Online exhibition: From Here to There, Richard Layzell

We are pleased to share a new film by Richard Layzell retracing and remembering his journey to Waterlow Park.

Since the Summer of 2018 artist Richard Layzell has been in residence at LUX as our Creative Ecologist, helping us to think about and interpret the environment of Waterlow Park, in which LUX is located, as part of his wider research project The Naming. Like all of us Richard is under lockdown in London, but living in N4 he can walk to Waterlow Park during his allotted daily exercise. In his affecting new work, From Here to There he reflects on this journey and the park where he has been based for the last two years.

The Naming is a research project challenging and questioning how, through categorization and naming, we distance ourselves from aspects of the natural world and the cultural world. Inspirational figures are Jane Jacobs, Arne Naess (who chained himself to Mardalsfossen waterfall in Norway in 1970 to prevent a dam being built), First Nations beliefs in general and especially the Mi’kmaq community in Nova Scotia and the ancient Greek philosopher Heraclitus. The work he is producing includes discussions, performances, ‘interventions’, audio recordings, video, photography, ‘imprints’ using the earliest form of printing known as Takuhon, and an ongoing body of creative writing. He is celebrating particular trees and the songs of particular birds, especially the pied butcherbird from Australia.

Richard Layzell works in performance, video and installation – and with industry and communities – has been recognised internationally.

He has been commissioned by most of the major public galleries and museums across the UK and completed many international artist residencies. As an experienced facilitator he’s led creative workshops with people of all ages and backgrounds internationally. His groundbreaking interactive installation Tap Ruffle and Shave, commissioned by Glasgow Museums, toured to London, Manchester and Newcastle and was seen by 100,000 people. He developed a series of innovative residencies in industry, defining the role of the visionaire, expanding the artist’s role in redefining corporate culture and the community of the workplace. He subsequently applied this experience in the cultural sector with an expanded socially engaged practice, working on ambitious projects with communities in Bristol, Swindon, Glasgow, Coventry, Colchester, Liverpool, London, Shanghai, and Perth (Australia), amongst others.

His current work The Naming is manifesting in many different forms and locations, including Ephesus (Turkey), Mardalsfossen (Norway), Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Montreal, Vancouver, Skyros (Greece), London, Bristol, Colchester, Seoul, Sydney and Alice Springs.

Visit the LUX website to watch the film and download an audio transcript.

https://lux.org.uk/online-exhibition/from-here-to-there-richard-layzell

Online exhibition: From Here to There, Richard Layzell

We are pleased to share a new film by Richard Layzell retracing and remembering his journey to Waterlow Park.

Since the Summer of 2018 artist Richard Layzell has been in residence at LUX as our Creative Ecologist, helping us to think about and interpret the environment of Waterlow Park, in which LUX is located, as part of his wider research project The Naming. Like all of us Richard is under lockdown in London, but living in N4 he can walk to Waterlow Park during his allotted daily exercise. In his affecting new work, From Here to There he reflects on this journey and the park where he has been based for the last two years.

The Naming is a research project challenging and questioning how, through categorization and naming, we distance ourselves from aspects of the natural world and the cultural world. Inspirational figures are Jane Jacobs, Arne Naess (who chained himself to Mardalsfossen waterfall in Norway in 1970 to prevent a dam being built), First Nations beliefs in general and especially the Mi’kmaq community in Nova Scotia and the ancient Greek philosopher Heraclitus. The work he is producing includes discussions, performances, ‘interventions’, audio recordings, video, photography, ‘imprints’ using the earliest form of printing known as Takuhon, and an ongoing body of creative writing. He is celebrating particular trees and the songs of particular birds, especially the pied butcherbird from Australia.

Richard Layzell works in performance, video and installation – and with industry and communities – has been recognised internationally.

He has been commissioned by most of the major public galleries and museums across the UK and completed many international artist residencies. As an experienced facilitator he’s led creative workshops with people of all ages and backgrounds internationally. His groundbreaking interactive installation Tap Ruffle and Shave, commissioned by Glasgow Museums, toured to London, Manchester and Newcastle and was seen by 100,000 people. He developed a series of innovative residencies in industry, defining the role of the visionaire, expanding the artist’s role in redefining corporate culture and the community of the workplace. He subsequently applied this experience in the cultural sector with an expanded socially engaged practice, working on ambitious projects with communities in Bristol, Swindon, Glasgow, Coventry, Colchester, Liverpool, London, Shanghai, and Perth (Australia), amongst others.

