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Art Exhibition 2015 |
We are now planning The Friends of Holland Park Art Exhibition 2015. As you are aware, this year we broke all records, and we hope to improve on this in the next and forthcoming exhibitions. The 2014 exhibition was not without its problems, but with success come new challenges. This year we wrote to all the artists asking for their thoughts and suggestions. The response was great and all your points were noted and discussed with the trustees. I will endeavour to implement these where appropriate. The main problem was the private view. Next year there will be two, one on Friday evening and the other the following morning. There will be a set number of tickets for each private view, you must state which one you wish to attend, and your five complimentary tickets will be mailed to you. When the quota for the Friday evening private view is full you will be offered tickets for the Saturday morning. Due to safety requirements the tickets will be restricted to five per artist: no additional tickets may be purchased. Members not involved in the exhibition may buy up to five tickets at £3 each. The prizes will be announced on the Friday evening and announced again on Saturday morning. The exhibition, for which there is no entry charge, will be open to the public from 1pm on Saturday. One of the new initiatives of the exhibition is the Feature Artist. Our first Feature Artist was past FHP president Sir Hugh Casson, and this year we featured our current president, Sir Angus Stirling. Next year we plan to celebrate an artist who exhibited in every Friends art exhibition to date, for 32 years, in fact: the late Marika Eversfield. I know you will be impressed by this wonderful artist who built up an incredible body of work in her 100 years of life. Her family are delighted. The other recent initiatives will once again be offered: the credit card facility in the Orangery, free catalogues, and a raffle with wonderful prizes donated by generous local businesses. In addition to the normal prizes for artists the Sir Hugh Casson Prize for Drawing will again be included next year. As always, we need to know of any volunteers who wish to act as stewards so that we can organise a rota. The exhibition will be hung by Alison Beckett with the assistance of Tony Walker, and the artworks will be judged by Isabel Langtry. We are delighted that Killik & Co., the long-established investment and wealth advisors located at 281 Kensington High Street, are once again sponsoring us next year. Julian Chester and his team at the Kensington branch have given us great support, and we thank them. The conditions of entry remain unchanged from previous years. Friends who are artists and artists who become Friends are invited to exhibit up to ten works: two framed works to hang on the walls, and up to eight unframed works for display in the portfolio stands, each with a maximum size of 70 x 100cm (including mounts, but no wooden mounts, please). Friends are also invited to exhibit up to ten three-dimensional objects such as ceramics, glassware and small sculptures or enter the mini-mart of small works on offer at £40 and under, including cards and craft items. The minimum price for works in the main exhibition will be £50. Friends interested in exhibiting in the art exhibition, the mini-mart or both need to register by filling in the order form ( download here) and pay the £10 entry fee. Please note that artists who have registered for the main exhibition may also include small works in the mini-mart at no additional cost. Completed registration forms should be sent to Rhoddy Wood as soon as possible because space is limited, and when enough artists have registered we cannot accept any more. Further information on The Friends of Holland Park art exhibition is available from me. Please see my contact details at the bottom of this page. Let's have a great exhibition! Gordon French Art Exhibition TimetableThursday 12 March. All exhibit details forms must be received by this date to allow listing in the catalogue Friday 17 April 8.30-11am. Artists deliver artwork to the Orangery, Holland Park. All artists will be required to sign the catalogue to certify that the details shown are correct. Friday 17 April 11am-6pm. Hanging and judging. Friday 17 April 7.30-9.30pm. Private View, entry by ticket at £3. Saturday 18 April 10.30am-12.30pm. Private View, entry by ticket at £3. For the two Private Views, artists are entitled to 5 complimentary tickets in toto. Other members may buy up to 5 tickets in toto. Saturday 18 April. Exhibition open to the public 1-6pm. Free of charge. Sunday 19-Sunday 26 April. Exhibition open to the public 10.30am-6pm. Free of charge Sunday 26 April 6-7pm. Artists and buyers collect works. Monday 27 April 9-11am. Artists and buyers collect works. Artists are particularly asked NOT TO COLLECT THEIR WORKS BEFORE 6pm on SUNDAY 26 APRIL, as this would spoil the exhibition for others. Enquiries to Gordon French, 19 Kensington Court Place, London, W8 5BJ, Tel: 020 7937 7222, e-mail: gordon.l.french@gmail.com. [Winter 2014] |
| The Judging Experience 2014 |
It was a pleasure to judge The Friends of Holland Park Art Exhibition 2014. After a lovely walk through the beautiful Holland Park on a perfect spring afternoon I was delighted to arrive at the Orangery and view a range of exciting art works rich in diverse media and materials which were being displayed by the hard-working hanging team of Alison Beckett and Tony Walker overseen by Gordon French and Rhoddy Wood. Isabel H. Langtry, Art Judge and Principal of Hampstead School of Art |
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Review of the Art Exhibition 2014 |
