Harland Miller at York Art Gallery

Harland Miller - Bad Weather Painting 1

Hopefully in the fullness of time you will be able to see Harland Miller's exhibition at York Art Gallery once it re-opens.  However if you didn't get a chance to go before the gallery closed, or if York would always be too far to visit, you may want a taster of what's on show, so here's some pics and info to keep you going...

Born in York in the 1960s, Miller spent his formative years in Yorkshire. He combines his love of text and abstraction to devise book covers in recognisable and humorous formats.

Harland Miller - Bridlington - Something Tells Me Nothing's Going To Happen Tonight

His Pelican Bad Weather paintings relate to towns and cities in the north of England particularly the Yorkshire coast, where the weather just can't be guaranteed...

Harland Miller - Bad Weather Painting 3

Harland Miller - Bad Weather Painting 2

Miller's Letter Paintings draw on his study of the history of lettering and illuminated manuscripts and have a pop art vibe...

Harland Miller - If

Harland Miller - Ace

Inspired by a box of Penguin books outside an English bookshop in Paris, Miller began painting graphic covers in the 1990s with newly invented titles, aiming also to evoke in the painting the secondhand dog eared look of the books.

Harland Miller - Rags to Polyester - My Story

Harland Miller - Death, What's In It For Me?

Miller's work, hovering between humour and despair, hope and disappointment is very entertaining - well worth a look!

Gillian Lowndes: On the Edge at CoCA, York Art Gallery

Gillian Lowndes - Collage With Bathroom Tile

Gillian Lowndes exhibition "On the Edge" at the Centre of Ceramic Art (CoCA) at York Art Gallery is on until May 2020.  Lowndes (1936-2010) is considered to be the most radical ceramicist of the 20th Century.

Gillian Lowndes - Brick Bag With Pot Shards

From the 1970s she developed mixed media 3D "collages" using discarded man-made objects and natural materials combined with latex, fibreglass and clay which were then fired in a kiln.  The resulting elements were then glued or wired together to create her compositions...

Gillian Lowndes - Corrugated Composition (Bird)

Gillian Lowndes - Collage With Tomato Root

Gillian Lowndes - Hooks

If you like interesting assemblages, this is the exhibition for you!

Traces at New Brewery Arts, Cirencester

Sara Impey - Negative Spaces, Positive Times (detail)

If you happen to be in the Cotswolds before 15 March 2020 pop into New Brewery Arts in Cirencester and take a look at Traces.  This exhibition by Quilt Art, a group of international textile artists, explores the themes of memory and the power of stitch.  The group was founded in Britain in 1985 to promote the quilt as an art form. Not all work conforms to the traditional definition of a quilt but all work exhibits the artists' united passion for stitch, fabric, colour and texture and the limitless posibilities of the textile surface.  Here is a sample of the work on show...

Charlotte Yde - The Missed Ones

Charlotte Yde - The Missed Ones (detail)

Cherilyn Martin - Silent Dialogue #2

Fenella Davies - Sea Fret

Jette Clover - Cry Me a River

Karina Thompson - Recovery Quilt 2-2018 (detail)

Sara Impey - Negative Spaces, Positive Times

Sue Hotchkis - Breakdown

Sue Hotchkis - Breakdown detail

New Brewery Arts in Cirencester is a great place to visit.  It has a fab cafe, an interesting craft shop and varied exhibitions.  It is adjacent to a large car park if visiting by car.