London Clown Festival
We’re delighted to be a venue for the acclaimed London Clown Festival for the first time. Here are six shows that are influenced by mime, circus and physical comedy. Don’t miss this eclectic mix of performers who embody the principals of this timeless art form from countries all over the world – this is clowning for the 21st century.
Pomp and Cirque-umstance No 3.1 by Ella the Great
Richard Melanin The Third is a showman. Even in his own home. He can make magic in mundanity and splendour in simplicity. But he’s been saving his greatest stunt for a rainy day…
Internationally acclaimed clown Ella The Great “lights up the stage” (Scotsman) in an inventive debut-hour of visual comedy and circus, which sheds new light on the visionary mind of one of London’s most beloved artists.
The work Jean Ramsey is showing at Highgate Gallery results from an interest in the relationship
between the drawn and the printed image. It follows on from her studies in photography that
culminated in an exhibition of gum-bichromate prints. This early process utilises the sun to develop
a prepared light-sensitive emulsion that when applied to paper with a pronounced surface or
‘tooth’ can result in a painterly quality.
Jean’s degree in Fine Art (sculpture) from King’s College, Newcastle, then the University of Durham,
included a Hatton Scholarship year. She acknowledges the initial influence of an inspired teacher
in north London, Nommie Durell, whose mantra ‘no day without a line’ continues to resonate with her.
The three-dimensional disciplines of sculpture and her experience in set design established form and structure
as crucial elements in her work and have become the foundation for her current exploration in two-dimensions.
Using traditional subject matter, principally self-portraiture and studies of people she knows well, every
work begins with a drawing.
“Having worked in collaboration with others over the years, as a practitioner and as a teacher, this exhibition
is the result of a not altogether conscious decision to revert to personal discovery through drawing
(seeing) and manipulating (printing)”.
The earlier prints are mainly soft-ground etchings and mezzotints, the later work frequently becoming
monoprints by the combination of inscribing by etching and drawing directly into the inked plate.
There are some preliminary studies and proof prints from the most current work on display in which the
visual development of the idea can be traced. Man Ray, known principally for his photography, describes
painting as “.…an adventure in which some great force might suddenly change the whole aspect of
things….”, echoed by Julian Trevelyan’s ….”collaboration with the god of chance….”, also a reference to painting.
Jean Ramsey’s exhibition of prints suggest the transformation that takes place, from close examination of the
subject, the analysis, via the rigour and fluidity of the printing process that can lead to unforeseen results.
Some earlier gum-bichromate photographic prints, although not hung, are available to view in a portfolio
and the artist will be in attendance throughout the exhibition’s run to discuss her work.
Highgate Gallery opening times: Weds – Fri: 13.00 – 17.00, Sat: 11.00 – 16.00, Sun: 11.00 – 17.00
London Clown Festival
We’re delighted to be a venue for the acclaimed London Clown Festival for the first time. Here are six shows that are influenced by mime, circus and physical comedy. Don’t miss this eclectic mix of performers who embody the principals of this timeless art form from countries all over the world – this is clowning for the 21st century.
Luke Rollason, Luke Rollason, Let Down Your Hair by Luke Rollason
Luke Rollason, Luke Rollason ,Let Down Your Hair Trumpets: parp parp parp paaarp!
Fringe favourite and Disney Prince heartthrob of Extraordinary (Disney+) Luke Rollason descends from his ivory (fairtrade) tower to glisten your eyes with this monument to creativity and fantasy. Take a swan dive into this physical comedy fantasia of Kings and Clowns, and one absolutely hideous duck.
The work Jean Ramsey is showing at Highgate Gallery results from an interest in the relationship
between the drawn and the printed image. It follows on from her studies in photography that
culminated in an exhibition of gum-bichromate prints. This early process utilises the sun to develop
a prepared light-sensitive emulsion that when applied to paper with a pronounced surface or
‘tooth’ can result in a painterly quality.
Jean’s degree in Fine Art (sculpture) from King’s College, Newcastle, then the University of Durham,
included a Hatton Scholarship year. She acknowledges the initial influence of an inspired teacher
in north London, Nommie Durell, whose mantra ‘no day without a line’ continues to resonate with her.