His current work The Naming is manifesting in many different forms and locations, including Ephesus (Turkey), Mardalsfossen (Norway), Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Montreal, Vancouver, Skyros (Greece), London, Bristol, Colchester, Seoul, Sydney and Alice Springs.

Visit the LUX website to watch the film and download an audio transcript.

https://lux.org.uk/online-exhibition/from-here-to-there-richard-layzell

Travellers’ Tales: In Search of the Bedouin
Monday 15th June  7.00 pm

Louise Sibley will talk about leading nine women on a month-long journey, following the story of the modern Bedouin right across the Middle East.
To book click here

The Highgate House Party continues on Boogaloo Radio on Friday evenings.

Tune in online between 5.00 pm and 7.00 pm to hear interviews and music DJ’d by Dan Carrier of Camden New Journal. Go to Boogalooradio.com and  click on TUNE IN. Check the Highgate Society Instagram account for updates.

The Great Highgate Bake Off

2020 Fair in the Square – save the date

Launch event of the local #BuildBackBetter campaign organized by local organizations driving action for climate, social and economic change in our post-COVID world. A range of local speakers will address these themes from a global and local perspective.

Register in advance for this webinar:
https://zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_NEaJqfJfTeqd0qM7xAXc4g

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the webinar.

“The Shell Collector”
Monday 22nd June   7.00 pm
Local author Robert Lyons will talk about his recently published book – a fictionalised account of a real-life 1970’s financial scandal. Robert is donating all royalties from the book to NHS Charities Together. To book click here.

The Highgate House Party continues on Boogaloo Radio on Friday evenings.

Tune in online between 5.00 pm and 7.00 pm to hear interviews and music DJ’d by Dan Carrier of Camden New Journal. Go to Boogalooradio.com and  click on TUNE IN. Check the Highgate Society Instagram account for updates.

Highgate’s own boutique distillery, Sacred Gin, will conduct a remote gin tasting, preceded by a reprise of Ruth Hazeldine’s illustrated history of gin delivered last year at 10A.

Monday 29th June 2020   7.00 pm

An illustrated talk by Elspeth Clements and David Porter

This is an online event delivered via Zoom. To book click here.

Monday 13th July 2020 at 7.00 pm

Travellers’ Tales: Vietnam is the next installment in the Travellers’ Tales series. Robert Hatfield leads a snap shot look-through, as he retells his time living in Saigon and traveling through the diverse and exciting country.

This is an online  event delivered through Zoom. To book click here.

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdetXu2HUd9fqvgo8I6C7DTRmLBq0ghjW38leIE3Jk6LCYfVQ/viewform

Monday 20th July 2020 at 7.00 pm

Claire Norton and Rachel Lock will be giving an informal talk about the Highgate N6 Mutual Aid group, from how it came into being and the way the community has come together, to the way it has worked across Highgate, and beyond.  They will be discussing other voluntary initiatives in the area, and inviting you to discuss how you’d like to be involved in the community going forward, with the hope that we can use the positive collective community response to the Covid-19 pandemic to benefit the wider community.  We hope you’ll be able to join us!

This is an online meeting delivered by Zoom. To book click here.

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdfWBDhj0f79wdvt9L_kc27aYrrSbdH6c23fqCh2fv8L3XzPg/viewform

The story of the kitchen garden and the healing of the land

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfRD4TVjQ9T4b0HXs-_kA-BoF9cPuaztsXRYtZNsrp7d6_2Vg/viewform

Monday 7th September  7.00 pm 2020

A talk by Ruth Hazeldine on the history of ice cream

“There is more to the story of ice cream than just the pleasure of eating it. It has a long social history, as well as a culinary one. The first written record of ice cream being eaten in England is in 1671 at a feast held for Charles II. The first printed recipe was published in 1718 by Mary Eales, Court Confectioner to Queen Anne. Where did this delicacy originate? Well, you’re always safe if you say “China”, and in this case it’s true: records from the T’ang Dynasty in about AD 618 refer to iced milk mixed with flour and camphor being served at court. Sounds horrible, doesn’t it?

Soon afterwards the method made its way to Italy, where it was much improved by the addition of fruits and sugar and by 1672,  90 different flavours were being offered at the Café Procope in Paris.  I will show you a picture of me standing outside the shop, with an ice-creamy smile on my face!. In fact, it felt like Eating Winter with a Spoon!”

Ruth Hazeldine

This is an online Zoom event. (Click here for advice on how to participate.)

Pre-booking on Eventbrite is essential – click here. The Zoom meeting link will be sent by email on or before the day of the event.

