Autumn exhibition of Sussex-based artists opens at Glyndebourne

Spokesman Luke Batchelor said: “Featuring over 40 works by artists from across the county, it focuses this year on works on paper covering a diverse range of subjects. Among the pieces on show are bold and colourful watercolours, energetic pastel drawings, collage, mixed media works and drypoint etchings.

“The visual arts have been an integral part of the Glyndebourne experience since the inception of its annual summer opera festival in 1934. It now regularly curates exhibitions of contemporary art and sculpture, as well as material from Glyndebourne’s extensive collections.

“The title Fair Ground references Rudyard Kipling’s famous 1902 poem Sussex. The exhibition concept was first launched in 2020 as an online event and in response to artists losing exhibition opportunities because of the Covid-19 pandemic. The exhibition will be presented online and on-site at Glyndebourne in Gallery 94 and the Old Green Room, a space rarely seen by the public.”

Nerissa Taysom, curator of exhibitions and collections at Glyndebourne, said: “We are really pleased to see the return of Fair Ground to Glyndebourne, our annual exhibition celebrating the best of contemporary artistic practice in Sussex. Featuring more than 40 works on paper, the exhibition showcases a dazzling array of techniques, from watercolour and drawing to collage and drypoint. Fair Ground is deeply rooted in Glyndebourne's sense of place, our history and our relationship with the Sussex landscape. In exhibiting new work by recent graduates alongside renowned artists, we also celebrate the talent of those people who make up this special county. We hope these works will introduce visitors to this spectacular creativity in new and unexpected ways.

“The exhibition supports artists at all stages of their careers and will include both returning and new exhibiting names on the Sussex art scene. They include Dawn Aldridge, who studied fine art and illustration and who is currently part of the Glyndebourne gardening team; Sam Ford who was one of this year's Teaching Artists, a collaboration between Glyndebourne and the University of Brighton’s PGCE in art and design, whose works were drawn directly from backstage rehearsals at Glyndebourne this summer and Izzy Malaczuk, a recent University of Brighton graduate in fine art, discovered at this year’s graduate show. Other artists exhibiting this year include Sophie Abbott, Julie Annis, Michael Bishop, Faye Bridgwater, Louise Body, Graham Dean, Steph Fawbert, Linda Felcey, The Baron Gilvan, Tom Homewood, Alex Jones, Victoria Kiff, Joe Packer, Camilla Perkins, Richard Pelling, Kate Scott and Agnes Treherne.”

Also on view will be a series of watercolours by contemporary British painter Matthew Burrows who in 2020 founded the Artist Support Pledge, a global movement that mobilised artists to support other artists during the pandemic and beyond. “

Matthew said: “My studio and home are set within the rolling hills of East Sussex, on the south coast of the UK. So much of my work is a response to its open green spaces, a place of dwelling and a movement of life that so often feels analogous to the mystics' landscape. Not some otherworldly fantasy, but a stark realism about my relationship to the ground at my feet. My images are mostly symbolic and are purposefully simple and direct. It is the layers of form and colour that reflect my experience and connection to this landscape.”