The three-dimensional disciplines of sculpture and her experience in set design established form and structure
as crucial elements in her work and have become the foundation for her current exploration in two-dimensions.
Using traditional subject matter, principally self-portraiture and studies of people she knows well, every
work begins with a drawing.
“Having worked in collaboration with others over the years, as a practitioner and as a teacher, this exhibition
is the result of a not altogether conscious decision to revert to personal discovery through drawing
(seeing) and manipulating (printing)”.
The earlier prints are mainly soft-ground etchings and mezzotints, the later work frequently becoming
monoprints by the combination of inscribing by etching and drawing directly into the inked plate.
There are some preliminary studies and proof prints from the most current work on display in which the
visual development of the idea can be traced. Man Ray, known principally for his photography, describes
painting as “.…an adventure in which some great force might suddenly change the whole aspect of
things….”, echoed by Julian Trevelyan’s ….”collaboration with the god of chance….”, also a reference to painting.
Jean Ramsey’s exhibition of prints suggest the transformation that takes place, from close examination of the
subject, the analysis, via the rigour and fluidity of the printing process that can lead to unforeseen results.
Some earlier gum-bichromate photographic prints, although not hung, are available to view in a portfolio
and the artist will be in attendance throughout the exhibition’s run to discuss her work.
Highgate Gallery opening times: Weds – Fri: 13.00 – 17.00, Sat: 11.00 – 16.00, Sun: 11.00 – 17.00
London Clown Festival
We’re delighted to be a venue for the acclaimed London Clown Festival for the first time. Here are six shows that are influenced by mime, circus and physical comedy. Don’t miss this eclectic mix of performers who embody the principals of this timeless art form from countries all over the world – this is clowning for the 21st century.
Troll by Marie Kallevik Straume & Anna Marie Simonsen
Troll is an “irresistibly silly” (★★★★ The Guardian) two-troll clown comedy about connection, scape(goat)ing and being misunderstood. Fed up with years of misrepresentation, villainization and exclusion, two trolls find themselves at Jacksons Lane, ready and desperate to tell their side of the story and the truth about those three goats.
Inspired by Norwegian folklore, Troll is a critically-acclaimed comedy and heartwarming mash-up of music, storytelling, audience interaction, physical theatre and clown.
Our Guerrilla Gardening group has been busy with planning for 2024 since our evening workshop in November. Work has included a walk-about through the N6 area to survey 16 potential sites for our activities and developing a map with notes, so that we can assign actions (even if just monitoring) to each site.
We are now looking for people that can join us to grow this initiative. If you can help out at a gardening event (site clearing, pruning, planting), or might be interested in becoming a ‘champion’ for a particular site near you that needs care, or you simply want to know more, please do get in touch via the contact form on the website or by direct email to: infrastructure@highgatesociety.com. A member of the team will be in touch. You can also sign up to our occasional Guerrilla Gardening newsletter.
Meanwhile, the dates for gardening events have been fixed – see below – so do ‘save the date’ in your diary, if you are interested. We will provide further information as to the event activity and location, each month. Please note, some are evening events and they are not only Saturdays!
| Saturday 23 March | 10–12 noon |
| Saturday 20 April | 10–12 noon |
| Saturday 18 May | 2.30–4.30pm |
| Thursday 20 June | 7.30–9.30 pm |
| Friday 19 July | 7.30–9.30 pm |
| Saturday 17 August | 10–12 noon |
| Wednesday 11 September | 7.30–9.30pm |
| Saturday 19 October | 2.30–4.30pm |
| Saturday 16 November | 10–12 noon |
| Saturday 14 December | 10–12 noon |
London Clown Festival
We’re delighted to be a venue for the acclaimed London Clown Festival for the first time. Here are six shows that are influenced by mime, circus and physical comedy. Don’t miss this eclectic mix of performers who embody the principals of this timeless art form from countries all over the world – this is clowning for the 21st century.
Lost Cabaret: A cacophony of clowns by Lost Cabaret International Clown Collective
★★★★ ENTERTAINMENT NOW
“Lost Cabaret is a magical world to be utterly treasured”
A ridiculous clown variety show featuring the visually absurd, the whimsically witty and the wildly beautiful.
