Mark Walter and None of the Above

This is a shortened version of my news letter a more detailed version will follow next time.

My latest exhibition is almost upon us a group show with my old MA group and we now meet regularly for crits. We never had a show at the end of our MA as we were in the middle of COVID-19. So this is a good chance for us to show together and exhibit work we have been working on since then. The five other artists are Seiko Harima, Josie Taylor, Judy Hirshorn, Jane Andrews, and Lee Rousell, It all takes place at one of my favourite St Leonards venues Electro Studios, Seaside Road. The date and times are 1st March 6 pm --9 pm 2nd & 3rd March 12 - 5 pm and I am delighted that my good friends Rob and Andy also known as the Barbarian Horde will be playing at the PV on Friday evening.  

Looking forward to seeing you on Friday at the private view, or over the weekend at the exhibition. If you can't make it there will be lots of photos on social media.

Mark Walter Art for 2024

Hello. A  very belated Happy New Year. Lots going on for the New Year art-wise after a successful 2023, and thank you again to everyone who supported me.
My last exhibition, at Priory Meadow, was a success. Thank you to those who attended, particularly at the private view which was a horrible wet day. An interesting place for a pop-up gallery in a shopping centre, particularly at Christmas! A big thank you to Julia Kotziamani from Hastings Art School  Thank you for the great feedback, particularly about how I curated the show. Finally, Jude Montague interviewed me for the Hastings Online Times in December about the exhibition thank you, Jude. 

Still in the planning stage, but excited about my first group exhibition of the year in early March at the Electro Studios, Saint Leonards on Sea. As you might know,  this is one of my favourite gallery spaces. It's been a long time coming but finally exhibiting with my MA group from Brighton. We had the nightmare of finishing our MA in lockdown and then never had a proper final show, only an online show which wasn't the same.
So this is our first show together since. The exhibition, as I said, is still in the planning stage. The date for the exhibition is the first weekend in March with the PV being on the Friday evening of the 1st of March and the exhibition running over the 2nd and 3rd of that weekend. Check my events page for updates and there will be more details in my next newsletter.

It is early in the year and as I write this we are in a very cold snap so a good time to see an exhibition. I braved the conditions to go up to London and see Women in Revolt! - Women in Activism 1970-1990 I have to say what a fabulous show and way overdue! Spread over a large area of Tate Britain it details the feminist movement from the 1970s through the 1980s until the 1990s. In those twenty years, feminism exploded and women used their life experiences to make art. The exhibition covers many art forms, painting, photography, film and performance art. 
I was shocked but not surprised that many of these artists, although having long careers, were forgotten at the time and, for many, this is the first time for their artwork to be displayed since the 1970s. I loved this exhibition for the way it portrayed the artists and the amazing diversity of the work. If you haven't already seen it I thoroughly recommend you do. 

I am currently working on a very large biro drawing you will see in my latest social media post with Jeff the cat adding his usual helpful paw marks to my work! I plan to show this and other biro drawings in a show later in the year so watch this space for further updates. 

Mark Walter Solo in the Shopping Centre

There has been a lot happening this year and it carries on with my involvement in three exhibitions in December see below for more details.  

The last few weeks have been very busy on what has been a busy and successful year and thank you to everyone who helped me along the way. I have a solo show Titled: More Mono Than Chrome at the Hastings Art School space at the Priory Meadow Shopping Centre from 6-10 December. The opening hours are 12-4 pm from 6 -9 December, and I my private view is on the last day Sunday 10th December from 1-5 pm Please Pop in for a drink and look at my latest work. 

Christmas is rapidly approaching,  it's been a busy time for all and if you need a Christmas idea  I have a couple of pieces in the Affordable Art Winter Exhibition at the Rogue Gallery that runs through December until the 23rd. I also have two works in a show organised by The Hastings Art School at Electro Studios in early December, Titled: The Old is Dying. The Private View is on December 1st from  6 -9 pm and it continues on Saturday 2nd and Sunday 3rd from 10 -5 pm. Check my Events page for more details.

View fullsize

View fullsize

Left: "The board is not the game", ink on paper

Right: "Some strung together, some not", acrylic on paper

I managed to get up to London recently to Gallery 475, which happens to be opposite Chelsea Football Ground on Fulham Road to see Giselle Jones who was part of a group show titled, Untold. It was great to see Giselle and her new work, Giselle and I completed the MA fine Art course at Brighton University. Her new work looked stunning and had an amazing depth. I also loved the video work by Tomasz Matuszak 

Mark Walter and More Monochrome

Since my last newsletter, the last exhibition, In Harm's Way was a great success in visitor numbers and sales.  Thanks again to Oli Spleen and Wolfgang Dubieniec for making it a great event, and thanks to everyone who came, it was lovely to see so many friends and also new faces. 

