What a feast for the senses this special exhibition is: a rare annual event where all art and artists can make it onto these historic walls, floors and ceilings. But while many creations had amazed and awed me (and also turned me right off) nothing thus far had screamed: “You must have me.”
It is a photograph, a direct print on aluminium dibond, depicting a woman suspended in mid-air between land and sea as she jumps into the ocean but before she hits the water. Donning a wetsuit, arms straight out behind her, head tilted down: she is a perfect freeze frame captured before immersion. She is taking her turn and this is definitely her moment.
There is a small, Eighties-looking, slightly battered white sign with red writing affixed to the side of this group’s portal to the water, warning: “DO NOT APPROACH OR FEED THE SEALS.”
www.instagram.com/p/CKeCyXXhHV-/?hl=enThe piece is called Liminal, which happens to be one of my favourite words, especially at the moment. Meaning: “relating to a transitional or initial stage of a process.” I feel, especially since struggling to have a baby and then becoming a parent twice over five years apart, that I have occupied a liminal space. Not knowing where I begin and end, or what the next stage is and when that begins. Motherhood, life, identity, work and navigating ill health have meant leaning into the liminal. Hard.
Mercifully the piece is also relatively affordable. I say relatively in the context of life finances, but also in the wildly variable price tags in art generally. At the Summer Exhibition, some pieces are sold for sums in the high thousands. My piece is £375 for an unframed edition in a run of 20, and you pay 50 per cent on the day.
square EMMA BARNETT Poetry helped me cry, heal, and feel less alone
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What’s also special about this annual art jamboree, where I have not felt I could buy a piece before until now, is that unlike most other art exhibitions, you don’t know anything about what you are looking at. There are no lengthy paragraphs next to each piece or an audio guide. There are just numbers. Even in the brochure, there’s nothing but the name of the work and the artist. I love that it strips art right back to what it makes you feel and how it speaks to you.
I found it so exciting to race around and see what I could see, imagining what was going on and delighting in feelings the paintings or sculptures induced. This art was another form of storytelling, but one where I could play a role too, with my responses adding to the experience.
But I still find galleries to be spaces I feel excited by, deeply at peace within, and confident at navigating, especially as there are no rules.
When I got home, I looked up Liminal and discovered that the creator is called Tami Masunda, who in addition to being a photographer, is an architectural designer. I also discovered that it was shot in St Ives, Cornwall. It was England after all. But to be honest, the details matter not. What matters is always how the art makes you feel. And sometimes, you can take that feeling home.
This week I have been…
Watching…
Freddie Flintoff’s Field of Dreams. Our son is cricket mad and has just discovered our Freddie. So we are coming to this joyous programme late, and it’s proving to be lovely. As an exiled northerner – from down the road to Flintoff’s Preston – I am also delighting in my southern child hearing some excellent accents alongside his new favourite sport.
Listening to…
Margaret Drabble on This Cultural Life. I had no idea about her life beyond some of her books and she is so sure of her views – it’s like an aural exfoliator. Refreshing, entertaining and moving. From sibling rivalry to why she doesn’t believe in prizes for creativity – dive in.
Reading…
Kakigori Summer by Emily Itami. I am greatly enjoying this beautifully crafted novel about three sisters reunited for a summer on the Japanese coast. It is out later this month. This is your hat tip. Take it and get comfy on your hols with it.
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