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.

Mark Walter and the end of 2021

This is my final post of 2021 and it had been another bumpy, eventful year with not as many opportunities to exhibit or to attend events.

The year started in lockdown and there were opportunities to be productive and I felt that some of the work produced during this lockdown is amongst my strongest to date. Taking the opportunity to open the house in Brighton for Artists Open Houses was a learning experience and an inspiration to run my own gallery. As the year has progressed I have had to put the Walter Wolf Gallery project on hold for now and I am selling the house and leaving Brighton. I will also be moving from the studio in Portslade which is being taken over by the artist Mike Barrett.

Brighton Station on Monday morning was started in 2019 and then completely reworked in 2021. This is a triptych, oil on canvas, with each panel being 1 m x 50 cm with layered textures created by rubbing each layer back. I have completely overpainted the canvas and reworked it again to get to this point.

I visited the Hayward Gallery in November to see the Gerhard Richter drawing exhibition. This was his first show in a major gallery in London for ten years. The drawings were a mixture of graphite, ink and watercolour and a series of overpainted photographs. I really enjoyed the fluidity and movement of the works particularly some of the watercolours.

I had an amazing trip to Paris for my dear friend Nick Hudson's birthday weekend and we even managed to see some art! I haven't been to Paris for some years but I was blown away by the Pompidou Centre, it is very different to when I was last there. They had a lot of amazing art on show as well as two exhibitions by Georgia O'Keefe and Georg Baselitz, both stunning shows as O'Keefe's detail and Baselitz's direct and dynamic brushstrokes were both stunning to behold.

Mark Walter and the studio move

First my apologies for the delay in posting, a lot has happened since the end of Artists Open Houses in June.

I am really excited to have taken over the former studio of the wonderful Jane Andrews in Portslade. The new studio gives me much more space to work and I'll be able to produce larger work again with ease. If you would like to visit please call me to arrange a time. The closest station is Portslade and there are lots of buses that go along Kingsway, the studio is just a couple of stops away from Hove Lagoon.

I recently visited Chrissy McLaughlan in Coventry and she has been producing some amazing work over the summer, check out her Instagram to see some.

I was in Hastings on 17 October to see the Barbarian Horde play at the Jenny Lind.
While there I went to the Hastings Contemporary, They currently have two shows and the first is Project Art Works: Ignition-The Exhibition. Ignition began as a residency and is now being exhibited in the main gallery space. During the last national lockdown, artists worked in the temporary studio while the building was closed to the public.

The second show is called Seaside Modern: Art and life on the beach. This exhibition ends 31 October. Curator James Russell takes a fresh look at the popularity of the British seaside in the first half of the 20th century. The exhibition includes work by Paul Nash, LS Lowry, Eileen Agar and Laura Knight. 

Things are slow for me at the moment as I have broken my right arm. I'm still in the studio working though if you would like to arrange a studio visit in person, or an online tour.

Are you ready for more Brighton Art

I have been slowly getting back into things following the Artists Open Houses. Summer has arrived, even in a wet and windy way, and I have been seeking inspiration for my latest series of works on board.

If you managed to visit us during Artists Open Houses you may recognise 'The druggist was alone now' above left. The cracks are developing well as the painting dries and matures. This painting and 'Yellow as the bloom of a coward's heart' (right), are both now hung in the hallway with six other works from this series. All are oil paint and medium on canvas and 30 x 30 x 5 cm.
Below I am hanging 'Earthquakes are like messengers sent out to explore new land'.

Work is ongoing on the Walter Wolf Gallery, our new gallery project in Brighton. Please take a look at the website and follow us on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.

The two local exhibitions I am looking forward to are Flankers presents: Charlatans at the Fishing Quarter Gallery in Brighton and the Wolfgang Tillmans exhibition "Moon in Earthlight" at the Maureen Paley gallery in Hove.
There is a great interview in the Guardian with Tillmans.

Looking forward to seeing you at 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 Artists Open House

Artists Open Houses Summer 2021 has finished and I'm really happy to have taken part and opened the house to visitors. I want to thank you for your support and your visits both online and in-person. This really has been a demonstration of the viewer being an essential part of the artistic process and it has been great to get back to talking to people about my work.