I have a lot coming up including a group show, Do You See What I Sea, which had its private view on Friday 20 October. There are nine artists and it's at the Cake Room and the exhibition runs until 12 November.

In December I have a solo exhibition at the pop-up gallery in Priory Meadow in early December.  More details will be forthcoming in my next newsletter, Please view my Events page for details.

Above are a couple of pictures from the private view of In Harm's Way.

Above are the three works that I am showing at the Cake Room. They are 'When The Fisherman Comes', 'Undermine me like a Dorset Cliff', and 'You cast me away like a piece of Driftwood'.

I recently visited a gallery in South London that I hadn't been to before, playfully named The Sunday Painter. I really love the space, laid out on two floors and maybe a location you would not expect to see a modern contemporary gallery situated on South Lambeth Road. The latest exhibition titled 'When a Bird Lands on the Ground it invariably stops singing' by Ernesto Burgos a Chilean-American born in Santa Clare, California in 1979. I really loved his playful abstract works made from fibreglass, cardboard, resin, and wood and topped with oil paint, polyurethane wood stain, topped with different brush strokes as well as a spray bottle. Burgos is primarily a sculptor but these works that hang on the wall rather than his usual floor-based work have embraced a more painterly expression. I recommend a trip to this Portuguese-laden part of south London to see this stunning and exciting exhibition but be quick as the show closes on the 28th of October. 

As we move into the autumnal part of the year, one of my favourites and obviously not mentioning Christmas! I look forward to sharing more details of my latest works and up-and-coming exhibitions in my next newsletter. 

Mark Walter In Harms Way

I hope you are enjoying the late summer sunshine. St. Leonards is a great place to live particularly when the sun is out! 

In my last newsletter, there were a couple of spelling errors, My apologies to Tessa and Markus Thonett which I now hope are correct.

I spoke in my last newsletter about exhibitions I have coming up, well my latest one is less than two weeks away! A  group show with my good friends Oli Spleen and Wolfgang Dubieniec at the Electro Studios Landing Gallery in St Leonards.

Some of you know Oli and Wolfgang. To give you a bit more detail about their work Oli Spleen started as a visual artist in the 1990s with paintings and later with sculpture and film. Having to leave the University of East London after the second year of his BA due to AIDS-related complications, he started to approach writing as an art form, later branching out to music, performance and songwriting. His work continues to draw on all these elements. Wolfgang Dubieniec is a filmmaker, musician & visual artist with a broad body of work in photography, music videos, sound design, songwriting and installation. With a first-class BA Honours in digital music and sound arts, his work strongly focuses on creating experiences of emotion, nostalgia and memory through various mediums.
Please view my Events page for details, times, locations etc 

In my studio preparing canvases for new work for the In Harms Way exhibition in September. 

My assistant Jeff the cat doing his best to help me out but mainly sleeping!

Contagion is one of my older pieces and is currently in an exhibition at The Hasting Art Forum Gallery in St Leonards, which runs until 17th September.

I like to feature other artists, Two artists whom I have recently interviewed Anne Lydiat and Alison Claire France are artists who both have a really interesting way of mark-making and both use drawing as the main medium in their practice, something that I also do but that doesn't always feature in the finished piece. 

Looking forward to hopefully seeing you at In Harms Way or an exhibition soon. Please contact me if you would like to arrange a studio visit in person or an online tour.

Mark Walter and the many shows

It’s been a busy time regarding exhibitions and l have a lot coming up. 

The exhibition at Nottingham was a busy time. I had a great weekend, thank you to Jake Francis for his fantastic work in getting the show on, curating and doing most of the invigilating taking down & packing up the show!
It is set to get even busier soon with exhibitions in my diary spread over the next year or so. My next exhibition is a group show in Hastings at a new gallery called Blast set up by Tessa Thornett and Marcus Thonett. See my recent article on them and the gallery; titled  A New Gallery Takes Off The exhibition called Abstraction is on from Wed-Sat 16th - 26th August 12-5 pm. PV is on 18th August 6-9 pm at St Andrews Market, Waldegrave St, Hastings TN34 1SJ

In September I am showing at The Electro Studios with two very good friends of mine Wolfgang Dubieniec & Nick Hudson. It's set to take place from the 21st-24th of September.
I will also have a solo show probably in November, I will have more details soon. I also have three shows booked for next year again more details to follow. Please view my Events page for details of dates. I am busy preparing new work for the next show.

My work from the recent Hastings Art School Exhibition.

