This August Bank Holiday weekend make your way down to Old Park Road in St Lawrence and you’ll find more than you bargained for.
Each year The Bunker Gallery aims to provide thought-provoking projects that excite, inspire and question. This year is no exception and for the first time two venues will be open across the site, The Bunker Gallery and artist Lisa Traxler’s working studio.
The Bunker Gallery
The Bunker Gallery is housed in a decommissioned WW2 radar bunker. Feel the history captured in its concrete walls and view how it becomes a vibrant setting for contemporary art.
Our aim is to create an artistic community which welcomes everyone.
Home of award winning artist Lisa Traxler and her architecture husband Lincoln Miles, the gallery hosts an interesting and diverse exhibition each year in this experimental project space.
‘The Black Drawings’ by Jonathan Parsons
This year’s selected artist is Jonathan Parsons, a multi-media artist known for the diversity of his practice, which includes installation, sculpture, found objects, fabrication and land art. The core of his artistic activity, though, is drawing and painting in his London studio.
‘The Black Drawings’ are a series he has been working on for more than a decade. Whilst he was developing many other projects – some of which were large-scale and public – he has been slowly, quietly and steadily making these drawings, all of which are shown together here for the first time in the evocative setting of the bunker.
He uses a meticulous technique of non-gestural and highly refined drawing to depict gestural graffiti tags and markings that he has found on the streets and documented photographically. We are very fortunate to have Jonathan onsite all weekend to talk about his practice and the works on show.
Visit Lisa Traxler’s working studio
Alongside the gallery, the studio of Lisa Traxler will be open. A private space during the year, this is a special opening of the artists working studio where you can meet the artist and chat with her about her practice.
On display will be maquette, sketchbooks, new paintings and sculpture in the unique setting of her Nissen hut studio.
Walk down through the grounds past the artist’s sculptures and enjoy the breathtaking landscape and sea views.
One of the youngest ‘Sensation’ exhibition artists
Jonathan Parsons was selected for the ‘British Art Show 5’ (2000) and was one of the youngest artists to be included in the notorious ‘Sensation’ exhibition at the Royal Academy of Arts (1997), which toured to Berlin and New York.
He co-curated Seeing Round Corners for Turner Contemporary, Margate (2016), which attracted more than 150,000 visitors. His painting ‘Whalesong Sunrise’ was selected for this year’s Royal Academy of Arts Summer Exhibition, 2022.
Highly respected artist
Lisa Traxler is an elected member of the Royal Society of Sculptors, Royal Watercolour Society and this year elected to the prestigious London Group.
Winning the Southampton Biennial Open in 2020 has led to her major solo exhibition ‘Time Traveller’ on show at the moment and open until 8th October at Southampton City Art Gallery.
She has been invited to show one of her large constructed collage paintings at the Biennial International Fabriano Watercolour 2022 exhibition.
Where and when
The Bunker Gallery Summer Exhibition takes place over the August Bank Holiday of Friday 26th to Monday 29th August 2022.
Open daily between 11am – 4pm. Free entrance and parking is available in St Lawrence Village.
The Bunker Gallery can be found on Old Park Road, St Lawrence, Isle of Wight PO38 1XR.
Find out more
Find about more about the Lisa Traxler by visiting her Website, following her on Instagram, as well as the Bunker Gallery.
You can also follow Jonathan Parsons on Instagram or by visiting his Website.
Our thanks to Lisa Traxler for sponsoring this feature. She and other businesses and organisations taking paid promotion enables you to continue reading OnTheWight for free
