St George’s Arts is an arts organisation based in a redundant church in Esher, Surrey. During 2012 we are running a varied programme including a residency, an open call exhibition, artist’s talks and creative workshops for artists as well as the local community.
Modern Madonnas, Private View: 31 May 6.30 – 8.30 pm
You are warmly invited to the private view of ‘Modern Madonnas’, an exhibition celebrating the mother and child relationship
on Thursday 31 May between 6.30 and 8.30 pm
RSVP 01372 464881 or [email protected]
‘Modern Madonnas’ is an exciting new group exhibition taking place during May and June. St George’s Arts has chosen thirteen artists from all over Britain, whose works provide a thoughtful response to the relationship between mother and child.
Peggy Cozzi, Wendy MacMillan, Tracey Kershaw, Debi Retallick, Susan Frances, Jean Thompson, Sophie Morgan, Zita Saffrette, Sonja Benskin-Mesher, June Gillert, Kasia Depta Garapich, Lulu MacDonald, Maggie Rose
St George’s Arts, St George’s Church, Esher Park Avenue, Esher KT10 9RQ, is near the junction of Claremont Lane (the A244) and Esher Park Avenue, behind the Bear Public House. Esher is just on the border of South West London.
The exhibition runs from 26 May – 17 June 11.00 am – 3.00 pm Monday – Saturday (except bank holidays)
There will be three related art workshops:
Back-to-Art Mothers: Sat 26 May
Parent and Child Art Workshop: Fri 8 June
Modern Madonnas Art Workshop: Wed 13 June
For more information, or to book for the workshops, email [email protected], phone Rebecca Price on 01372 464881 or visit http://stgeorgesarts.wordpress.com.
Preparations are rushing on towards our forthcoming exhibition, ‘Modern Madonnas’. Information about the dates, times and how to find us are given below. The private view is on Thursday 31 May, 6.30 – 8.30pm.
The exhibition is being installed into a space which is very far from the white cube gallery type. One of the joys of working with the space is to see the dialogue set up between the artists’ work and the historical building of St George’s. This short film by the Churches Conservation Trust (who care for the building) gives a flavour of the building. http://vimeo.com/16847358
Today’s artists:
The use of cloth has, since ancient times, been associated with women’s work and the domestic realm. Using natural plant materials, Zita Saffrette dyes cloth and stitches it into objects which meditate on the dual roles of mothering and of being mothered.
Jean Thompson’s dreamlike etchings are darkly ambiguous, even threatening. Are the figures in the boat a couple, and are they abandoning or rescuing the baby in the water? Or could the shadow-passenger be a manifestation of unacknowledged aspects of the woman’s character? Could the vulnerable, naked woman be trapped in the pram because she can’t escape her childhood? Certainly it is the ragdoll-like child who seems to be in control here.
‘Modern Madonnas’ runs from 26 May – 17 June, 11am-3pm Mon-Sat, excluding bank holidays. (Private View: Thursday 31 May, 6.30 – 8.30pm)
There will be three related art workshops:
Back-to-Art Mothers: Sat 26 May
Parent and Child Art Workshop: Fri 8 June
Modern Madonnas Art Workshop: Wed 13 June
For more information, or to book for the workshops, email[email protected], phone Rebecca Price on 01372 464881 or visithttp://stgeorgesarts.wordpress.com.
St George’s Arts, St George’s Church, Esher Park Avenue, Esher KT10 9RQ, is near the junction of Claremont Lane (the A244) and Esher Park Avenue, behind the Bear Public House. Esher is just on the border of South West London.
Some more information about some of the artists taking part in our forthcoming exhibition, ‘Modern Madonnas’. Information about the dates, times and how to find us are given below. The private view is on Thursday 31 May, 6.30 – 8.30pm.
Today’s artists:
In Sophie Morgan’s delicate line drawings, drawn ‘blind’, without taking the pen off the paper, Sophie feels she is able to allow an internal image to form more freely than if she could see what she was drawing. This results in a pleasing awkwardness, which perhaps expresses the vulnerability and contradictions felt by a wheelchair user who is also a mother.
In Debi Retallick’s ‘Mother and Child’ an oversize pear looms like an enormous pregnancy, gestating a family of miniature pears. Debi works with the contrasting methods and materials of metal-casting, carving, making handmade felt; using wool fibres and papier mache, often pitting hard and soft materials against each other to explore the narrative of her work.
Maggie Rose makes installations which draw on folklore, symbols and dreams to create new interpretations of our rites of passage. In ‘Eating Eggs’, she has filmed herself eating an egg in the kitchen; a place where many women spend time creating nourishment for the family. The egg is a symbol of fertility and reproduction and suggests ideas of the Earth or Mother Goddess. By running the film backwards, the result looks like a conjuring trick as she manages to produce a perfect egg from her mouth, but is this really so different from the miraculous act of giving birth to a baby?