The Private View from the recent Hastings Art School Exhibition.

As always there have been a lot of exhibitions in Hastings and St Leonards & l have seen a fair few but one of my favourite exhibitions at the moment is at is by the Korean Artist Yun- Hung -Keun. As you enter the space via the closed doors, you are immediately hit by the calmness the paintings give off. The artist referred to his monumental works as 'the gate of heaven and earth. Yun said that he diligently deposited layers of pigment onto raw cotton or linen canvas,  creating hazy rigid-looking pillars that appeared almost black. He then diluted the paint with turpentine until it fused with a cloth. Yun restricted his palette to sombre earth tones and used multiple coats of blended burnt umber that look like a rusty red and a deep blue ultramarine. Using this method, Yun said that he sought to endow his works with an ethereal, fearsome quality reminiscent of the powerful forces of nature. I thoroughly recommend this exhibition and you can see it until the 1st of October at The Hastings Comptempory.

Hopefully to get see you at one of my up-and-coming shows and as I say there will be more details to follow. Please contact me if you need more details regarding exhibitions and my work. 

Mark Walter Remains in Nottingham

Hello. Welcome to my latest newsletter. Time has flown by and it's now time for my second exhibition of the year. As a result, this is a quick update newsletter. I will send out a more detailed one after the exhibition.

My latest group exhibition is in Nottingham and features 10 artists, please take a look at the flyer below for more details. The exhibition is at the Backlit Gallery in Nottingham from the 27th of May until the 3rd of June. The Private view is on Friday the 26th of May from 6 pm-9 pm. Please view my Events page for opening times and dates. 

Above left: My Heart Feels Like Rotten Fruit
Oil paint and household paint on canvas 60 x 60 x 5 cm 

I have not had a lot of time to see exhibitions with the exhibition in Nottingham looming but I did see an interesting exhibition last Friday at the Hastings ArtsForum Gallery featuring four artists. One is Tim Oakenfall, whose figurative abstraction I loved. Tim says " Ultimately, I’m creating paintings I would want on my wall". which might be why I bought one! The exhibition also features Nathalie Frost who is inspired by textiles and antique lace and also found objects including shells to create her art. And as she says "She aims to promote the use of stitched works/embroidery/craft as an art form". The other two artists are Mark Shepard whose work is inspired by the everyday and  Richard Reinhardt a UK-based composer with a focus on ambient, experimental, and cinematic music. The exhibition is on until the 28th of May and is really worth a look. 

So If I don't see you in Nottingham hopefully catch up with you soon.

Mark

Mark Walter and the Unfair

Hello. Welcome to my latest newsletter, It's been a busy time. 

The group show I was involved in at the start of the month, All the Fair of the Unfair, was a great success. We had a busy Private view and Exhibition and plenty of our works were sold. I have added a few pictures from the private view below. The paintings in the background of these pictures are top to bottom on mobile, or clockwise from top left on a big screen. A Mood Painting is not to be seen but to be felt, then there are two pictures of the triptych, Torment and the pain leaked through and the last picture is Banal Expectations 

My next show will be at the Backlit Gallery in Nottingham at the end of May. I will have more information about this exhibition in my next newsletter, please view my Events page for times and dates.

I recently wrote a piece about my friend and fellow artist Victoria Kiff for the Hastings Independent. Victoria is showing at the Rogue Gallery,  I really love Victoria's work, it is of a figurative bent and has a  classical yet modern quality and fantastic movement. The exhibition is on until May 7th and is a must-see. 
 

 There are some great exhibitions at the moment at the Hastings Comptempory, including Kosoff and Soutain  There are around 40 works from the two artists. The discovery of Soutine’s paintings in the early 1950s was apparently a significant moment for Kossoff, who was already finding his way towards the kind of direct and expressive use of paint he saw in his predecessor’s work. I plan to review this show in the coming months. Also at the contemporary is We Out Here  The exhibition represents six Black Artists of Caribbean heritage living in Hastings. The artists worked in different mediums, exploring different themes including migration, Black lives in coastal towns, relationships with the sea, climate justice and racial injustice, fast fashion and the Black presence in crafts. Another excellent show so a great reason to have a day by the sea. 

Hopefully, see you at my next exhibition at the end of May. 

Mark

A comtempory visit

On a freezing cold winter’s morning, I rose from my bunker and tentatively made my way out onto the stone path and was immediately hit by the temperature but once into my stride I quickly warmed to the task and made quick headway towards the Hastings contemporary gallery situated in the fishing quarter of Hastings.

Once there I moved into the main gallery and was immediately impressed with the large paintings on show. The artist is Belgium born- British artist Caragh Thuring. The work spans fifteen years and is the first major survey of her work. With more than 20 works from paintings, drawings and monotypes it represents an impressive body of work.