Image: detail from ‘Spoons Looking Right’ © Jason Sumray, oil on canvas. All rights reserved

What’s in a Jug?  Paintings and etchings by Jason Sumray     11-24 September 2020

For his Highgate Gallery show ‘What’s in a Jug?’ Jason Sumray brings together a series of oil paintings and etchings that are invented Still Lifes.  He takes ordinary objects and gives them new meanings;  grouping and juxtaposing them as if they are protagonists in table-top dramas.

The series began with an interest in images where the human presence was still strongly felt but figures were absent.  Drawers are half open, stools and chairs empty, plates, cutlery, jugs and serviettes left on the dinner table.  Jason’s purpose was not to create a direct or distinguishable narrative, but rather to offer triggers that evoke potential meaning.  In time, he has become more concerned with a different kind of ‘narrative’ played out in his imaginary theatre world of objects;  where, in the tradition of Still Life, the things seem to exist autonomously regardless of human involvement, and what is important is their relationship to one another and to the empty space.

Several paintings in the exhibition deal with a preoccupation with the theme of ‘Spilt Strawberries and Cream’;  images that were begun as a response to Chardin’s quietly evocative ‘Basket of Wild Strawberries’ (1761).  Jason felt he wanted to upset Chardin’s delicate and finely balanced conical construction.

Jason’s interest in the language of light and dark has been extended into the discipline of etching using solely black ink.  He loves the blackness of the medium and how it’s possible to play with the way the forms emerge or disappear into the darkness, where edges are lost and then re-emerge.  He etches from his paintings;  they inform each other.

Jason Sumray lives and paints in North London.  He has exhibited in various galleries in London and elsewhere and has been shortlisted for a number of Open Competitions.  He won the Discerning Drawing Bursary in 2011 and was joint winner of the Marshwood Arts Award in 2017.  His series of paintings based on Samuel Beckett’s ‘Krapp’s Last Tape’ were exhibited as part of the inaugural International Beckett Festival, Enniskillen, NI, in 2012.  In 2016 his Fisherman paintings were shown in the Fishing Museum in Cromer.  Jason gained his Masters in Fine Art from the Sir John Cass School of Art and was awarded Distinction for his research on the nature of symbolism and metaphor in paintings.  In 2016 he was proud to curate the exhibition of paintings of his friend and mentor Ron Delavigne at the Highgate Gallery.

For further information please contact Jasonsumray@yahoo.co.uk www.jasonsumray.com

Image: detail from ‘Spoons Looking Right’ © Jason Sumray, oil on canvas. All rights reserved

What’s in a Jug?  Paintings and etchings by Jason Sumray     11-24 September 2020

For his Highgate Gallery show ‘What’s in a Jug?’ Jason Sumray brings together a series of oil paintings and etchings that are invented Still Lifes.  He takes ordinary objects and gives them new meanings;  grouping and juxtaposing them as if they are protagonists in table-top dramas.

The series began with an interest in images where the human presence was still strongly felt but figures were absent.  Drawers are half open, stools and chairs empty, plates, cutlery, jugs and serviettes left on the dinner table.  Jason’s purpose was not to create a direct or distinguishable narrative, but rather to offer triggers that evoke potential meaning.  In time, he has become more concerned with a different kind of ‘narrative’ played out in his imaginary theatre world of objects;  where, in the tradition of Still Life, the things seem to exist autonomously regardless of human involvement, and what is important is their relationship to one another and to the empty space.

Several paintings in the exhibition deal with a preoccupation with the theme of ‘Spilt Strawberries and Cream’;  images that were begun as a response to Chardin’s quietly evocative ‘Basket of Wild Strawberries’ (1761).  Jason felt he wanted to upset Chardin’s delicate and finely balanced conical construction.

Jason’s interest in the language of light and dark has been extended into the discipline of etching using solely black ink.  He loves the blackness of the medium and how it’s possible to play with the way the forms emerge or disappear into the darkness, where edges are lost and then re-emerge.  He etches from his paintings;  they inform each other.

Jason Sumray lives and paints in North London.  He has exhibited in various galleries in London and elsewhere and has been shortlisted for a number of Open Competitions.  He won the Discerning Drawing Bursary in 2011 and was joint winner of the Marshwood Arts Award in 2017.  His series of paintings based on Samuel Beckett’s ‘Krapp’s Last Tape’ were exhibited as part of the inaugural International Beckett Festival, Enniskillen, NI, in 2012.  In 2016 his Fisherman paintings were shown in the Fishing Museum in Cromer.  Jason gained his Masters in Fine Art from the Sir John Cass School of Art and was awarded Distinction for his research on the nature of symbolism and metaphor in paintings.  In 2016 he was proud to curate the exhibition of paintings of his friend and mentor Ron Delavigne at the Highgate Gallery.

