I’ve chosen one of my favourite paintings from the current Alfred Wallis exhibition in the gallery here, a different version of which will go on tour from July.

Andrew Nairne, Director, follow me

Binnie Macellari / Monday 2nd July

This Wallis whilst not my favourite (it makes me feel seasick!), is extraordinary in the way the sea is depicted = a heaving, white mass showing menace and danger to the little fishing boat. The exhibition is wonderful – for those who have not been – and your talk most enlightening.

admin / Wednesday 4th July

Thank you so much, I’m so glad you enjoyed the talk!