Wednesday, 18 January 2012

Menagerie at the Rectory

http://www.curwengallery.co.uk/gallery/rectory/visit.htm
 Menagerie at the Rectory opened last night at The Rectory Gallery.It was a lovely private view with many familiar faces turning out for a warm welcome on a cold evening. Curwen artists, including Alison Neville, Susie Perring and Pierre Julien,were all visiting our spitalfields space for the first time ever. Alison Neville, in particular seemed quite taken by the space, proposing a very interesting idea for a show on the spot, something to watch out for!

Mark Hearld, Curwen Menagerie,
lithograph (ed.75), 85 x 113cm, £410 framed
As with many of our shows at the Rectory, the space itself lends a lot of the character of each exhibition. This was the first time we have included sculpture in a show at the Rectory and after much shuffling and rejigging we found places for everything.Recieving a lot of attention were Pierre Julien's now famous newspaper animals Endangered Species arranged painstakingly in the elegant bay window.Looking regal on the other side of this space was Ed Murray's Lurcher, a classical bronze portrait of the most majestic of dogs. Another sculpture, Robin Spalding's Crocodile looked very distinguished, clothed in gold leaf and luxuriating on the marble mantelpiece. 
Pierre Julien Endangered Species': Lion rolled newspaper, 15-25cm £450 
 Susie Perrings's fabulous Silver looked very at home against the Georgian panelling, reassuring as the next show at the Rectory Gallery will be hers.In recent months we had a sudden rush of interest in Susie's work, with a pieces in the Christmas show selling shortly after the opening.Although chiefly on a reconaissance mission, in planning for her show, Susie and husband Ian found time to have a drink with us and observe the irreplacable Archie (The Rectory gallery dog) attacking a ghost (possibly).

Susie Perring, Silver, aquatint, ed.175,81 x 75, £300 fr.
Thanks to all who attended the show, we had a lovely evening and hope you will all join us again in Spitalfields very soon.If you missed the opening of Menagerie don't forget that we will be having a second private view this Sunday afternoon (22nd Jan, 2-4pm) and then further first Thursday openings on 2nd Feb(1-9pm) and 1st March (1-9pm).

Robin Spalding, Crocodile, plaster, gold leaf and pigment, £450