For further information please contact Jasonsumray@yahoo.co.uk www.jasonsumray.com

Image: detail from ‘Spoons Looking Right’ © Jason Sumray, oil on canvas. All rights reserved

What’s in a Jug?  Paintings and etchings by Jason Sumray     11-24 September 2020

For his Highgate Gallery show ‘What’s in a Jug?’ Jason Sumray brings together a series of oil paintings and etchings that are invented Still Lifes.  He takes ordinary objects and gives them new meanings;  grouping and juxtaposing them as if they are protagonists in table-top dramas.

The series began with an interest in images where the human presence was still strongly felt but figures were absent.  Drawers are half open, stools and chairs empty, plates, cutlery, jugs and serviettes left on the dinner table.  Jason’s purpose was not to create a direct or distinguishable narrative, but rather to offer triggers that evoke potential meaning.  In time, he has become more concerned with a different kind of ‘narrative’ played out in his imaginary theatre world of objects;  where, in the tradition of Still Life, the things seem to exist autonomously regardless of human involvement, and what is important is their relationship to one another and to the empty space.

Several paintings in the exhibition deal with a preoccupation with the theme of ‘Spilt Strawberries and Cream’;  images that were begun as a response to Chardin’s quietly evocative ‘Basket of Wild Strawberries’ (1761).  Jason felt he wanted to upset Chardin’s delicate and finely balanced conical construction.

Jason’s interest in the language of light and dark has been extended into the discipline of etching using solely black ink.  He loves the blackness of the medium and how it’s possible to play with the way the forms emerge or disappear into the darkness, where edges are lost and then re-emerge.  He etches from his paintings;  they inform each other.

Jason Sumray lives and paints in North London.  He has exhibited in various galleries in London and elsewhere and has been shortlisted for a number of Open Competitions.  He won the Discerning Drawing Bursary in 2011 and was joint winner of the Marshwood Arts Award in 2017.  His series of paintings based on Samuel Beckett’s ‘Krapp’s Last Tape’ were exhibited as part of the inaugural International Beckett Festival, Enniskillen, NI, in 2012.  In 2016 his Fisherman paintings were shown in the Fishing Museum in Cromer.  Jason gained his Masters in Fine Art from the Sir John Cass School of Art and was awarded Distinction for his research on the nature of symbolism and metaphor in paintings.  In 2016 he was proud to curate the exhibition of paintings of his friend and mentor Ron Delavigne at the Highgate Gallery.

For further information please contact Jasonsumray@yahoo.co.uk

www.jasonsumray.com

Monday 14th September 2020   7.00 pm
This is an online Zoom event – booking details below

In conversation with Martha Halford-Fumagalli, local author Robert Lyons will talk about his recently published book, a fictionalised account of a 1970’s financial scandal.

THE SHELL COLLECTOR tells the roller-coaster story of Guy Magnus, an ambitious, unprincipled young share-dealer. The story has a number of threads. One is the personal rivalry between Guy and a stockbroker friend, Harry Griffin. They bet a lunch at Maxim’s in Paris on who will be first to ‘show’ a fortune of £1 million.

During the late 1960s Guy wheels and deals his way towards his fortune. By 1973 he is ready for a major deal. Harry’s route to wealth is his shareholding in an ill-managed conglomerate, Britton Trust.

Britton Trust is an ideal asset-rich target for Guy. He sets up a £100 company, Westchurch, as the vehicle for a £20 million take-over bid. A merchant bank, Ulster & Cayman, provides the finance, conditional on Guy giving his personal guarantee for the repayment of its loan.

The day the take-over is completed, a secondary bank collapses and share and property values plummet. Westchurch is unable to repay its loans and Guy has to meet his personal guarantee. Meanwhile Harry Griffin has achieved the sale of his Britton Trust shares and become a millionaire. But in a final twist, it is he who pays for lunch at Maxim’s.

The author was born in Leeds and is a graduate of Pembroke College, Oxford. He became a director of a large retailing group which itself became the victim of a company take-over. He knew ‘Guy Magnus’ socially, and met a number of the other characters during his business career. He and his wife have lived in Highgate for more than fifty years, enjoying the musical and theatrical life that London has to offer. They have two children and six grandchildren, aged from one to 23.

This is an online Zoom event. (Click here for advice on how to participate.)

Pre-booking on Eventbrite is essential – click here. The Zoom meeting link will be sent by email on or before the day of the event.