Set in the historic St George’s Church, Esher, which, over the past five years has been building its reputation as a showcase for cutting edge art, ‘Modern Madonnas’ includes paintings, prints, photography, video, sculpture and installation.
‘Modern Madonnas’ runs from 26 May – 17 June, 11am-3pm Mon-Sat, excluding bank holidays. (Private View: Thursday 31 May, 6.30 – 8.30pm)
There will be three related art workshops:
Back-to-Art Mothers: Sat 26 May
Parent and Child Art Workshop: Fri 8 June
Modern Madonnas Art Workshop: Wed 13 June
For more information, or to book for the workshops, email[email protected], phone Rebecca Price on 01372 464881 or visithttp://stgeorgesarts.wordpress.com.
St George’s Arts, St George’s Church, Esher Park Avenue, Esher KT10 9RQ, is near the junction of Claremont Lane (the A244) and Esher Park Avenue, behind the Bear Public House. Esher is just on the border of South West London.
All this week I am posting information about our forthcoming exhibition, ‘Modern Madonnas’ and some background to the work of the artists selected for the show.Information about the dates, times and how to find us are given below. The private view is on Thursday 31 May, 6.30 – 8.30pm.
Today’s artists present conflicted views of the theme:
Lulu MacDonald’s work re-examines notions of support, rupture and discomfort. She is enticed by the city’s surfaces, textures and edges and at which point these planes seduce and reject.
Precariously balanced structures, red cushions enveloping and embracing, objects wrapped up, all suggest different aspects of supporting and nurturing roles.
Wendy MacMillan’s ‘Primal’ taps on our subconscious responses to childbirth. There is something claustrophobic and smothering about the feathers in her installation, which suggest the idea of delving deep within to create a new being. With the accompanying audio, an atmosphere of primordial power unfolds.
Set in the historic St George’s Church, Esher, which, over the past five years has been building its reputation as a showcase for cutting edge art, ‘Modern Madonnas’ includes paintings, prints, photography, video, sculpture and installation.
‘Modern Madonnas’ runs from 26 May – 17 June, 11am-3pm Mon-Sat, excluding bank holidays. (Private View: Thursday 31 May, 6.30 – 8.30pm)
There will be three related art workshops:
Back-to-Art Mothers: Sat 26 May
Parent and Child Art Workshop: Fri 8 June
Modern Madonnas Art Workshop: Wed 13 June
For more information, or to book for the workshops, email[email protected], phone Rebecca Price on 01372 464881 or visithttp://stgeorgesarts.wordpress.com.
St George’s Arts, St George’s Church, Esher Park Avenue, Esher KT10 9RQ, is near the junction of Claremont Lane (the A244) and Esher Park Avenue, behind the Bear Public House. Esher is just on the border of South West London.
All this week I am posting information about our forthcoming exhibition, ‘Modern Madonnas’ and some background to the work of the artists selected for the show. It is a fascinating group of artists and we are thrilled to be working with them. Information about the dates, times and how to find us are given below. The private view is on Thursday 31 May, 6.30 – 8.30pm.
Today’s three artists:
Susan Francis has always been fascinated by everyday objects that are worn, used, or less than perfect, assembling these into installations which examine the role of the wife, motherhood, and the bittersweet experiences which take us to the edges of what it means to be human.
In June Gillert’s sound installation, (played in various locations in the church) we are drawn into the hermetic world of her allegorical fairytale. The story she has written, which is run on a loop, is both a personal and archetypal exploration of parental relationships.
Tracey Kershaw’s images use the ‘non-events’ of everyday life, such as a child’s fingernails being cut, or fallen peas being collected from the floor, to represent the fragility of time passing. As parents, we are so caught up in the routine of everyday life, that we often lose sight of the fact that our child is growing and changing, only remembering this when we carry out these mundane rituals.
Set in the historic St George’s Church, Esher, which, over the past five years has been building its reputation as a showcase for cutting edge art, ‘Modern Madonnas’ includes paintings, prints, photography, video, sculpture and installation.
‘Modern Madonnas’ runs from 26 May – 17 June, 11am-3pm Mon-Sat, excluding bank holidays. (Private View: Thursday 31 May, 6.30 – 8.30pm)
There will be three related art workshops:
Back-to-Art Mothers: Sat 26 May
Parent and Child Art Workshop: Fri 8 June
Modern Madonnas Art Workshop: Wed 13 June
For more information, or to book for the workshops, email [email protected], phone Rebecca Price on 01372 464881 or visit http://stgeorgesarts.wordpress.com.
St George’s Arts, St George’s Church, Esher Park Avenue, Esher KT10 9RQ, is near the junction of Claremont Lane (the A244) and Esher Park Avenue, behind the Bear Public House. Esher is just on the border of South West London.
