Arundel’s project-based Zimmer Stewart Gallery joins town art trail

“This year I am showing work by three artists all of whom are on their way to being established, as opposed to emerging, and who have a following. Their work is quite different. Kate Boucher presents us with atmospheric, ethereal charcoal landscapes that you want to step into; Tom Farthing’s Fairground Pop paintings and prints are his integration of figurative painting in the fast-paced age of digital image saturation; and Holly Frean’s dog portraits are unique to her, humorous and quirky, yet will stand the test of time. The venue we are showing in, number 11 on the Trail, is our old store room in the Ford Road Cemetery. Whilst this will not be a permanent gallery space for us, it is perfect for a small intimate pop-up or as a place to show works to clients by appointment.

“Since closing our gallery on Tarrant Street in October 2020, with an exhibition of works by Piers Ottey, Zimmer Stewart Gallery has become project based, working on pop-ups and art fairs as well as corporate collaborations. November 2021 saw our first pop-up at the Victoria Institute in Arundel, a Christmas exhibition, which included Kate Boucher’s Beating the Bounds series amongst other works. This year for the Trail we show for the first time works from her Promise of Open Sea series of charcoal landscapes.

“In April 2022 we did our first London Art Fair showing Tom Farthing’s Fairground Pop paintings and prints, as part of Platform. This was an area, curated by Candida Stevens within the art fair where ten galleries exhibited works where the artist responded to the theme of music in contemporary art. Tom Farthing’s Pop Art paintings evoked the sights and more importantly sounds that remind us all of memories of trips to the fair.

“In May 2022 we enjoyed exhibiting Holly Frean’s DOG exhibition at Goodwood to coincide with their new Goodwoof event. The exhibition sold well and The Duke of Richmond and Gordon liked the works in situ so much that he purchased 12 paintings for the Kennels’ collection of contemporary art.

“Finally, and a project that has consumed us for most of this year, has been our collaboration with the King Edward VII’s Hospital in London. It started in January this year when we were asked to source and select 18 paintings by emerging artists to exhibit in their new state of the art medical centre on its gallery perfect white walls. This was well received by the trustees, clients and employees alike, and so for 2023 they have set a more ambitious task: a call for artists to submit works to be exhibited from January 2023. The deadline for applications is September 30 , free to enter and all successful works would be rented from the artist. Full details on www.zimmerstewart.co.uk.

“I have enjoyed the 18 years putting on over 140 exhibitions at our Arundel gallery and was a little concerned that life would be harder without it; how wrong could I be?

"Going online has opened up many doors with projects that would not have been possible otherwise.”