Foolishness wrapped in a warm hug, Lost Cabaret is an alt-comedy garden of enchantment that began in London circa 2012 and was instrumental for the growth of many clown artists that you all love today. Lost has bloomed in venues all across the world, selling out festivals from Edinburgh to Adelaide and loads of cities in between.
Do come along to meet your neighbours, enjoy a good cup of coffee and find out what is happening in Highgate.
The planning committee often have someone on hand to answer planning queries.
Edinburgh Fringe Previews
Three bold and hilarious performances that are destined to take over Fringe this summer.
Ironing Board Man
Jody Kamali
Saturday 20 Jul at 7.30pm
Tickets: £10
https://www.jacksonslane.org.uk/events/ironing-board-man/
Jody Kamali is Jeremy Irons in IRONING BOARD MAN!
One man. Eight ironing boards. One epic soundtrack. Watch in awe as Jody cleverly transforms these everyday household items into the tools of an epic, action-packed Hollywood romance. Ironing Board Man is an inventive physical comedy show that “demands applause” (The Scotsman).
Nominated for Best Comedy Show Buxton Fringe 2022 and Best Show Brighton Fringe 2021.
London Clown Festival
We’re delighted to be a venue for the acclaimed London Clown Festival for the first time. Here are six shows that are influenced by mime, circus and physical comedy. Don’t miss this eclectic mix of performers who embody the principals of this timeless art form from countries all over the world – this is clowning for the 21st century.
Tomatoes Don’t Fly by Jose Parra
Ignacio has discovered something that could change his life forever. But he doesn’t know how to tell his partner Maria. As he prepares a tomato soup at home, he enters another dimension where he becomes both a children’s clown in crisis and an inspirational speaker. Ignacio will learn something that will help him take the next step in his life.
Edinburgh Fringe Previews
Three bold and hilarious performances that are destined to take over Fringe this summer.
Fame Hungry
Louise Orwin
Wednesday 24 Jul at 7.30pm
Tickets: £10
https://www.jacksonslane.org.uk/events/fame-hungry/
FAMEHUNGRY is a helter-skelter nose-dive into the TikTok universe, the attention economy and what it means to be an artist now. Fusing performance art and very real and very live TikTok Experiences, join award-winning performance artist Louise Orwin as she cosplays as a TikToker in a real-life experiment hunting for fame and fortune.
London Clown Festival
We’re delighted to be a venue for the acclaimed London Clown Festival for the first time. Here are six shows that are influenced by mime, circus and physical comedy. Don’t miss this eclectic mix of performers who embody the principals of this timeless art form from countries all over the world – this is clowning for the 21st century.
Mel McGlensey is Motorboat by Mel McGlensey
WINNER: Best Comedy weekly award Adelaide Fringe Festival 2024
Batten down the hatches and seal your porthole! It’s time for the silliest, most outrageous, naughty and nautical show ever made about someone who is part boat, part woman… and full clown.
Come with Motorboat on a sea voyage of self-discovery, silliness and stupidity.
Do come along to meet your neighbours, enjoy a good cup of coffee and find out what is happening in Highgate.
The planning committee often have someone on hand to answer planning queries.
Edinburgh Fringe Previews
Three bold and hilarious performances that are destined to take over Fringe this summer.
Silly Little Things
Trygve Wakenshaw
Saturday 27 Jul at 7.30pm
Tickets: £10
https://www.jacksonslane.org.uk/events/silly-little-things/
After a seven-year hiatus from the Fringe, Trygve Wakenshaw returns with his new hilarious mime-clown-comedy show. Light and silly, absurd and Dada, and a sort of autobiographical, introspective look at all the silly little things that can make or break a friendship.
Trygve Wakenshaw is an award-winning and internationally-recognised mime clown. In 2015 he was nominated for Best Comedy Show at the Edinburgh Comedy Awards and in 2017 he sold out at the Fringe with Trygve Versus A Baby.
Transmission Residency Series
Jacksons Lane’s annual residencies and work-in-progress sharings of new circus and physical theatre returns, with tickets just £1
Bending Reality
Nua Dance
Friday 2 Aug at 4pm
Tickets: £1
https://www.jacksonslane.org.uk/events/bending-reality/
By using play and wonder, dance, circus, video design, impossible perspectives and extreme physicality, Bending Reality encourages you to stay open to the idea that things and people might be different from what you originally thought.