Image: detail from ‘Spoons Looking Right’ © Jason Sumray, oil on canvas. All rights reserved

What’s in a Jug?  Paintings and etchings by Jason Sumray     11-24 September 2020

For his Highgate Gallery show ‘What’s in a Jug?’ Jason Sumray brings together a series of oil paintings and etchings that are invented Still Lifes.  He takes ordinary objects and gives them new meanings;  grouping and juxtaposing them as if they are protagonists in table-top dramas.

The series began with an interest in images where the human presence was still strongly felt but figures were absent.  Drawers are half open, stools and chairs empty, plates, cutlery, jugs and serviettes left on the dinner table.  Jason’s purpose was not to create a direct or distinguishable narrative, but rather to offer triggers that evoke potential meaning.  In time, he has become more concerned with a different kind of ‘narrative’ played out in his imaginary theatre world of objects;  where, in the tradition of Still Life, the things seem to exist autonomously regardless of human involvement, and what is important is their relationship to one another and to the empty space.

Several paintings in the exhibition deal with a preoccupation with the theme of ‘Spilt Strawberries and Cream’;  images that were begun as a response to Chardin’s quietly evocative ‘Basket of Wild Strawberries’ (1761).  Jason felt he wanted to upset Chardin’s delicate and finely balanced conical construction.

Jason’s interest in the language of light and dark has been extended into the discipline of etching using solely black ink.  He loves the blackness of the medium and how it’s possible to play with the way the forms emerge or disappear into the darkness, where edges are lost and then re-emerge.  He etches from his paintings;  they inform each other.

Jason Sumray lives and paints in North London.  He has exhibited in various galleries in London and elsewhere and has been shortlisted for a number of Open Competitions.  He won the Discerning Drawing Bursary in 2011 and was joint winner of the Marshwood Arts Award in 2017.  His series of paintings based on Samuel Beckett’s ‘Krapp’s Last Tape’ were exhibited as part of the inaugural International Beckett Festival, Enniskillen, NI, in 2012.  In 2016 his Fisherman paintings were shown in the Fishing Museum in Cromer.  Jason gained his Masters in Fine Art from the Sir John Cass School of Art and was awarded Distinction for his research on the nature of symbolism and metaphor in paintings.  In 2016 he was proud to curate the exhibition of paintings of his friend and mentor Ron Delavigne at the Highgate Gallery.

For further information please contact Jasonsumray@yahoo.co.uk www.jasonsumray.com

Image: detail from ‘Spoons Looking Right’ © Jason Sumray, oil on canvas. All rights reserved

What’s in a Jug?  Paintings and etchings by Jason Sumray     11-24 September 2020

For his Highgate Gallery show ‘What’s in a Jug?’ Jason Sumray brings together a series of oil paintings and etchings that are invented Still Lifes.  He takes ordinary objects and gives them new meanings;  grouping and juxtaposing them as if they are protagonists in table-top dramas.

The series began with an interest in images where the human presence was still strongly felt but figures were absent.  Drawers are half open, stools and chairs empty, plates, cutlery, jugs and serviettes left on the dinner table.  Jason’s purpose was not to create a direct or distinguishable narrative, but rather to offer triggers that evoke potential meaning.  In time, he has become more concerned with a different kind of ‘narrative’ played out in his imaginary theatre world of objects;  where, in the tradition of Still Life, the things seem to exist autonomously regardless of human involvement, and what is important is their relationship to one another and to the empty space.

Several paintings in the exhibition deal with a preoccupation with the theme of ‘Spilt Strawberries and Cream’;  images that were begun as a response to Chardin’s quietly evocative ‘Basket of Wild Strawberries’ (1761).  Jason felt he wanted to upset Chardin’s delicate and finely balanced conical construction.

Jason’s interest in the language of light and dark has been extended into the discipline of etching using solely black ink.  He loves the blackness of the medium and how it’s possible to play with the way the forms emerge or disappear into the darkness, where edges are lost and then re-emerge.  He etches from his paintings;  they inform each other.

Jason Sumray lives and paints in North London.  He has exhibited in various galleries in London and elsewhere and has been shortlisted for a number of Open Competitions.  He won the Discerning Drawing Bursary in 2011 and was joint winner of the Marshwood Arts Award in 2017.  His series of paintings based on Samuel Beckett’s ‘Krapp’s Last Tape’ were exhibited as part of the inaugural International Beckett Festival, Enniskillen, NI, in 2012.  In 2016 his Fisherman paintings were shown in the Fishing Museum in Cromer.  Jason gained his Masters in Fine Art from the Sir John Cass School of Art and was awarded Distinction for his research on the nature of symbolism and metaphor in paintings.  In 2016 he was proud to curate the exhibition of paintings of his friend and mentor Ron Delavigne at the Highgate Gallery.

