Feb

In Conversation with Rob Airey, Director Wilhelmina Barns-Graham Trust

Thursday 13 February 2025
18:00 19:40
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You are invited to join us to hear more about the work of leading 20th Century painter and printmaker Wilhelmina Barns-Graham (1912-2004)and to learn more about the activities of the Trust, established in her memory.

Amanda Game, Associate Curator for Fen Ditton Gallery will be talking to the Trust’s Director, Rob Airey and there is an opportunity to view two outstanding original prints by the artist, which are on show in the current exhibition ‘Green Shoots’.

Wilhelmina Barns-Graham was one of Britain’s most significant 20th century modern artists. Scottish born and a prominent member of the post-war St Ives group, she was a sublime painter,draughtswoman, printmaker and a brilliant colourist. Dividing her time between studios in St Ives and St Andrews she followed a consistent artistic vision throughout her sixty-five-year career.

In her last decade Wilhelmina Barns-Graham produced an astonishing range of prints. For her, making prints was a liberating experience, one in which she could play with screens to create complete series of images. New ideas sprang constantly from these variations. The Prints of Wilhelmina Barns-Graham : a complete catalogue by Dr Ann Gunn was published by Lund Humphries, 2007.

Although Barns-Graham had made the occasional etching and linocut in her early years, it was a group of screenprints made with the late Kip Gresham (1951-2024) (Curwen Studio) in 1991 that can be seen as the true start of her life as a printmaker. An example of their collaboration, November IV, is currently on show at the gallery. In 1998, a significant turning point came with an introduction to Carol Robertson and Robert Adam of Graal Press. On technique, Robertson was able to offer the artist an ever more expansive range of possibilities due to Graal’s ground-breaking use of water based screenprinting inks. The first series was Time. This was so successful that she went on to collaborate with Robertson on further editions such as - Millennium, Sunghrie and Earth. An example from the Millennium series is on show.

Rob Airey is the Director of the Wilhelmina Barns-Graham Trust, a single artist charitable Trust which manages the estate of the leading 20th century British artist and funds residencies and bursaries for artists at different stages of their career. Following an MA at the Courtauld Institute he pursued an interest in post-war British Art, first in Collections Management at Tate and the Henry Moore Foundation and then exhibitions and collections curatorial roles at the Royal Cornwall Museum and the Hatton Gallery in Newcastle upon Tyne. In his role at the WBGT his curatorial interests range over areas such as 20th century Scottish Art, all aspects of post-war British Art (particularly St Ives), landscape, women artists, abstraction and drawing.

The event starts at 6pm and will include the opportunity to view the current exhibition with a glass of wine.

This is a free event, reserve your place via Eventbrite here

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16:00 18:05
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