It was fantastic to be sharing the space with Chrissy McLauglan and Zoe Toolan, and to watch the maze which Zoe built during the month.

Now that the Open Houses is complete it is time to start planning some new events, please keep an eye on my Events page in the coming weeks. In the meantime please subscribe to the new YouTube channel set up for the Walter Wolf Gallery project.

I was in London recently to see The Loneliness of the Soul, the Tracey Emin and Edvard Much exhibition at the Royal Academy and managed to see Ecstatic Draught of Fishes, Ellen Gallagher at Hauser & Wirth which was really intriguing and well worth a visit.

After the recent small paintings, my next series of works are on board. I plan to have some pictures soon to post on Instagram.

If any of my work has caught your eye please let me know and we can arrange a studio visit in person or an online tour. I'm open to lending work out as well if you would like to test living with any piece.

Mark Walter Art and the 7 dials trail

Preparations continue for the Brighton Artists Open Houses and I'm pleased to announce that the house will be on the seven dials trail. We met with Abigail Bowen and Renee Graham-Adriani from 7 dials art on Saturday 1 May to learn from their experience with opening their homes over the years.

The Artists Open Houses website is now live and you can see all the other houses, and other places, taking part over the five weekends.
We are planning an online Private View on Wednesday 26 May at 6 pm (BST). Please follow this link to get a free ticket.
Keep an eye on the events page on my website for other events as we add them.

In the last post I introduced you to Chrissy McLaughlan and Zoe Toolan. As well as taking part in the Artists Open Houses here in Brighton, Zoe will also be running events at the Od Arts Festival on the late May Bank Holiday weekend. If you can't make it to Somerset the events will also be viewable online over the weekend.

We have launched a new website, Instagram account and mailing list for a new project, the Walter Wolf Gallery. Please sign up, view, follow etc and let us know what you think.

Looking forward to seeing you at Artists Open Houses. Please contact me if you would like to arrange a private studio visit or an online tour.

Mark Walter Art preparing for Artists Open Houses

Here in Brighton work is well underway to prepare for the Artists Open Houses starting on 29 May. Artists Open Houses is running over five weekends from the last weekend in May until the last weekend in June. As well as opening the house to visitors each weekend there will be online events and the house will be open by appointment during the week.
There will be three artists showing in the house, Zoe Toolan and Chrissy McLaughlan will be exhibiting with me at the house and joining in with online events and in person.
I will be updating my Events page with booking and visiting details.

Chrissy McLaughlan is a long-time friend and we first exhibited together in 'The Space in Between', a joint show at Watford Museum. Since then Chrissy has completed a masters degree in Fine Art at Coventry University and has been establishing herself in her new base in Coventry. I have included a few photos below from the Watford private view to remind you of how much fun exhibitions are.

Zoe Toolan is an exciting contemporary artist, arts educator and arts promoter who I first met at the Art Academy in London. If you have seen Zoe's work before you will be ready for the energy that she brings to any event, if you are new to her work I hope that you are ready for something new and thought-provoking.

Hoping to see as many of you as possible at Artists Open Houses in Brighton, either in person or via online tours. Please remember to add my email address to your address book, and forward to anyone who may be interested.

Newsletter

The big news is that I have started a newsletter.

Even though you probably already follow me on social media I want to create a newsletter as an opportunity for me to highlight the key things that I want to share with family, friends and supporters.
I am planning to send a newsletter every few weeks, please let me know if you would like to start receiving the newsletter.

As things open up and exhibitions restart I would like to have as many opportunities as possible to share with you any news of upcoming exhibitions and online tours.

The Rorschach Test

Recently I have started working on a group of painting, currently thirteen, all in acrylic paint on paper.

They are more than a series but not yet a complete new body, maybe they are the limbs of something new? The series has been labelled ‘From order comes chaos’ and most of the paintings have this in their title.

This picture, ‘The Rorschach test’ is the exception so far, while part of the same series, this painting has been hung and shown separately and has been given its own title. Please look in the current work gallery to view the rest of the pictures in this new series.

As always I appreciate feedback on the work, please feel free to comment below, or contact me directly