Do come along to meet your neighbours, enjoy a good cup of coffee and find out what is happening in Highgate.
The planning committee often have someone on hand to answer planning queries.
Monday 6 Nov coffee computers 10 30
Do come along to meet your neighbours, enjoy a good cup of coffee and find out what is happening in Highgate.
The planning committee often have someone on hand to answer planning queries.
Transmission Residency Series
Jacksons Lane’s annual residencies and work-in-progress sharings of new circus and physical theatre returns, with tickets just £1
Lotte
Akimbo Theatre
Friday 16 Aug at 4pm
Tickets: £1
https://www.jacksonslane.org.uk/events/lotte/
1920’s Berlin. Eleven years before Disney made Snow White, German filmmaker Lotte Reiniger pioneered multiplane shadow puppetry and animation.
Mixing theatre, dance, acrobatics, shadow puppetry and movement, Akimbo Theatre tell the story of Lotte Reiniger and her revolutionary work in film and animation, turning fairytales into feature-length magic.
Our Guerrilla Gardening group has been busy with planning for 2024 since our evening workshop in November. Work has included a walk-about through the N6 area to survey 16 potential sites for our activities and developing a map with notes, so that we can assign actions (even if just monitoring) to each site.
We are now looking for people that can join us to grow this initiative. If you can help out at a gardening event (site clearing, pruning, planting), or might be interested in becoming a ‘champion’ for a particular site near you that needs care, or you simply want to know more, please do get in touch via the contact form on the website or by direct email to: infrastructure@highgatesociety.com. A member of the team will be in touch. You can also sign up to our occasional Guerrilla Gardening newsletter.
Meanwhile, the dates for gardening events have been fixed – see below – so do ‘save the date’ in your diary, if you are interested. We will provide further information as to the event activity and location, each month. Please note, some are evening events and they are not only Saturdays!
| Saturday 23 March | 10–12 noon |
| Saturday 20 April | 10–12 noon |
| Saturday 18 May | 2.30–4.30pm |
| Thursday 20 June | 7.30–9.30 pm |
| Friday 19 July | 7.30–9.30 pm |
| Saturday 17 August | 10–12 noon |
| Wednesday 11 September | 7.30–9.30pm |
| Saturday 19 October | 2.30–4.30pm |
| Saturday 16 November | 10–12 noon |
| Saturday 14 December | 10–12 noon |
Do come along to meet your neighbours, enjoy a good cup of coffee and find out what is happening in Highgate.
The planning committee often have someone on hand to answer planning queries.
Do come along to meet your neighbours, enjoy a good cup of coffee and find out what is happening in Highgate.
The planning committee often have someone on hand to answer planning queries.
Do come along to meet your neighbours, enjoy a good cup of coffee and find out what is happening in Highgate.
The planning committee often have someone on hand to answer planning queries.
Transmission Residency Series
Jacksons Lane’s annual residencies and work-in-progress sharings of new circus and physical theatre returns, with tickets just £1
Itch
Gildas Aleksa
Saturday 31 Aug at 4pm
Tickets: £1
https://www.jacksonslane.org.uk/events/itch/
We weren’t here before we were born, and we won’t be here after we die.
It’s terrifying, but at least we’re in this together.
Itch is a new circus and theatre show that tackles our fear of death and the existential anxiety that grips us all. Blending philosophical and psychoanalytical ideas with juggling, acro dance and aerial dancing, Itch invites us to confront the ultimate truth of our mortality.
Join us for a day of fun, friends, and family on Sunday 1 September 11am-4pm.
Come and celebrate our vibrant community with a day packed full of activities for all ages.
- Witness the first firing of a replica of the Roman kiln with Firing London’s Imagination(external link)
- Charity dog show from All Dogs Matter(external link)
- North London Bee Keepers
- Hornsey Historical Society
- Highgate Society
- Muswell Hill Sustainability
- Muswell Hill Creatives
- Heath Hands
- Friends of Queen’s Wood
- Creative activities for kids and more!