Thuring grew up in Scotland she lived near the beautiful Holy loch in Cowel. Although from 1961 -1992 it was used as a United States Navy Ballistic Missile base, which might be the reason that Thuring has the clash between industrial and nature that flows through her work. The exhibition is on until March 12th 2023.

Dock 2 by Caragh Thuring

There are currently two exhibitions in the upstairs gallery. I was particularly taken by the drawing of Penny McCarthy. The catalyst for the drawing according to the press release was a newspaper image from 2016 of a Fata Morgana mirage in the sky above Hastings that looked like a portal in the sky. She was prevented by the pandemic from going to Hastings, but a path opened up for her to look at the exploration of myths and narratives associated with the sea and sky. The artist received the biennial Evelyn Williams award in 2019 and McCarthy has achieved a great body of work from it, that entwines the atmospheric overtones of the gothic. The exhibition is on until 12th March 2023. The third exhibition is a group show titled Making Waves and is a special exhibition to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the gallery opening its doors. The exhibition includes works by Chantel Joffe, Rose Wylie, Maggie Hambling and Quentin Blake. The exhibition is on until 12th March 2023 and I really recommend a visit.

Cathy McCarthy Title; Clouds fall in love with mortal. For me this has the drawing quility of Anselm Kiefer.

 

Mark Walter Art in St Leonards

This is my first newsletter for a while. A quick update on St Leonards, I love it!

Since my move here I have been writing for the local paper, The Hastings Independent’s/art section. This came about after I was interviewed by Nick & Helen Pelling who also write for the paper and they suggested that I should do the same. I thought "okay, why not" and up to now have enjoyed writing, its also given me the chance to meet a lot of creative people in the local area. If you want to read my articles and the one about me click on this link. As well as writing I have been working on new artwork. Although it's an old theme of mine, on the surface, there is a lot more to explore. For this series I have been using wooden panels, wood suits my work well as it's a lot more durable than canvas, it takes well to sanding and scraping of the surface. I will be using it a lot more.

It's been a long time since I have had an exhibition or event to report but a bit like buses three come along. I was part of an auction last week for the Hastings independent, the catalogue is here.
I donated an artwork called "An iceberg through a slaughterhouse window" which sold. I have two exhibitions planned for next year see my event page for details. I plan to make up for lost time and have a lot more exhibitions next year.

This work titled "An unusual lightness, like bland innocence", is from my new series of paintings on wood panels. Oil on wood 51 x 41 cm. For Sale

One of many things I like about St Leonards/Hastings is the number of small independent galleries and the number of private views there are mainly on a Friday evening. A couple of highlights included Shadowlands, an alternative photography process a group show featuring six artists. I enjoyed seeing the different processes achievable in photography. The exhibition was part of the month-long Hastings photo festival featuring artists from the photo Hastings group. The second exhibition is currently on at The Big Yin Gallery in London Rd St Leonards and featuring Harry Mcmorrow. I loved Harry's quirky loud tufted tapestries. According to the catalogue, they are images and characters from classical Mythology associated with the pop art movement, so it's well worth a visit.

Finally, there are many lovely walks in St Leonards and the Hastings area. It's on these walks I have found artistic inspiration. It's not always a lovely building, of which there are many, or a stunning landscape, but it could be on the ground or a derelict wall or building that takes my interest. This is evident in my ongoing series of photographs/ digital paintings. This work is entitled Confront the silence without light.

So that's about it for this newsletter, but if you would like to see my new work then please check out my website and the usual social media sites. In my next letter, I hope to have more information about my group exhibition in March.

Mark Walter and St Leonards

I have left Brighton and moved along the coast to St Leonards. It has been an unsettled three months but I hope to be moving into my own place soon. It is exciting as St Leonards and Hastings have so much to offer. The Hastings Contemporary has developed a genuine local flavour and are supporting local artists. I plan to join the Hastings Arts Forum too

 This is called "That which remains the same rises from the dark" and is 80 x 60 and digital media.

I have recently met Helen Murphy and Nick Pelling, keen participants in the Hastings art scene and great writers, they are writing a piece about me that should be published soon. I'm looking forward to getting settled and seeing more local shows.

I went to see Thunderbolt Disco, the show by Robert Nava, at the Pace Gallery. His paintings are large and very vibrant and he uses various media and the textures are rough and thick. He depicts everyday life including pictures of fish and cats. His work is selling for lots of money, so I'm off to paint a six-foot picture of my cat Jeff.

Looking forward to seeing you at an exhibition soon.