For further information please contact Jasonsumray@yahoo.co.uk www.jasonsumray.com

Image: detail from ‘Spoons Looking Right’ © Jason Sumray, oil on canvas. All rights reserved

What’s in a Jug?  Paintings and etchings by Jason Sumray     11-24 September 2020

For his Highgate Gallery show ‘What’s in a Jug?’ Jason Sumray brings together a series of oil paintings and etchings that are invented Still Lifes.  He takes ordinary objects and gives them new meanings;  grouping and juxtaposing them as if they are protagonists in table-top dramas.

The series began with an interest in images where the human presence was still strongly felt but figures were absent.  Drawers are half open, stools and chairs empty, plates, cutlery, jugs and serviettes left on the dinner table.  Jason’s purpose was not to create a direct or distinguishable narrative, but rather to offer triggers that evoke potential meaning.  In time, he has become more concerned with a different kind of ‘narrative’ played out in his imaginary theatre world of objects;  where, in the tradition of Still Life, the things seem to exist autonomously regardless of human involvement, and what is important is their relationship to one another and to the empty space.

Several paintings in the exhibition deal with a preoccupation with the theme of ‘Spilt Strawberries and Cream’;  images that were begun as a response to Chardin’s quietly evocative ‘Basket of Wild Strawberries’ (1761).  Jason felt he wanted to upset Chardin’s delicate and finely balanced conical construction.

Jason’s interest in the language of light and dark has been extended into the discipline of etching using solely black ink.  He loves the blackness of the medium and how it’s possible to play with the way the forms emerge or disappear into the darkness, where edges are lost and then re-emerge.  He etches from his paintings;  they inform each other.

Jason Sumray lives and paints in North London.  He has exhibited in various galleries in London and elsewhere and has been shortlisted for a number of Open Competitions.  He won the Discerning Drawing Bursary in 2011 and was joint winner of the Marshwood Arts Award in 2017.  His series of paintings based on Samuel Beckett’s ‘Krapp’s Last Tape’ were exhibited as part of the inaugural International Beckett Festival, Enniskillen, NI, in 2012.  In 2016 his Fisherman paintings were shown in the Fishing Museum in Cromer.  Jason gained his Masters in Fine Art from the Sir John Cass School of Art and was awarded Distinction for his research on the nature of symbolism and metaphor in paintings.  In 2016 he was proud to curate the exhibition of paintings of his friend and mentor Ron Delavigne at the Highgate Gallery.

For further information please contact Jasonsumray@yahoo.co.uk www.jasonsumray.com

Image: detail from ‘Spoons Looking Right’ © Jason Sumray, oil on canvas. All rights reserved

What’s in a Jug?  Paintings and etchings by Jason Sumray     11-24 September 2020

For his Highgate Gallery show ‘What’s in a Jug?’ Jason Sumray brings together a series of oil paintings and etchings that are invented Still Lifes.  He takes ordinary objects and gives them new meanings;  grouping and juxtaposing them as if they are protagonists in table-top dramas.

The series began with an interest in images where the human presence was still strongly felt but figures were absent.  Drawers are half open, stools and chairs empty, plates, cutlery, jugs and serviettes left on the dinner table.  Jason’s purpose was not to create a direct or distinguishable narrative, but rather to offer triggers that evoke potential meaning.  In time, he has become more concerned with a different kind of ‘narrative’ played out in his imaginary theatre world of objects;  where, in the tradition of Still Life, the things seem to exist autonomously regardless of human involvement, and what is important is their relationship to one another and to the empty space.

Several paintings in the exhibition deal with a preoccupation with the theme of ‘Spilt Strawberries and Cream’;  images that were begun as a response to Chardin’s quietly evocative ‘Basket of Wild Strawberries’ (1761).  Jason felt he wanted to upset Chardin’s delicate and finely balanced conical construction.

Jason’s interest in the language of light and dark has been extended into the discipline of etching using solely black ink.  He loves the blackness of the medium and how it’s possible to play with the way the forms emerge or disappear into the darkness, where edges are lost and then re-emerge.  He etches from his paintings;  they inform each other.

