Lewes’ Star Brewery Gallery prepares to reopen

Lewes’ Star Brewery Gallery is planning to emerge from lockdown with a father-and-son exhibition from Lewes’ Marco and Jacob Crivello (April 17-25, Tuesday-Sunday, 11am-4pm).
Gallery director Neeta PedersenGallery director Neeta Pedersen
Gallery director Neeta Pedersen

Gallery director Neeta Pedersen goes into it with confidence high – despite the toughest of first years in business.

The gallery’s opening was delayed because of the first lockdown. Neeta was finally able to open last July, running until the start of November when the second lockdown hit. She was able to open again at the start of December until the third lockdown closed down everything at Christmas, since when she has remained shut.

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But Neeta held a hugely successful online exhibition earlier this year to mark what should have been the gallery’s first anniversary – and was delighted with the response.

“It was such a lovely exhibition, and it was great getting the artists together with all their different styles between them. It was a wonderful exhibition. I was so pleased to have been able to do it. Without the online exhibitions, we wouldn’t have been able to keep going.”

There is a history of galleries on the site, but when Neeta opened the Star Brewery Gallery, there hadn’t been a gallery on the site for quite a while: “I feel like it had gone off the radar a bit, but the online shows have really helped establish the gallery again. It is now well known again to many people and well established with many people and many artists. When I do an online show, I get so many nice emails from people saying they are so pleased to see the art online and that they are all looking forward to it opening again properly.

“I am very confident. I am confident because of the feedback I have had. When I did the last show in December, there were people in the gallery all the time more or less. We had an almost sold-out show, and I think people are really looking forward to being able to come into the gallery space again. It was initially established as a gallery here back in the 80s, and the people of Lewes know it and like to come to the different shows.”

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Between The Water And The Clouds will be the fourth exhibition by father and son Marco and Jacob Crivello, who work from the continuum studio in the heart of Lewes. The show will be a rich mixture of micro-landscapes, paintings, installations and collaborations, exploring themes of interconnection between the material and natural world, Neeta promises.

Marco said: “For over 20 years improvisation has been my North star, finding expression in land and seascapes that emerged from a range of processes, that sought to replicate the actions of nature. That same love of improvisation and natural processes continues to remain at the heart of my work as it has evolved to explore more directly themes of transience, materiality and transformation.”

Jacob added: “In my new work, I have been exploring our precarious relationship with the natural world from poetic memories and romantic encounter to the dire threat of climate change.”

www.starbrewerygallery.com; Star Brewery, Lewes, BN7 1JY.