A demonstration and two exhibitions
Sep. 4th, 2019 03:13 pmOn Saturday I accompanied ![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
durham_rambler, dutifully but without much enthusiasm, to the demonstration against the proroguing of parliament.
This was in Millennium Place, in front of the Gala Gallery, which was a reminder that I hadn't yet seen the Norman Cornish exhibition there, and it was about to end. So once the speeches started, I slipped onto the Gallery. Norman Cornish was a local artist, best known for his townscapes and scenes of mining life (imagine Lowry if he'd cared more for people) but this was a small show of his portraits. Mostly, these were of easily available models - the artist's family, himself - from rapid sketches to formal oil paintings, s collection any family would be happy to own. A second group of outsize pastel (possible; what do I know) heads had been commissioned for a Tyne Tees Television programme The Burning Question. These were larger than life (in all senses) characters, exaggerated, almost cartoonish: Cornish had apparently sketched them at the local pub (or so he told his wife, as he set off for the evening's session) but they looked like the figures who people his paintings, walking home from work, propping up the bar, but here isolated, scrutinised, their cartoon liveliness magnified. All this was interesting, but the only portrait I really liked was one which stood out from both groups, forming a bridge between them: a charcoal study of the artists father, a big sketch in extreme close-up, but entirely alive: it felt like being in the presence of a real person.
The centenary of Cornish's birth is being celebrated by a rolling programme of exhibitions the year and around the county, which I think is a rather neat idea.
When I returned to the demonstration, speakers were still speaking.durham_rambler was talking to a friend who had arrived late, because he had been to an exhibition of old photographs at Gilesgate church: oh, yes! we meant to go to that, didn't we? So we caught a bus up Gilesgate, and joined the crowds admiring photographs from Michael Richardson's collection. I had had Norman Cornish to myself, but this was a much more sociable event: you walked round at the speed of the queue, and occasionally you chatted with your neighbour to identify a location or to compare memories.
I'd call that a Saturday well spent.
durham_rambler, dutifully but without much enthusiasm, to the demonstration against the proroguing of parliament.This was in Millennium Place, in front of the Gala Gallery, which was a reminder that I hadn't yet seen the Norman Cornish exhibition there, and it was about to end. So once the speeches started, I slipped onto the Gallery. Norman Cornish was a local artist, best known for his townscapes and scenes of mining life (imagine Lowry if he'd cared more for people) but this was a small show of his portraits. Mostly, these were of easily available models - the artist's family, himself - from rapid sketches to formal oil paintings, s collection any family would be happy to own. A second group of outsize pastel (possible; what do I know) heads had been commissioned for a Tyne Tees Television programme The Burning Question. These were larger than life (in all senses) characters, exaggerated, almost cartoonish: Cornish had apparently sketched them at the local pub (or so he told his wife, as he set off for the evening's session) but they looked like the figures who people his paintings, walking home from work, propping up the bar, but here isolated, scrutinised, their cartoon liveliness magnified. All this was interesting, but the only portrait I really liked was one which stood out from both groups, forming a bridge between them: a charcoal study of the artists father, a big sketch in extreme close-up, but entirely alive: it felt like being in the presence of a real person.
The centenary of Cornish's birth is being celebrated by a rolling programme of exhibitions the year and around the county, which I think is a rather neat idea.
When I returned to the demonstration, speakers were still speaking.
durham_rambler was talking to a friend who had arrived late, because he had been to an exhibition of old photographs at Gilesgate church: oh, yes! we meant to go to that, didn't we? So we caught a bus up Gilesgate, and joined the crowds admiring photographs from Michael Richardson's collection. I had had Norman Cornish to myself, but this was a much more sociable event: you walked round at the speed of the queue, and occasionally you chatted with your neighbour to identify a location or to compare memories.I'd call that a Saturday well spent.
