Fair Ground
Our 2020 exhibition which showcased the best of contemporary painting and works on paper by artists working in Sussex today.
But since man’s heart is small,
Ordains for each one spot shall prove
Beloved over all.
Each to his choice, and I rejoice
The lot has fallen to me
In a fair ground – in a fair ground –
Yea, Sussex by the sea!
In 2020, Gallery 94 at Glyndebourne was pleased to present Fair Ground – a virtual exhibition showcasing the best of contemporary painting and works on paper by artists working in Sussex today. Introducing new and previously unexhibited works by 22 artists, the exhibition showcased the breadth of talent and diversity from the region, with current graduates and emerging artists shown alongside established figures. This also included work by participants in this year’s Teaching Artists residency programme – a collaborative project between Glyndebourne’s education department and the Art and Design PGCE course at the University of Brighton. All the works were available for under £500.
The title Fair Ground was taken from a musical stanza in Rudyard Kipling’s famous poem Sussex, in which he describes the county as ‘beloved over all’. A hymn to the beauty of place, Kipling saw his enchantment with Sussex as deeply rooted in an understanding of locality, a belief that cottages, hedgerows, green rolling hills, seafronts and woodlands were all integral parts of connecting real people to their historical pasts. Each of the selected works in Fair Ground spoke to this idea of myth and memory; some of the works refigure personal recollections, revealing domestic spaces of the conversation between friends, perhaps a favourite view, whilst others invite a collective response to well-known landmarks, to revisit the rhythm and form of a place, to move away from representation and towards visual poetry.
We hope that Fair Ground marks the first in a series of winter exhibitions, championing the creative energy of Sussex artists working in this special, charged place.
Artists involved are: Sophie Abbott, Laura Andrews, Polly Baker, Becky Blair, Nick Bodimeade, Louise Body, Nicholas Bush, Morag Caister, Nick Carrick, Graham Dean, Linda Felcey, Alej Ez, Jackie Fretten, Neil Giles, Chris Gilvan-Cartwright, Tom Homewood, Rosie Lascelles, Rob Lyon, Tim Patrick, Richard Pelling, Julian Sutherland-Beatson and Agnes Treherne.
Curated by Nerissa Taysom