THE Coventry Watercolour Society’s Annual Exhibition is taking place in Kenilworth Library from October 19-29 – but this year shoppers also get an extra chance to see some works in advance.
Waitrose in the town is again sponsoring the exhibition, and will be giving a two-day preview of it in the foyer of their store on Monday and Tuesday 17-18 October.
Author: Julie Chamberlain
Write and publish your haiku for Coventry arts project
A Coventry-based artist is running a project this week, up to October 9, to tie in with National Poetry Day, which was today.
Lorsen Camps’s project is called Beauty in the Everyday and is being funded by Coventry City Council’s Small Art Grant. He is trying to get as many people as possible to write haiku, three-line poems, which will be uploaded to a Facebook page called Coventry Haiku Project.
Just a week to see Coventry MA students’ varied artworks
Coventry University’s MA students are showing off their work in exhibitions at two venues this week.
The Lanchester Gallery at the School of Art and Design, and the fifth floor of the building, plus The Herbert art gallery up the road are both housing a collection of screenings, installations and performances.
First glimpse at Coventry’s new art gallery – but it stays under wraps
THE wraps are finally off and Coventry University’s new Hub is open for students – but one part still being hidden from the world is the Lanchester Gallery.
Ironically the most prominent part of the building on a glass-walled corner is still a building site, with handover planned now for December.
But when it is open it will give a whole new focus to Lanchester Gallery Projects, which until now has held exhibitions in its much-smaller gallery in the university’s School of Art. There’s always been the problem there that although its exhibitions are officially open to the public it’s often hard to get into the building unless you have a university card to open the door – hopefully this new gallery won’t have that problem.
Have fun amongst the balloons in the Tate St Ives exhibition
IF you’re lucky enough to be in Cornwall this summer then don’t miss a truly hair-raising exhibition at the Tate St Ives.
The gallery is showing a series of independent one-room displays from different eras, concentrating on the theme of space, structure and light.
Queer eye on art in Coventry
THERE’S still (just) time to see an exhibition I’ve only today been alerted to, in the Glass Box, in Earl Street, Coventry.
The 1st Annual Queer Art exhibition in Coventry is being staged there, but is taken down on Saturday. It was set up by The Queer’ists Project, which was founded by Coventry-based freelance photographer Marta Kochanek, who graduated from Coventry University this year.
It is a follow up exhibition to the official annual exhibition which took place in Birmingham last month. Marta said it shows work of 13 Queer artists representing artists from the UK, US and Poland.
Marta formed The Queer’ists Project in March to be a platform to emerging and established Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender artists and art lovers.
Peering through the windows this evening it looked an interesting mixture of works and art styles and worth having a proper look if you’re in the area.
Anyone for tennis? Barber Institute exhibition reveals art on court
So where is the true birthplace of lawn tennis – Royal Leamington Spa or Edgbaston in Birmingham? Those with a view on the matter could bat that debate about all day, and it’s something that’s looked at in a wonderful exhibition at the Barber Institute in Birmingham.
It seems that Thomas Gem and his friend Jean Batista Augurio Perera played on Perrera’s lawn in Edgbaston in 1859 – but both moved to Leamington in 1872 where they formed Leamington Lawn Tennis Club with two local doctors.
Gem himself drew a sketch of their first match as a foursome, at the Manor House Hotel, at the first club in the world formed specifically for playing lawn tennis. The exhibition features a photograph of the sketch which was presented to the Manor House in 1957 and sadly subsequently ‘lost’.
As the original club is no longer going, the Edgbaston Archery & Lawn Tennis Society is now the oldest surviving lawn tennis club in the world – but on the strength of this exhibition and accompanying catalogue I can forgive Birmingham its boasting.
Lake District scenes on show in Rugby
SCENERY that will be beloved of many Midlanders from their holidays can be seen in a new exhibition later this month.
Original prints of landscapes and seascapes are on show at Rugby Art Gallery’s Floor One gallery from 16-27 August.
They are the work of Iain Hodgkinson, who was born in Blackburn and now lives in Northamptonshire, and is a member of Milton Keynes Printmakers.
Iain said: “The work is inspired by the beautiful scenery of the Lake District and I hope people will find them soothing to look at.”
The prints are limited editions and will be for sale.
Kenilworth Wine shop showing for Andrew’s art
ALCOHOL and art often go together, and Brink, a ‘not-for-profit’ arts organisation based in Kenilworth, is presenting its third Vino Veritas artist showcase at Kenilworth Wines.
In this one you can browse for a bottle while admiring the works of Andrew Christopher, a graduate of the London Guildhall University who currently lives and works in Stratford-upon-Avon.
The works are a mix of acrylic on canvas and pen and ink drawings on paper, and are described as having a dreamlike quality, “combining imagery of children and animals in what can only be described as a fantastical dance of the macabre”.
There is a narrative running through the series, relating to childhood, storytelling and games. All the works on show are available to buy as originals or prints.
Art show at Gallery 150 in Leamington to help Brazilian street kids
THE opening of an exhibition at Gallery150 in Leamington is always a bit of an occasion.
It’s the only gallery where you get called sir or madam as you’re handed a glass of wine, and the canapés are always beautifully presented.
But tonight’s opening was the first where at opening time the exhibition was still being hung! LSA Chair Gerry Smith, fresh back from holiday, and an able assistant were busy fixing the last digital prints to the wall as the first drinks were poured, but they were soon all in place and in a straight line too.
Private View II 