Monday 6 Nov coffee computers 10 30
Do come along to meet your neighbours, enjoy a good cup of coffee and find out what is happening in Highgate.
The planning committee often have someone on hand to answer planning queries.
Sunday 8 September at 11am & 2pm
Tickets: £14 | Suitable for ages 2-6
Join Shoe Baby on a fantastical sing-along journey as this baby explores the sea, the air, and the zoo – all from the comfort of a shoe! and featuring music by Tom Gray of Gomez, this 30-minute show is perfect for children aged 2-6.
After the show, enjoy 20 minutes of play and fun activities including a shoe shop, a giant shoe, and a make-a-town scene.
Our Guerrilla Gardening group has been busy with planning for 2024 since our evening workshop in November. Work has included a walk-about through the N6 area to survey 16 potential sites for our activities and developing a map with notes, so that we can assign actions (even if just monitoring) to each site.
We are now looking for people that can join us to grow this initiative. If you can help out at a gardening event (site clearing, pruning, planting), or might be interested in becoming a ‘champion’ for a particular site near you that needs care, or you simply want to know more, please do get in touch via the contact form on the website or by direct email to: infrastructure@highgatesociety.com. A member of the team will be in touch. You can also sign up to our occasional Guerrilla Gardening newsletter.
Meanwhile, the dates for gardening events have been fixed – see below – so do ‘save the date’ in your diary, if you are interested. We will provide further information as to the event activity and location, each month. Please note, some are evening events and they are not only Saturdays!
| Saturday 23 March | 10–12 noon |
| Saturday 20 April | 10–12 noon |
| Saturday 18 May | 2.30–4.30pm |
| Thursday 20 June | 7.30–9.30 pm |
| Friday 19 July | 7.30–9.30 pm |
| Saturday 17 August | 10–12 noon |
| Wednesday 11 September | 7.30–9.30pm |
| Saturday 19 October | 2.30–4.30pm |
| Saturday 16 November | 10–12 noon |
| Saturday 14 December | 10–12 noon |
This exhibition, Cuillin Bantock’s fourth at Highgate Gallery, will be the culmination of sixty five years of
experience as a visual artist.
Bantock’s work is all landscape-based. Life-long familiarity with a particular coastal sand-dune system in North
Wales is a persistent point of reference. His choice of media is wide-ranging and includes oil paint, acrylic, gouache,
conte and linocut. His approach has shifted from representation to abstraction, but he strongly believes that all
art must relate to something outside itself.
The exhibition will show two types of work: Indian Ink drawings, and watercolour paintings.
The Indian ink drawings are from the 2022 series ‘Forty-one approaches to a View’. The ‘view’ is of a particular
duneland studied repeatedly from the same spot. The emphasis has been on making quite simple statements
about that particular space. The first studies that Bantock made of this terrain (also in Indian ink) date from 1961.
It was only while making the recent drawings in 2022 that he realised that other artists, in their later years,
had adopted a similar approach; for example Hokusai, with his ‘Thirty Six Views of Mount Fuji’.
The watercolours were made between 2020 and 2024. These are derived from the same landscape as the
ink drawings, but with a particular emphasis on pictorial space (through flatness) and pictorial light
(through colour), but handled abstractly without reference to specific locales. To some extent the watercolours
are a new departure for Bantock. His only previous experience with the medium was very occasional figurative
work (again, of duneland). He describes watercolour as ‘the most challenging medium of all.’
The two bodies of work are united by a perennial search for clarity of execution and expression, and pictorial economy
free of didacticism, leaving room for spontaneity.
Cuillin Bantock has enjoyed a rich and varied career as artist, scientist, educator and writer. He is an Oxford-trained
zoologist who worked as a professional biologist for 20 years, and later studied at Camberwell College of Art. He has
written and lectured extensively on a wide range of subjects, including science, wildlife conservation, art and artists.
His work has been exhibited widely over many years, and is held in a large number of private and corporate collections.
Highgate Gallery is delighted to be hosting this exhibition, which Bantock has decided – as he approaches
his ninetieth birthday – shall be his last with us.
Gallery open: Wed – Fri: 13.00 – 17.00, Sat: 11.00 – 16.00, Sun: 11.00 -17.00
Do come along to meet your neighbours, enjoy a good cup of coffee and find out what is happening in Highgate.
