As well as the exhibition in the Learning Curve Gallery, Gerry Price will also be taking over the Rope Store Gallery next month.
Made in response to the shoreline close to the artist’s home in Bembridge.
Price’s pre-occupation with loss and renewal, with change and transformation are explored through a diverse range of materials and processes.
The exhibition invites the visitor to take a journey with the artist along Bembridge’s shoreline.
The door to the Rope Store Gallery represents entry to the beach via the steps near the Crab & Lobster Inn.
To the right are exhibits inspired by the shoreline towards Whitecliff Bay.
Turning left leads towards Bembridge Harbour.
The end wall of the Rope Store Gallery is filled with a painting on sail cloth of the sea.
Plaster cast of sections of the shoreline and ethereal paintings of children on Perspex occupy the central space of the gallery.
Some of the exhibits, like the dioramas, of particular parts of the coastline, are quirky and humorous. The “Bottle-top Walks” triptych make witty reference to Damien Hirsts’ spot paintings.
Other works are darker and more disturbing. Plaster casts of the insides of gloves found on the beach seem macabre. A row of jars filled with different specimens of seaweed are displayed with their dried-out forms. They have a certain beautiful element and but are also somewhat repulsive.
Much of the work seems to explore notions of preservation and of capturing a moment in time. A pre-occupation with loss and bereavement are apparent. Even photographic images of beach huts take on a ghostly appearance when Price super-imposes images of the backs of the huts onto their fronts.
Summer Course
Adults inspired by either of these exhibitions may want to book a place on Quay Arts’ Summer School; Bembridge Shoreline: A Response, which runs Tue 4 – Sat 8 August.
Participants will have the opportunity to make their own creative response to this special shoreline.
More information about the Summer School is available from Quay Arts brochure and website or you can visit Quay Arts Box Office for further details.
Gerry Price lives and works of the Isle of Wight. She is an author, lecturer and creative arts practitioner and has exhibited widely across the UK.
Bits and Bobs:
Gerry Price Shoreline: From Whitecliff Bay to Bembridge Harbour
Rope Store Gallery, Quay Arts
Sat 18 Jul – Sat 29 Aug
Drinks Reception: Sat 18 July 2 – 4 pm All Welcome