Jason Sumray lives and paints in North London.  He has exhibited in various galleries in London and elsewhere and has been shortlisted for a number of Open Competitions.  He won the Discerning Drawing Bursary in 2011 and was joint winner of the Marshwood Arts Award in 2017.  His series of paintings based on Samuel Beckett’s ‘Krapp’s Last Tape’ were exhibited as part of the inaugural International Beckett Festival, Enniskillen, NI, in 2012.  In 2016 his Fisherman paintings were shown in the Fishing Museum in Cromer.  Jason gained his Masters in Fine Art from the Sir John Cass School of Art and was awarded Distinction for his research on the nature of symbolism and metaphor in paintings.  In 2016 he was proud to curate the exhibition of paintings of his friend and mentor Ron Delavigne at the Highgate Gallery.

For further information please contact Jasonsumray@yahoo.co.uk www.jasonsumray.com

Image: detail from ‘Spoons Looking Right’ © Jason Sumray, oil on canvas. All rights reserved

What’s in a Jug?  Paintings and etchings by Jason Sumray     11-24 September 2020

For his Highgate Gallery show ‘What’s in a Jug?’ Jason Sumray brings together a series of oil paintings and etchings that are invented Still Lifes.  He takes ordinary objects and gives them new meanings;  grouping and juxtaposing them as if they are protagonists in table-top dramas.

The series began with an interest in images where the human presence was still strongly felt but figures were absent.  Drawers are half open, stools and chairs empty, plates, cutlery, jugs and serviettes left on the dinner table.  Jason’s purpose was not to create a direct or distinguishable narrative, but rather to offer triggers that evoke potential meaning.  In time, he has become more concerned with a different kind of ‘narrative’ played out in his imaginary theatre world of objects;  where, in the tradition of Still Life, the things seem to exist autonomously regardless of human involvement, and what is important is their relationship to one another and to the empty space.

Several paintings in the exhibition deal with a preoccupation with the theme of ‘Spilt Strawberries and Cream’;  images that were begun as a response to Chardin’s quietly evocative ‘Basket of Wild Strawberries’ (1761).  Jason felt he wanted to upset Chardin’s delicate and finely balanced conical construction.

Jason’s interest in the language of light and dark has been extended into the discipline of etching using solely black ink.  He loves the blackness of the medium and how it’s possible to play with the way the forms emerge or disappear into the darkness, where edges are lost and then re-emerge.  He etches from his paintings;  they inform each other.

Jason Sumray lives and paints in North London.  He has exhibited in various galleries in London and elsewhere and has been shortlisted for a number of Open Competitions.  He won the Discerning Drawing Bursary in 2011 and was joint winner of the Marshwood Arts Award in 2017.  His series of paintings based on Samuel Beckett’s ‘Krapp’s Last Tape’ were exhibited as part of the inaugural International Beckett Festival, Enniskillen, NI, in 2012.  In 2016 his Fisherman paintings were shown in the Fishing Museum in Cromer.  Jason gained his Masters in Fine Art from the Sir John Cass School of Art and was awarded Distinction for his research on the nature of symbolism and metaphor in paintings.  In 2016 he was proud to curate the exhibition of paintings of his friend and mentor Ron Delavigne at the Highgate Gallery.

For further information please contact Jasonsumray@yahoo.co.uk www.jasonsumray.com

Image: detail from ‘Spoons Looking Right’ © Jason Sumray, oil on canvas. All rights reserved

What’s in a Jug?  Paintings and etchings by Jason Sumray     11-24 September 2020

For his Highgate Gallery show ‘What’s in a Jug?’ Jason Sumray brings together a series of oil paintings and etchings that are invented Still Lifes.  He takes ordinary objects and gives them new meanings;  grouping and juxtaposing them as if they are protagonists in table-top dramas.

The series began with an interest in images where the human presence was still strongly felt but figures were absent.  Drawers are half open, stools and chairs empty, plates, cutlery, jugs and serviettes left on the dinner table.  Jason’s purpose was not to create a direct or distinguishable narrative, but rather to offer triggers that evoke potential meaning.  In time, he has become more concerned with a different kind of ‘narrative’ played out in his imaginary theatre world of objects;  where, in the tradition of Still Life, the things seem to exist autonomously regardless of human involvement, and what is important is their relationship to one another and to the empty space.

Several paintings in the exhibition deal with a preoccupation with the theme of ‘Spilt Strawberries and Cream’;  images that were begun as a response to Chardin’s quietly evocative ‘Basket of Wild Strawberries’ (1761).  Jason felt he wanted to upset Chardin’s delicate and finely balanced conical construction.