The planning committee often have someone on hand to answer planning queries.
This exhibition, Cuillin Bantock’s fourth at Highgate Gallery, will be the culmination of sixty five years of
experience as a visual artist.
Bantock’s work is all landscape-based. Life-long familiarity with a particular coastal sand-dune system in North
Wales is a persistent point of reference. His choice of media is wide-ranging and includes oil paint, acrylic, gouache,
conte and linocut. His approach has shifted from representation to abstraction, but he strongly believes that all
art must relate to something outside itself.
The exhibition will show two types of work: Indian Ink drawings, and watercolour paintings.
The Indian ink drawings are from the 2022 series ‘Forty-one approaches to a View’. The ‘view’ is of a particular
duneland studied repeatedly from the same spot. The emphasis has been on making quite simple statements
about that particular space. The first studies that Bantock made of this terrain (also in Indian ink) date from 1961.
It was only while making the recent drawings in 2022 that he realised that other artists, in their later years,
had adopted a similar approach; for example Hokusai, with his ‘Thirty Six Views of Mount Fuji’.
The watercolours were made between 2020 and 2024. These are derived from the same landscape as the
ink drawings, but with a particular emphasis on pictorial space (through flatness) and pictorial light
(through colour), but handled abstractly without reference to specific locales. To some extent the watercolours
are a new departure for Bantock. His only previous experience with the medium was very occasional figurative
work (again, of duneland). He describes watercolour as ‘the most challenging medium of all.’
The two bodies of work are united by a perennial search for clarity of execution and expression, and pictorial economy
free of didacticism, leaving room for spontaneity.
Cuillin Bantock has enjoyed a rich and varied career as artist, scientist, educator and writer. He is an Oxford-trained
zoologist who worked as a professional biologist for 20 years, and later studied at Camberwell College of Art. He has
written and lectured extensively on a wide range of subjects, including science, wildlife conservation, art and artists.
His work has been exhibited widely over many years, and is held in a large number of private and corporate collections.
Highgate Gallery is delighted to be hosting this exhibition, which Bantock has decided – as he approaches
his ninetieth birthday – shall be his last with us.
Gallery open: Wed – Fri: 13.00 – 17.00, Sat: 11.00 – 16.00, Sun: 11.00 -17.00
Rosy’s onstage career is built on her gleeful frankness about her sex life with men. Now newly single at forty, and advising her teenage daughter about relationships, Rosy wonders if revisiting hyper-macho desires could restore her sexual power, or if there’s a more uncomfortable truth to face.
“A startling, laugh out loud funny and erudite examination of age, relationships and female sexuality” — What’s On Stage
This exhibition, Cuillin Bantock’s fourth at Highgate Gallery, will be the culmination of sixty five years of
experience as a visual artist.
Bantock’s work is all landscape-based. Life-long familiarity with a particular coastal sand-dune system in North
Wales is a persistent point of reference. His choice of media is wide-ranging and includes oil paint, acrylic, gouache,
conte and linocut. His approach has shifted from representation to abstraction, but he strongly believes that all
art must relate to something outside itself.
The exhibition will show two types of work: Indian Ink drawings, and watercolour paintings.
The Indian ink drawings are from the 2022 series ‘Forty-one approaches to a View’. The ‘view’ is of a particular
duneland studied repeatedly from the same spot. The emphasis has been on making quite simple statements
about that particular space. The first studies that Bantock made of this terrain (also in Indian ink) date from 1961.
It was only while making the recent drawings in 2022 that he realised that other artists, in their later years,
had adopted a similar approach; for example Hokusai, with his ‘Thirty Six Views of Mount Fuji’.
The watercolours were made between 2020 and 2024. These are derived from the same landscape as the
ink drawings, but with a particular emphasis on pictorial space (through flatness) and pictorial light
(through colour), but handled abstractly without reference to specific locales. To some extent the watercolours
are a new departure for Bantock. His only previous experience with the medium was very occasional figurative
work (again, of duneland). He describes watercolour as ‘the most challenging medium of all.’
The two bodies of work are united by a perennial search for clarity of execution and expression, and pictorial economy
free of didacticism, leaving room for spontaneity.
