2015 Archive
Welsh Places & Faces
Huw Lewis Jones
Private View
Friday 13 November 2015 from 7pm
Collection of new paintings by Huw Lewis Jones inspired by people and places in North Wales around Dolgellau.
ARTIST'S TALK - Thursday 19 November 2015 from 7.30pm
Martin Greenland
Winner of the 2006 John Moores Painting Prize, Martin Greenland, will be giving a talk about his new work,
his approach to creating art and what continues to inspire him about the natural landscape and how he records the effect that modern life has upon the countryside.
A collection of new works will be on show at the gallery some of which will be available for purchase.
Martin Greenland
(winner of the 2006 John Moores Painting Prize),
Adrian Henri, Angie Clarke,
Pete Clarke, Sandra Cooper,
Anna Ketskemety, Daniel John,
Martin Jones, Lisa Cole Kronenburg,
Josie Jenkins, John Elcock,
Andy Brewin & Andy Smith
Group show featuring
a diverse collection of paintings
of scenes of nature, flowers
and the natural environment.
23 Sept - 23 Oct 2015
Gallery open Wed - Fri, 1pm - 5pm
*** Europe in Crisis ***
by Romanian artist
AUREL TAR
Apart from revival and reformation, the cycle of cultures is inevitably destined to decline.
There is always a spectacular beauty/horror in the decadence of civilizations who believe themselves to be right or supreme with their future apparently guaranteed.
How the mighty have fallen - each and every time - no empire has survived - each and every one destined to collapse spectacularly - the next collapse is already in progress - its only a national debt /bank default away.
Aurel Tar’s ”Wonderful Collapse” is an allegorical painting on four panels which evoke the great civilization of the Greek European antiquity, staged now in the middle of its
very own financial crises.
Louise Red Kiss- Berlinicus series 2012 by Aurel Tar Aurel Tar, Tempelhof Necklace 2 - Berlinicus series 2012
Artist's Talk by Josie Jenkins
Thursday 23 July 2015 from 7.30pm
In 2013 Josie Jenkins won the Valeria Sykes Award at the New Lights Art Prize and in November 2014 she used the funding to undertake a 3 month residency at the Chinese European Art Center in Xiamen, China. There Josie observed a dramatically changing landscape which presented Industrial developments on an incredible scale. Josie's research lead her to the Yangshan Deep Water Port in Shanghai, the largest container port in the world, which subsequently featured in her large scale painting 'Container Island' currently on show at the Corke Art Gallery.
In this talk Josie will discuss her experience on residency in China, the work she made and how not only the environment she witnessed but also the residency situation itself changed her work.
Edge of The Known World: New Landscapes from China and St Kilda - Josie Jenkins & John Elcock
Wednesday 1 July - Friday 24 July 2015
plus new work by Shaun Smyth & Clare Flinn & the chance to see the 1967 documentary 'St Kilda - The Lonely Islands' directed by Christopher Mylne.
Corke Gallery, Liverpool, UK presents a new collaboration by artists Josie Jenkins and John Elcock. The exhibition ʻEdge of The Known World: New Landscapes from China and St Kildaʼ explores the evolving landscape of China and the remote islands of St Kilda, Scotland.
Liverpool-based artist John Elcock shows a complete set of new works inspired by St Kilda, whose islands situated 45 miles west of the Outer Hebrides form the remotest part of the British Isles.
Artist Josie Jenkins shows work produced in China following her recent residency in Xiamen with the Chinese European Art Center (CEAC). The exhibition will feature a large scale painting depicting imagery from Yangshan Deep Sea Port in Shanghai.
Jenkins remarked: “In China, I continually see and hear things that surprise me and some things that at first I found unbelievable. The landscape of China offers a complete contradiction to the landscape of Britain.”
Elcockʼs paintings are figurative and rich in symbolism. They are the culmination of a year-long cycle of work exploring the dual World Heritage Site of St Kilda whose rugged islands provide a contradiction to the pastoral view of the British landscape.
Elcock said: “In St Kilda, I have found an unending source of inspiration for the artist. From its ancient geology, rich natural ecology, to the personal stories of the former inhabitants, it is a truly unique and enigmatic place”.
Jenkinsʼ work explores the way we shape our environment. Taking inspiration from the subtle incongruity between natural and unnatural elements, as well as the more noticeable disorder found in our modern landscape. Her work often include ambiguous elements, or images assembled from different sources.
The exhibition also features a rare opportunity to view the 1967 documentary ʻSt. Kilda – The Lonely Islandsʼ directed by Christopher Mylne, courtesy of the Scottish Screen Archive, the National Library of Scotland.
The exhibition is free and open to the public 1pm - 5pm Wednesday, Thursday and Friday and by appointment please call 07773 287827.
Mindplay Series 1 by Jukes Ward
Wed 10 – Thu 25 June 2015
Born in Liverpool, Jules spent a childhood with her head inside a sketchbook. Art continued to be her focus throughout her education, she was awarded a distinction from her Foundation Course in Art and Design at Liverpool Poly, was tutored by Sam Walsh and gained a BA (Hons) degree in Graphic Design. Moving to London in the 1990’s Jules worked in the creative industries sector, writing radio ads and rising through the ranks becoming the Creative Director of a Soho ad agency before setting up her own creative production company called ‘Spark and Rumble’ which she still runs today.
