Publications

Hames Levack, London
12 June – 11 July

In an introduction to this exhibition we learn that the curators of Hames Levack invited applications from UK artists aged eighty years and over. We also learn that in doing this they challenged their own assumptions on artwork created by this age group. I set out to investigate what the curators had termed as "surprisingly and strikingly contemporary" works. If being strikingly contemporary means to be a dynamic, compassionate and a witty storyteller then yes, it is all here waiting to be seen. Yet why is this a surprise, if you lived through the many cultural movements and political shifts of the last eighty years.

The range of media shows both mastered techniques and newcomers' experimentation. Brief biographies accompany and inform on the perception and unusual abilities of the artists. They are an intriguing commentary on the education, employment and practice of each exhibitor, as well as their changing worlds. The works have strengths without the subtext, such as the mind-blowing, hand-rendered pencil drawing by Cyril Parfitt, Fantasy Landscape. A collection of twenty drawings in pencil and ballpoint pen by Frank Pearson includes scenes of Sheffield such as Men Unemployed (1936), an American soldier, a crashed tram, a movie star, which spark allegories in their juxtaposition.

This work does many things, more than merely reminding us how the bright lights looked when there were power cuts. Here are engaging stories situated in a site famed for its diversity. This artwork is earnest and knowing, tentative and charming.

Lisa Wigham

Lisa Wigham is an artist.

First published: a-n Magazine August 2004