Cuillin Bantock has enjoyed a rich and varied career as artist, scientist, educator and writer. He is an Oxford-trained
zoologist who worked as a professional biologist for 20 years, and later studied at Camberwell College of Art. He has
written and lectured extensively on a wide range of subjects, including science, wildlife conservation, art and artists.
His work has been exhibited widely over many years, and is held in a large number of private and corporate collections.
Highgate Gallery is delighted to be hosting this exhibition, which Bantock has decided – as he approaches
his ninetieth birthday – shall be his last with us.
Gallery open: Wed – Fri: 13.00 – 17.00, Sat: 11.00 – 16.00, Sun: 11.00 -17.00
This exhibition, Cuillin Bantock’s fourth at Highgate Gallery, will be the culmination of sixty five years of
experience as a visual artist.
Bantock’s work is all landscape-based. Life-long familiarity with a particular coastal sand-dune system in North
Wales is a persistent point of reference. His choice of media is wide-ranging and includes oil paint, acrylic, gouache,
conte and linocut. His approach has shifted from representation to abstraction, but he strongly believes that all
art must relate to something outside itself.
The exhibition will show two types of work: Indian Ink drawings, and watercolour paintings.
The Indian ink drawings are from the 2022 series ‘Forty-one approaches to a View’. The ‘view’ is of a particular
duneland studied repeatedly from the same spot. The emphasis has been on making quite simple statements
about that particular space. The first studies that Bantock made of this terrain (also in Indian ink) date from 1961.
It was only while making the recent drawings in 2022 that he realised that other artists, in their later years,
had adopted a similar approach; for example Hokusai, with his ‘Thirty Six Views of Mount Fuji’.
The watercolours were made between 2020 and 2024. These are derived from the same landscape as the
ink drawings, but with a particular emphasis on pictorial space (through flatness) and pictorial light
(through colour), but handled abstractly without reference to specific locales. To some extent the watercolours
are a new departure for Bantock. His only previous experience with the medium was very occasional figurative
work (again, of duneland). He describes watercolour as ‘the most challenging medium of all.’
The two bodies of work are united by a perennial search for clarity of execution and expression, and pictorial economy
free of didacticism, leaving room for spontaneity.
Cuillin Bantock has enjoyed a rich and varied career as artist, scientist, educator and writer. He is an Oxford-trained
zoologist who worked as a professional biologist for 20 years, and later studied at Camberwell College of Art. He has
written and lectured extensively on a wide range of subjects, including science, wildlife conservation, art and artists.
His work has been exhibited widely over many years, and is held in a large number of private and corporate collections.
Highgate Gallery is delighted to be hosting this exhibition, which Bantock has decided – as he approaches
his ninetieth birthday – shall be his last with us.
Gallery open: Wed – Fri: 13.00 – 17.00, Sat: 11.00 – 16.00, Sun: 11.00 -17.00
SAVE – its work in preserving our heritage
Wednesday 18th September 2024
7.30 pm (Doors open 7.00 pm)
10A South Grove N6 6BS and on Zoom
Entry £7.50 including a glass of wine (£3.00 on Zoom)
Booking through Eventbrite – click here.
https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/save-its-work-in-preserving-our-heritage-tickets-972059334637?aff=oddtdtcreator
Liz Fuller, the Buildings at Risk Officer at SAVE Britain’s Heritage will talk about SAVE’s work, including its campaign to prevent the demolition of the M&S Oxford Street store and some other recent campaigns, with a focus on London. She will also cover her work as Buildings at Risk officer.
Liz Fuller has a background in law, having been a partner in a city firm specialising in capital markets and has a masters in Historic Building Conservation. At SAVE she has responsibility for maintaining a national register of buildings at risk.
SAVE is a charity which campaigns to save historic buildings threatened by demolition or development all over the country and works with architects, surveyors and others to propose alternative schemes. Where necessary, and with expert advice, it takes legal action to prevent major and needless losses.
This exhibition, Cuillin Bantock’s fourth at Highgate Gallery, will be the culmination of sixty five years of
experience as a visual artist.