Throughout her professional life Jules continued to paint and draw. Whenever she travelled abroad she would visit exhibitions and art galleries in search of inspiration and ideas which influenced the development of her own creative practice.
Her exhibition Mindplay – Series 1, on show at the Corke Gallery in June 2015, features a collection of new painting created after a trip to Australia to see the ‘dark side’ of Aboriginal art… not the commercialized dots and squiggles, but a lesser-known style called ‘Bush Medicine Leaves’ that uses free-flowing patterns. These clean, simple and repeating patterns had a big impact on Jules and she developed her painting style to create the smooth strokes that convey a depth and create the illusion of real movement.
As her practice in this form of painting develops Jules is currently experimenting with different paints and lighting effects including; glow-in-the-dark, disco, fluorescent and most recently UV, all of which add a completely different dimension to her pieces when darkness falls.
The works range in size from 30cm x 30cm to 120cm x 180cm and are painted in acrylic on canvas and varnished.
Selection of works by Jules Ward included in the exhibition
Dr Huw Gwynedd Lewis-Jones was born and raised in Dolgellau North Wales but his father's work in the Royal Navy meant Huw moved around the UK and to the Far East but his father's last posting was in London so Huw attended school in Wallington where there was a fantastic Art and Design department. The teachers were inspirational and encouraged Huw to experiment with all art disciplines and media resulting in him completing his Art “O” and “A” levels and in his final year prepared a foundation course portfolio.
During his father's long periods of leave from the Navy Huw always returned to live with his Grandparents in Dolgellau where he developed a passion for the landscapes of North Wales but he also regularly visited Liverpool, then the capital of North Wales!
Huw studied medicine in Liverpool, arriving in 1976, and he has never left and continues to live in South Liverpool. After qualifying in 1981 he continued his studies in the Hospitals of Liverpool and is now a Consultant Radiologist at Aintree NHS Trust.
As his career in medicine began his parents retired back to Dolgellau and he was able to strengthen his love of the area. Recently he and his brother Iwan have renovated their Grandparents old house in the town and so have almost become locals again!
Painting has always been an important part of Huw's life and when Huw paints the landscapes of North Wales he is in a world of his own - a perfect counter balance to the stresses and strains of Hospital working life.
Capital of Culture year, 2008, offered Huw a fantastic opportunity and inspiration and he turned his artistic eye towards the City of Liverpool’s cityscapes and captured images of the city at night, especially around Hope Street.
Aintree Hospital became part of “The Face of Liverpool” art initiative and encouraged employees including Huw to display their work. Huw has regularly exhibited at Aintree Hospital, the University of Liverpool and at The New Slaughterhouse gallery, Garston. Huw's decision to commit more and mopre time to painting is largely due to the encouragement of Paula O’Malley at Aintree who initiated the face of the city initiative at Aintree Hospital, to Alex Corina who gave him the opportunity to display at the Slaughterhouse and of course to his long suffering wife Cathy who has to live with the smell and stains of oil paint on everything he touches.
Huw's paintings are split into 2 subjects: the night time city landscapes of Liverpool and the beautiful North Wales landscapes to be found in the Snowdonia Mountains around Dolgellau. These pictures represent powerful personal images from his past life and he hopes they spark in visitors to the exhibition some of the emotion and feeling that the landscapes generate for him.
Huw has shown several times at the Corke Gallery with solo shows as well as being invited to be part of various landscape group shows.
Nic Corke, owner and curator of the Corke Gallery, was also born in North Wales in Llanrwst in the Conwy Valley in North Wales and showing Huw's work is always a pleasure and delight because it feels like home. Huw's lavish use of oil paint on canvas fills the gallery with the smell of new paint and the large canvasses transport you to the rugged, poetic scenery featuring the mountains, estuaries and coastline of North Wales and especially well known views around Dolgellau.
The exhibition run's from Wednesday 22 April to Friday 22 May 2015 and the gallery is open to the public between 1pm - 5pm Wednesday to Friday and also by appointment. Please call 07773 287827 to arrange a convenient time to see th show is you are unable to visit during normal opening hours. If you would like to be invited to Private View or other events at the gallery please subscribe to out mailing list by emailing 'Subscribe' to nic@corke.net
Also on show in the gallery
Street, Contemporary & Fine Art
featuring a diverse range of artworks by
John Afflick
Angie Clarke
Peter Philip
Lisa Cole Kronenburg
Matthew Mortimer
Jon Pountain, Ernesto Muniz, Aurel Tar, Daniel John, Josie Jenkins, Paul Gent, Paul Bennett, John Vesty, Matthew Mortimer, Jefferson Waters, Lynette Kay, Andy Brewin & Felice Beilin
Thank you for your interest in the gallery and if you would like to be included in future mailings and receive invitations to Private Views and talks by artists at the gallery please email subscribe@corke.net with the 'Subscribe Me' in the Subject panel.