Budleigh Past and Present

Thames Bridges East London seems more and more vibrant each time I go there: an enjoyable contrast to Budleigh though it’s always good to come home! The Brook Gallery’s current show is based on work by Paul Duffin. Duffin  trained as a Draughtsman and Naval Architect in the shipbuilding industry at Barrow-in-Furness in Cumbria before studying Fine Art at Goldsmiths’ College in London. He then studied for an MA in Printmaking at Central St Martin’s in London and became a member of The Royal Society of Painter-Printmakers (RE) and has exhibited his prints at the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition consistently for the last 20 years.   Tube Home  Duffin is a painter and printmaker whose work is based on the modern environments of cities and towns, creating dynamic, cinematic images of contemporary urban life. The exhibition runs from 3 December to 10 January 2016. For info about the Brook Gallery click on http://www.brookgallery.co.uk/ ...

It’s good to see Fairlynch Museum volunteers out and about speaking about their pet subjects, ranging from the Pebblebeds to Favourite Artists.   But Maggie Giraud’s inspection of ‘Something in the Woodshed’ will be rather different from Nicky Hewitt’s talk on the natural beauties of our Commons which I mention  here Maggie, who is involved in cataloguing the Museum’s art collection and preparing the 2016 exhibition on the work of Joyce Dennys, is giving  the second talk in a series held on a monthly basis at Brook Gallery, Exeter, beginning October 2015.  The talk, as described on her website, “tiptoes into the sinister world, where artists have portrayed uncomfortable images of women, and where things are not always as they seem.” How very unsettling! But there are familiar as well as unfamiliar names in the list of artists – Balthus, Bellmer, Degas, Magritte, Manet, Mat...

Fairlynch volunteer Maggie Giraud has just updated her website ( www.talksaboutart.co.uk ) and would like to draw your attention to some of the talks she has booked, which she hopes will interest and entertain you in the coming (colder!) months. Maggie is a locally-based freelance art historian and curator. Her talk ‘Understanding Henri Matisse’ was chosen to round off the Museum’s AGM on 29 April. It was one of many talks which she has given during 2015. A Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, Maggie lists her specialist topics as Renaissance Florence, the early 20th century period in Paris, and Dartington Hall, where she was employed as curator and archivist.  However her talks on art cover a wide range. “The ongoing series at The Castle Hotel, Taunton, ends on 12 November with a new lecture on Francis Bacon who has preoccupied me for a long time,” she writes. “Presenting him coherently is a considerable challenge, but his fame is such now that he cannot be...

Corporate Friends of Fairlynch The Brook Gallery, now based in both Exeter and Budleigh Salterton, is presenting a selection of work from celebrated artist Brendan Neiland, known for his memorable images of modern metropolitan existence.  The exhibition runs from 16 October to 16 November 2015.  Professor Brendan Neiland, born in 1941 in Lichfield, Staffordshire, is an English artist best known for his paintings of reflections in modern city buildings. In 1992 he was elected into the Royal Academy. Professor Neiland's interpretations of city life have gained him a reputation as one of Britain's foremost painters and printmakers. His use of light and pictorial structure, using a spray-gun technique developed at the Royal College of Art, has seen Neiland likened to Georges Braque and Johannes Vermeer. His work is widely exhibited in major museums and galleries worldwide including, in Britain, The Victoria and Albert Museum, The Tate Gallery London, The Colle...

In a crazy age where a minority of psychos seem to have taken humanity several steps back into the Dark Ages it’s good to remember the Beatles’ advice that All you need is Love. So, just to coincide with Valentine’s Day perhaps, the good people of Budleigh Salterton's Brook Gallery, whom we're proud to include among our Friends of Fairlynch Museum, have decided that their next exhibition will be simply called ‘Love.’  Artists featured include Frans Wesselman RE, Anita Klein, Trevor Price RE, Patrick Hughes Brad Faine and Donald Hamilton Fraser RA. Shown above is 'The Five Senses Satisfied' by Trevor Price RE. ‘Love’ runs from 1 to 22 February 2015. For more information about the Brook Gallery click here

Pink Floyd lovers and many many others will be delighted to see that the Brook Gallery’s Easter show is devoted to work by graphic designer the late Storm Thorgerson.   A teenage friend of Floyd founders Syd Barrett and Roger Waters, Thorgerson, pictured above, was responsible for designing album covers for many other well known rock artists including Led Zeppelin, Bruce Dickinson and Muse. We're delighted to welcome the Brook Gallery as the latest Corporate Friend of Fairlynch Museum. The Gallery's Storm Studios Show  runs until 4 May. If you can’t get along to see it in Budleigh Salterton take a look at   http://www.brookgallery.co.uk/category.php?catid=126   to see the kind of amazing designs produced by Thorgerson, who sadly died last year aged 69. Photo of Storm Thorgerson credit: Jheald

  The Art of War   Budleigh's Brook Gallery is now, like Fairlynch Museum , a member of the recently launched Budleigh in Business group. Owner Angela Yarwood and her team have been busy with further exhibitions. Along with the town's festivals, events at the Fore Street gallery are making it an increasingly lively hub of the arts in East Devon .   Internationally celebrated artist Stephen Chambers RA joined the team at the Brook to launch his solo show on Saturday 14 July. The exhibition runs until 21 August 2012. The Professor Trained at Central St Martins and Chelsea School of Art, Stephen Chambers was elected a Royal Academician in 2005.    He has held solo and group shows in galleries across the world including a large retrospective in the Frissars Museum , Athens in 2002.   Of note is his collaboration on three dance projects with the Royal Ballet: Sleeping with Audrey, Room of Cooks and This Ho...