Bantock’s work is all landscape-based. Life-long familiarity with a particular coastal sand-dune system in North
Wales is a persistent point of reference. His choice of media is wide-ranging and includes oil paint, acrylic, gouache,
conte and linocut. His approach has shifted from representation to abstraction, but he strongly believes that all
art must relate to something outside itself.
The exhibition will show two types of work: Indian Ink drawings, and watercolour paintings.
The Indian ink drawings are from the 2022 series ‘Forty-one approaches to a View’. The ‘view’ is of a particular
duneland studied repeatedly from the same spot. The emphasis has been on making quite simple statements
about that particular space. The first studies that Bantock made of this terrain (also in Indian ink) date from 1961.
It was only while making the recent drawings in 2022 that he realised that other artists, in their later years,
had adopted a similar approach; for example Hokusai, with his ‘Thirty Six Views of Mount Fuji’.
The watercolours were made between 2020 and 2024. These are derived from the same landscape as the
ink drawings, but with a particular emphasis on pictorial space (through flatness) and pictorial light
(through colour), but handled abstractly without reference to specific locales. To some extent the watercolours
are a new departure for Bantock. His only previous experience with the medium was very occasional figurative
work (again, of duneland). He describes watercolour as ‘the most challenging medium of all.’
The two bodies of work are united by a perennial search for clarity of execution and expression, and pictorial economy
free of didacticism, leaving room for spontaneity.
Cuillin Bantock has enjoyed a rich and varied career as artist, scientist, educator and writer. He is an Oxford-trained
zoologist who worked as a professional biologist for 20 years, and later studied at Camberwell College of Art. He has
written and lectured extensively on a wide range of subjects, including science, wildlife conservation, art and artists.
His work has been exhibited widely over many years, and is held in a large number of private and corporate collections.
Highgate Gallery is delighted to be hosting this exhibition, which Bantock has decided – as he approaches
his ninetieth birthday – shall be his last with us.
Gallery open: Wed – Fri: 13.00 – 17.00, Sat: 11.00 – 16.00, Sun: 11.00 -17.00
This exhibition, Cuillin Bantock’s fourth at Highgate Gallery, will be the culmination of sixty five years of
experience as a visual artist.
Bantock’s work is all landscape-based. Life-long familiarity with a particular coastal sand-dune system in North
Wales is a persistent point of reference. His choice of media is wide-ranging and includes oil paint, acrylic, gouache,
conte and linocut. His approach has shifted from representation to abstraction, but he strongly believes that all
art must relate to something outside itself.
The exhibition will show two types of work: Indian Ink drawings, and watercolour paintings.
The Indian ink drawings are from the 2022 series ‘Forty-one approaches to a View’. The ‘view’ is of a particular
duneland studied repeatedly from the same spot. The emphasis has been on making quite simple statements
about that particular space. The first studies that Bantock made of this terrain (also in Indian ink) date from 1961.
It was only while making the recent drawings in 2022 that he realised that other artists, in their later years,
had adopted a similar approach; for example Hokusai, with his ‘Thirty Six Views of Mount Fuji’.
The watercolours were made between 2020 and 2024. These are derived from the same landscape as the
ink drawings, but with a particular emphasis on pictorial space (through flatness) and pictorial light
(through colour), but handled abstractly without reference to specific locales. To some extent the watercolours
are a new departure for Bantock. His only previous experience with the medium was very occasional figurative
work (again, of duneland). He describes watercolour as ‘the most challenging medium of all.’
The two bodies of work are united by a perennial search for clarity of execution and expression, and pictorial economy
free of didacticism, leaving room for spontaneity.
Cuillin Bantock has enjoyed a rich and varied career as artist, scientist, educator and writer. He is an Oxford-trained
zoologist who worked as a professional biologist for 20 years, and later studied at Camberwell College of Art. He has
written and lectured extensively on a wide range of subjects, including science, wildlife conservation, art and artists.
His work has been exhibited widely over many years, and is held in a large number of private and corporate collections.
Highgate Gallery is delighted to be hosting this exhibition, which Bantock has decided – as he approaches
his ninetieth birthday – shall be his last with us.
Gallery open: Wed – Fri: 13.00 – 17.00, Sat: 11.00 – 16.00, Sun: 11.00 -17.00