Think you know about plants, think drawings of plants can be pretty boring – this exhibition will make you look again.
The Plant project is the second of the guest curated exhibitions in preSense – an Arts Council funded project which aims to raise awareness of the Young gallery and its collections. Inspired by the plant drawings of Robin Tanner (1904-1988) artist, printmaker and teacher, the exhibition explores the inclusion of plant life in contemporary art – and what a wealth is discovered.
When Pru Maltby its curator told me what she was planning I was intrigued to see what the outcome might be. There were little clues along the way; Pru’s love of Prunella Clough’s work in the Young Gallery collection, her interest in including a piece by former Brit artist Gary Hume and her earlier powerful exhibition Cicatrix (‘the scar of a healed wound’, inspired by the physical effects of war on the Wiltshire landscape and much more).
The exhibition fills the three galleries of the Young gallery and each room is full of fascinating responses to the subject. On entering you encounter the Tanner drawings that inspired the exhibition, which have also been cleverly used in the graphics for the show. Who drew the magnificent Feverfew – of course it was Robin Tanner but it might as easily been a more recent artist. In her selection and presentation Pru draws out the exquisite quality of line and contemporary feel of Tanner’s work that we might easily overlook. Also in this gallery is large-scale work including a wonderful drawing by Elizabeth Frink which is almost more powerful than the sculpture which it inspired. There are well-chosen examples of the work by the sculptor Peter Randall-Page in his free loose style, and fine taut pieces carved in sycamore and limewood by Keith Rand.
lid leaf 2004 (detail)
The second room where the collection of Edwin Young’s Victorian watercolours are often hung and which has a Victorian feel is a good setting for Susan Francis’s piece Night Posy, complemented by Caroline Hyman’s atmospheric photographs. This intriguing work set on a cushion reminds me of wax flowers in a graveyard but in fact represents the nightly rubbings on make-up wipes constructed into flowers together with the pillow on which their user places her head. Also here are the expansive large collagraphs by Catherine Bloomfield and it is great to see two of Pru’s own earlier works from 1999.
Night Posy
The last gallery has a quieter more reflective feel and includes etchings by Prunella Clough from her Shadow Play series (from the gallery’s collection). It is a treat to see the whole set of these with their subtle qualities of form and tone, abstractions but with a hint of memory. They share similarities with Fran Donovan’s more figurative work hung nearby. Also here is Henny Burnett’s Handkerchief tree literally made up of cotton handkerchiefs that belonged to her grandmother hung over LED lights and printed with cyanotype images of plants. There are strong charcoal drawings by Julia Atkinson a subtle shift on charcoal drawings we might remember from school. Little known works from the Young Collection who are included here, a riot of colour in a work by Stephen Tennant, and in another gallery a print by Mat Colinshaw all showing what a rich collection the gallery holds.
Hankerchief Tree … photo by Martin Urmsom
The Plant Project is well worth seeing, not least for its famous names, but also because it will make you think about how plants have been used, often in surprising ways, by contemporary artists. It is a most inspiring exhibition and – who knows – it may even inspire you to take out the pencils again yourself.
Helen Brown, Curator (preSENSE – Double Take)
March 2015
The PLANT PROJECT BLOG 