Jason’s interest in the language of light and dark has been extended into the discipline of etching using solely black ink.  He loves the blackness of the medium and how it’s possible to play with the way the forms emerge or disappear into the darkness, where edges are lost and then re-emerge.  He etches from his paintings;  they inform each other.

Jason Sumray lives and paints in North London.  He has exhibited in various galleries in London and elsewhere and has been shortlisted for a number of Open Competitions.  He won the Discerning Drawing Bursary in 2011 and was joint winner of the Marshwood Arts Award in 2017.  His series of paintings based on Samuel Beckett’s ‘Krapp’s Last Tape’ were exhibited as part of the inaugural International Beckett Festival, Enniskillen, NI, in 2012.  In 2016 his Fisherman paintings were shown in the Fishing Museum in Cromer.  Jason gained his Masters in Fine Art from the Sir John Cass School of Art and was awarded Distinction for his research on the nature of symbolism and metaphor in paintings.  In 2016 he was proud to curate the exhibition of paintings of his friend and mentor Ron Delavigne at the Highgate Gallery.

For further information please contact Jasonsumray@yahoo.co.uk

www.jasonsumray.com

Monday 21st September 2020   7.00 pm

Completely landlocked, surrounded by Russia and China, and known as the Land of Blue Skies, Mongolia is noted for its vast rugged expanses  that link land and sky and is one of the last few places on the planet where nomadic life is still a living tradition. With the lowest population density among all independent countries in the world, it is this vast and majestic emptiness that is the country’s enduring appeal, bringing the traveller, as it does, into a close communion with nature and its nomadic inhabitants.  Join Betty Pires as she takes you on tour, via Zoom, through the fabled land of Genghis Khan, Emperor of the Mongol Empire, who established the largest contiguous empire in history.  Betty will take you through the massive Gobi Desert and the shores of Lake Hovsgol,  the ruins of Kharakhorum, site of the 13^th century capital of the Mongol Empire, the scenic Flaming Cliffs where Roy Chapman Andrews found the first ever dinosaur eggs and listen to traditional “throat singing”

This is an online Zoom event. (Click here for advice on how to participate.)

Pre-booking on Eventbrite is essential – click here. The Zoom meeting link will be sent by email on or before the day of the event.

Image: detail from ‘Spoons Looking Right’ © Jason Sumray, oil on canvas. All rights reserved

What’s in a Jug?  Paintings and etchings by Jason Sumray     11-24 September 2020

For his Highgate Gallery show ‘What’s in a Jug?’ Jason Sumray brings together a series of oil paintings and etchings that are invented Still Lifes.  He takes ordinary objects and gives them new meanings;  grouping and juxtaposing them as if they are protagonists in table-top dramas.

The series began with an interest in images where the human presence was still strongly felt but figures were absent.  Drawers are half open, stools and chairs empty, plates, cutlery, jugs and serviettes left on the dinner table.  Jason’s purpose was not to create a direct or distinguishable narrative, but rather to offer triggers that evoke potential meaning.  In time, he has become more concerned with a different kind of ‘narrative’ played out in his imaginary theatre world of objects;  where, in the tradition of Still Life, the things seem to exist autonomously regardless of human involvement, and what is important is their relationship to one another and to the empty space.

Several paintings in the exhibition deal with a preoccupation with the theme of ‘Spilt Strawberries and Cream’;  images that were begun as a response to Chardin’s quietly evocative ‘Basket of Wild Strawberries’ (1761).  Jason felt he wanted to upset Chardin’s delicate and finely balanced conical construction.

Jason’s interest in the language of light and dark has been extended into the discipline of etching using solely black ink.  He loves the blackness of the medium and how it’s possible to play with the way the forms emerge or disappear into the darkness, where edges are lost and then re-emerge.  He etches from his paintings;  they inform each other.

Jason Sumray lives and paints in North London.  He has exhibited in various galleries in London and elsewhere and has been shortlisted for a number of Open Competitions.  He won the Discerning Drawing Bursary in 2011 and was joint winner of the Marshwood Arts Award in 2017.  His series of paintings based on Samuel Beckett’s ‘Krapp’s Last Tape’ were exhibited as part of the inaugural International Beckett Festival, Enniskillen, NI, in 2012.  In 2016 his Fisherman paintings were shown in the Fishing Museum in Cromer.  Jason gained his Masters in Fine Art from the Sir John Cass School of Art and was awarded Distinction for his research on the nature of symbolism and metaphor in paintings.  In 2016 he was proud to curate the exhibition of paintings of his friend and mentor Ron Delavigne at the Highgate Gallery.

For further information please contact Jasonsumray@yahoo.co.uk www.jasonsumray.com