Shelter’ by Edwina Bridgeman at the Victoria Art
Gallery
February 2010
A new, free exhibition will offer visitors to
Bath & North East Somerset Council’s Victoria Art Gallery a
chance to step into a ‘world of interiors’.
The Gallery will be transformed with works of
art by the acclaimed Bath-based artist Edwina Bridgeman for the
“Shelter” exhibition which opens on Saturday March 13, 2010.
Edwina is known for her imaginative use of
recycled materials from china and glass to scraps of metal and
driftwood. Her former career as a theatre set designer influences
her work with a magical sense of drama and beauty.
The exhibition, 'Shelter', will comprise a
large central installation and small scale narrative works.
The central installation makes reference to Charles Eame's 'House
Of Cards'. Bridgeman creates all her work from found objects and
she has created a 4 metre high tower from discarded doors. The
tower is chaotic, only the pinnacle having some order. Two thirds
of the world’s population live in inadequate housing, the tower
draws our attention to this and the fragility of the human
condition.
Alongside the tower stands a 'beach hut' -
it is on stilts and represents the promise of things to come.
The small scale work will explore different shelters, treehouses,
caravans and cradles amongst many others. Bridgeman creates a
landscape populated with people that represent all of us, telling
their stories of the everyday. Often in examining the 'small' we
are helped to make sense of the 'large'.
Councillor Terry Gazzard, the Council’s
Cabinet Member for Tourism, Leisure & Culture (Conservative,
Abbey) said: “Bath & North East Council is delighted to welcome
this exhibition to the Victoria Art Gallery, which attracted a
record 107,000 visitors last year. It’s a great opportunity to see
the work of a such a talented local artist.”
Jon Benington, Manager of the Victoria Art
Gallery, said: “I am sure this exhibition will be accessible for
people of all ages. The sculptures are inspired by the quest
for a home and they include scenes that people will be able to
relate to. You cannot visit an Edwina Bridgeman show without
leaving with a smile on your face.”
Edwina said: “I am keen to bring new life to
the discarded. I love the wonderful bleached quality of driftwood
and the fact that you don’t know how long it has been there or
where it has come from. I paint faces onto the plaster base which
enables fine detail and gives a fresco-like quality, a contrast to
the less predictable nature of the wood. The work is narrative and
I hope to draw the observer into the piece and send them on a
journey.”
The exhibition runs until 6 May, 2010. All of
the pieces of art on display are available to buy, and online
catalogue will be available soon at www.victoriagal.org.uk/
Entry to the Victoria Art Gallery in Bridge
Street, Bath is free. It is open Tuesday – Saturday 10am –
5pm, Sunday 1.30pm- 5pm. It is closed on Mondays. For more
information on the exhibition and other events at the Victoria Art
Gallery, log on to www.victoriagal.org.uk/.
ENDS
Notes for editors:
Edwina Bridgeman
Edwina lives in Bath with her family. Her
career began in theatre, after taking a Diploma in Technical
Theatre Arts she worked for 10 years as a scene painter, latterly
at the Bristol Old Vic. Returning to full-time education, she took
at BTEC in Art and Design and in 1996 she started making sculptures
by a process of construction and assembly.
Interviews are available by contacting
Jon Benington or Sue Lucy, see below.
Victoria Art Gallery
- Bath & North East Somerset Council’s Victoria Art Gallery
attracted a record 107,000 visitors last year. It is the museum
most visited by local people. It is also the second most visited
museum in the Bath & North East Somerset catchment area, topped
only by another Council-run museum, the Roman Baths.
- The Victoria Art Gallery houses the area’s permanent collection
of British and European art from the 15th century to the present
day including works by Gainsborough, Turner and Sickert. The
gallery has one of the best temporary exhibition programmes in the
region, ranging from prints to sculpture, including national
touring exhibitions and major retrospectives. There are frequent
workshops, holiday activities and a full programme for
schools.
For further information, please
contact: Jon Benington, Manager of the Victoria Art
Gallery on 01225 477772 or by email at jon_benington@bathnes.gov.uk
or Sue Lucy on 477232 or sue_lucy@bathnes.gov.uk