Spring News from Hannah

This week has been a time of reflection as the country marked the anniversary of the start of the first national lockdown. The past year seems to disappeared in the blink of an eye, yet those first few days of adjusting to our new lockdown lives and making copious amounts of sourdough and banana bread seems like a lifetime ago.

We have been incredibly grateful for the support that we have received from you all over the past year, and it has been a pleasure to continue to work with a collection of superb artists and makers, as ever amazed by their resilience. Nigel Hall RA and Kip Gresham, of the Print Studio, Cambridge, have recently collaborated on a new work Summer Storm (pictured below), which was created to encapsulate just that.

Summer Storm by Nigel Hall and Kip Gresham, The Print Studio

The Print Studio has made many prints by the sculptor and Royal Academician, Nigel Hall. As the third lock-down arrived, Nigel suggested that they might make a small and affordable print. One that would be available to brighten the walls and lift the spirits of those home schooling or working from home; a reminder of the enduring importance of invention and creativity.

This work is exhibited as part of our current Spring Exhibition, which is open online until this Sunday. You can view the exhibition here.

Portrait of James Horton

The artists ability to adapt has also been a topic of conversation I have had with a number of artists on the Fen Ditton Gallery podcast.

The most recent episode features an interview with Past President of the Royal Society of British Artists, James Horton. James, who normally spends a lot of time travelling and painting en plein air, has looked a little closer to home for his inspiration - his back garden and kitchen becoming some of his subjects. In this conversation, we chat about his marriage to painting and love affair with music, his extended trip to India at the beginning of the pandemic and how his life has changed since he stepped down from his position as the President of the RBA. You can listen to this podcast here. Other artist interviews include Frances Priest and Kate Jones, who are also exhibiting in our current Spring Exhibition.

So what’s next for us here at Fen Ditton Gallery?

Hannah met with judges Nigel Hall, Rebecca Jewell and Elenor Ling over Zoom to select shortlist for Contemporary Printmaking Prize

As you may be aware, we recently launched our first open submission art prize, the Contemporary Printmaking Prize. We had an amazing number of entries - over 560! The judging panel, artists Nigel Hall, and Rebecca Jewell and Curator of Prints at the Fitzwilliam Museum, Elenor Ling, and I met virtually to select the shortlist of 40 artists and these works will be exhibited at the gallery next month. The exhibition highlights the exciting depth and variation of contemporary printmakers in the UK and it has been wonderful to have the opportunity to bring that to the gallery. The exhibition will be open from Friday 16th April - Sunday 16th May and, providing there are no changes to the government roadmap, we will be able to open the space physically. Find out more here.

We will also be welcoming Graham Murrell back to the gallery in June, celebrating his 80th Birthday with a retrospective exhibition, 20 Years On. In 2001, Graham Murrell left his position as Head of Photography at Central St Martin’s, encouraged by the success his first major exhibition, Light Spells, at Kettles Yard, which was made in collaboration with Kathryn Faulkner. 20 years on, we are working with Graham to bring together a collection of photographs spanning this period of his career. The exhibition will include hand-printed photographs from his residencies at The New Art Centre and The Ballinglen Arts Foundation, and from his publications Blackwell Within (Blackwell the Arts and Crafts House) and Line Around the Shadow (Lakeland Trust). You can listen to Hannah interviewing Graham on the Fen Ditton Gallery podcast here.

We also have planned an exhibition of works by three graduates of the Royal Drawing Year, including Felix Higham and our annual exhibition inspired by the natural world, this time water. We look forward to sharing more details about these exhibitions soon.

In the meantime, keep well and we look forward to welcoming you back to the gallery soon.

All the best,
Hannah