Eugenia Killery claimed the show prize with her superb, deceptively simple oil painting of a student dressed in blue. Glyn Hayes' portrait of Giuliano de Medici the Beautiful was exquisite, Marie Thérèse Ross captured the ballerina Darcy Bussell with great delicacy and S. Vakili caught two young siblings with startling reality. The Hugh Casson Prize for Drawing went to Malgorzata Lapsa-Malawska for her stark vision of a lonely walk in which one small, black-clad figure battled against a landscape of white. 'Girl with Fruit', created in ceramic resin, also proved the 3-D winner for the accomplished sculptor Neal French. John Schetrumpf brought a smile once again with his happy nude dancers, and so did Bob Barling with another memory of childhood as a 1943 evacuee waiting beside King's Cross lost property office. Tania Beaumont's bunny-shaped bushes were similarly a delight along with the astonishing fans of Nadhira Benaissa's fungus photograph. Julian St Leger's image of walkers and dogs in Kensington Gardens was brilliantly observed, and animal lovers were generally well represented, among them Pauline Morrison with her charming zebra and foal watercolour and Julian Peach with his jolly paintings of a guinea fowl and a porcupine. Catherine Bajour used her particular love for mosaic to portray a blue rhinoceros, and Barbara Foster sculpted an amazingly balanced goat. Peacocks were at their most glorious painted by Maria Kaleta and Krystyna Dankiewicz. A heron was the star of a splendid Kyoto Garden etching by Julia Martin and featured again in lovely watercolours by Mary Shovelle. 'The Spirit of Holland Park' award, however, went to Primrose Braby for a watercolour full of movement and light showing the wonder of the trees even in March before their new spring foliage. Alessia captured the magic of the park too, with her snow-scene photographs, while Jennifer Bush used pastel to convey the overwhelming pleasure of pink blossom time which was echoed in Sophie Heywood's vividly painted pink haze. A Barbara Hepworth sculpture was a monumental focus for Boney le Touzel's garden painting, contrasting hugely with a meticulous suburban scene by Annabel Bloxham. Further afield, another alluring Greek seascape was presented by Zoe Zenghelis, and David Dimmock offered an exciting image of a masquerade in Venice. Jennifer Blackburn produced two ambitious works based on reflections, and Hazel Fennell once again demonstrated her superb talent for abstract with a vision mostly in cream. David Burrow's cascade of paint and glitter also was an unexpected joy. Elzbieta Stanhope's fish ceramics were enormous fun, while Russell Mack stood out for the unusual shapes of his pottery, and Caroline Ying for the beautiful intricacy of her silver jewellery. However, it was Aude Grasset with her painted maps of France and Britain embellished with intriguing comment, making viewers pause for thought, who added yet another bold dimension to the exhibition. Alison Beckett [Summer 2014] |
| Art Exhibition 2014 |
The preparations for this year's art exhibition are well underway and we are expecting a fantastic show. I would like to take this opportunity to thank Killik & Co, the wealth advisors on Kensington High Street, for agreeing to sponsor our exhibition again this year. Killik & Co's important contribution helps pay for advertising space, more posters to promote the exhibition and a free catalogue for all visitors. Last year Sir Hugh Casson, a past president of The Friends, was the exhibition's Feature Artist which makes it so appropriate that this year Sir Angus Stirling, our current president, has agreed to be featured. Angus Stirling has had a long, distinguished career in the arts, as Deputy Director of the Arts Council of Great Britain in the 1970s followed by Director General of the National Trust and Non-Executive Chairman of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden. It was only when Sir Angus reached retirement that he seriously took up painting. He studied with Robin Child at the Lydgate Art Research Centre near Marlborough, and in 2010 he had his first joint show with his daughter Kitty, 'Stirling & Stirling', at Gallery 27 on Cork Street, London. I am delighted Sir Angus has agreed to be our Feature Artist this year. I am very much looking forward to working with him. In addition to the normal prizes given at The Friends of Holland Park art exhibition the Casson family will be donating a prize in their father's name, The Hugh Casson Prize for Drawing – a welcome addition, and we thank them. Once again a credit-card facility will be available in the Orangery to assist with sales. To raise more money for The Friends, raffle tickets will be sold throughout the exhibition, with wonderful prizes donated by generous local businesses. If you are interested in exhibiting in the exhibition or entering items in the mini-mart we are accepting completed EXHIBIT DETAILS forms until Friday, 7 March. I have written to artists who have exhibited in the past, encouraging then to exhibit again. Download the Order Form here. We hope you will support The Friends of Holland Park by visiting our exhibition. We look forward to seeing you there – rain or shine. Gordon French Art Exhibition Timetable Friday 4 April 8.30-11am Artists deliver artwork to the Orangery, Holland Park All artists will be required to sign the catalogue to certify that the details shown are correct Friday 4 April 11am-6pm Hanging and judging Friday 4 April 7.30-9.30pm Private View, entry by ticket at £3 Artists are entitled to 5 complimentary tickets Saturday 5 April-Sunday 13 April Exhibition open to the public, 10.30am-6pm FREE OF CHARGE Sunday 13 April 6-7pm Artists and buyers collect works Monday 14 April 9-11am Artists and buyers collect works Artists are particularly asked NOT TO COLLECT THEIR WORKS BEFORE 6pm ON SUNDAY 13 APRIL, as this would spoil the exhibition for others. Enquiries to Alex French, 19 Kensington Court Place, London W8 5BJ Tel: 020 7937 7222 Email: gordon.l.french@gmail.com [Spring 2014] |
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A spirit of warmth and confidence filled the Friends' annual art exhibition in the Orangery this spring as participants demonstrated a breadth of skill from portraiture to abstract and master works in bronze.