YOUNG MASTERS 2013 PRESENTED BY THE CYNTHIA CORBETT GALLERY

THE CYNTHIA CORBETT GALLERY PRESENTS A CURATED SELECTION OF THE YOUNG MASTERS ART PRIZE AT HENLEY FESTIVAL 2013

The Young Masters Art Prize is a unique, not-for-profit biennial competition open to international and UK-based artists who combine skill and innovation with awareness of the Old Masters and art of the past. It aims to give global recognition to artists in the early stages of their career.  The tour follows the second edition of the Prize in 2012, which included exhibitions at Sphinx Fine Art in October 2012, and exhibition and prize ceremony at Gallery 27 on Cork Street in November, where 26 shortlisted artists were presented alongside three guest artists: Yinka Shonibare, MBE, Ali Assaf and Lluís Barba

We are delighted to announce that a selection of artists from the Young Masters Art Prize will be shown at Henley Festival 2013.  This selection is a project of the Young Masters Art Prize, curated by Daisy McMullan, (MA Curating, Chelsea College of Art and Design), curator of Young Masters 2012, and featuring artists from Young Masters 2009 – 2012.

 Artists to be exhibited include runner-up Georgia Dodson, highly commended artists, Charles Moxon and shortlisted artists, Fabiano Parisi, Beth Katleman, Christoph Steinmeyer, Derrick Santini, Nina Fowler, Brad Woodfin and selected artists including Elise Ansel, Jamie Lumley, Sun Ae Kim, Patrick Pietropoli and Nicole Etienne.

 We are delighted to present artists from the 2012 edition of the Prize at Henley including Georgia Dodson, Charlie Moxon and Fabiano Parisi, all of whom are young artists with exciting and diverse, contemporary practices; from Dodson’s reimagined forest floor paintings, to Moxon’s exquisitely observed portraiture.

 We are also introducing Elise Ansel to the Young Masters project.  Her contemporary abstracted interpretations of classical paintings include works inspired by Renaissance and Baroque masterpieces.  Her works on paper and on canvas apply a gestural abstraction to master works, providing the view with a new perspective.  Similarly, German artist Christoph Steinmeyer (shortlisted for the Prize in 2012) creates reworkings of Old Master portraits using digital techniques to abstract them, turning them into what the artist calls anti-portraits.

TOM LEIGHTON PRESENTED BY THE CYNTHIA CORBETT GALLERY

The photographs of Tom Leighton engage with the urban landscape. By digitally altering photographs, he tries to deconstruct and retranslate the cities that we inhabit. Creating fictional landscapes allows him to ignore the constraints of possibility and logic. However, as much as he pulls apart and constructs his unique urban views, he aims to create a believable view of the world, which verges on the surreal, but remains rooted in reality.

EWAN DAVID EASON PRESENTED BY THE CYNTHIA CORBETT GALLERY

Ewan David Eason investigates the interplay of contrasts - the notions that one force drives the other. Death/life, loose/rigid, serious/funny, hard/soft, light/dark are familiar themes within his work._

In the Mappa Mundi Series, Ewan explores the sacred spaces between the roads in diverse metropolitan cities. By removing the street names and colouring the buildings in golf, he aims to draw on the egalitarianism of the city and the sacredness therein.

The title was inspired by the medieval Mappa Mundi- a general term used to describe maps of the world and taken from the Latin words Mappa (cloth or chart) and Mundi (of the worlds). The majority of the maps were circular- in reference to Biblical verses such as Isaiah 40:22:

 "He sits enthroned above the circle of the earth..."

The original maps were all centred on places of significance and subsequently many 'landed gentry' commissioned maps centred on their 'places of significance' such as their Estates or Jerusalem. In a similar way, Ewan's Mappa Mundi Series are centred of places of significance to him.

NICOLAS ST GREGOIRE PRESENTED BY THE CYNTHIA CORBETT GALLERY

Nicolas Saint Gregoire is a French artist who works with neon and Plexiglass sculptures in an exploration of the use of light as an art medium. His recent work has developed under the mentor, Pierre Bergé, president of the Pierre Bergé – Yves Saint Laurent Foundation and focuses on the tension between fashion and art.

During his time with Bergé, Saint Gregoire has been inspired by the 1965 Day Dress created by Saint Laurent in homage to artist Piet Mondrian. For Saint Gregoire this inspiration manifested itself in the form of a light sculpture. Saint Gregoire has developed this concept further and has created a series of light sculptures exclusively inspired by Yves Saint Laurent dresses, which in turn were inspired by famous Art works. Saint Gregoire designed his works sketching directly from the original pieces in the Foundation’s archive – using the same sketching tradition as Yves Saint-Laurent. Beyond a tribute to Saint-Laurent, Nicholas' work has also inscribed itself into a tradition, which has combined the works of Saint-Laurent and those of other masters such as Pablo Picasso, Tom Wesselmann, Georges Braque, Henri Matisse, and Andy Warhol.

ELEANOR CARDOZO PRESENTED BY THE HAYHILL GALLERY

The second of ten children, Eleanor Cardozo was born in London but spent her early childhood in Africa and Malaysia. She was classically trained in sculpture at the City and Guilds in London and in portraiture in Florence. Her portraits adorn the walls of politicians, corporate directors, military academies and the aristocracy throughout Europe and Asia.

Renowned for the finesse and precision of her bronze sculptures, her private and corporate commissions, including a Polo Player for Carrier and a Golfer for Volvo, range in size from miniatures to monuments.

Eleanor has been creating bronze sculptures for International Fine Art Collectors for over 20 years and has exhibited her works in St Tropez, Monaco, Paris, Gstaad, Geneva, Lausanne, Megève, Venice and London.

Influenced from a young age by the Great Masters, Leonardo Da Vinci, Michelangelo, Donatello and later Rodin and Camille Claudel, Eleanor's biggest inspiration of all is the human being; it's outer and inner beauty, its spirit,
its intelligence and its limitless capabilities. 'Beyond the beauty of the external form, there is something ineffable, some deep inner holy essence’. She celebrates the beauty of figurative sculpture and considers the human form
the greatest artistic challenge.

JAMIE MCCARTNEY PRESENTED BY THE HAYHILL GALLERY

Jamie McCartney is a British artist who lives and works in Brighton. He trained at Hartford Art School (USA), graduating in 1991. Initially McCartney ran his own forge, making abstract animal sculptures in steel. He subsequently moved into sculpture, prop making and special effects in the film industry, working on feature films such as Blackhawk Down, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy and Casino Royale. Both his degree in Experimental Studio Art and film industry experience continue to inform his work. No subject is too controversial, nor any process or material off limits.

ROXANNA HALLS PRESENTED BY THE HAYHILL GALLERY

In Shadow Play, her first exhibition for Hay Hill Gallery, Roxana Halls has created an arresting new series of works and drawn together a selection of paintings produced over a number of years. From her recent exploration of still life, to mysterious images of women with their backs turned to us, and highlights from her exuberant Tingle-Tangle show, first seen at The National Theatre, London, a focus on performance, spectacle & display links these images to form a compelling collection.

STANISLAV PLUTENKO PRESENTED BY THEHAYHILL GALLERY

The Moscow-based artist Stanislav Plutenko was first introduced to the British with a one-man show at the Institute of Contemporary Art in 1996. But it was in October 2002 that Hay Hill Gallery organised his second UK exhibition, and has presented his new works to the British public ever since.

His own original method of painting – the mixed technique with use of oil, tempera, acrylic, watercolours, is skilfully supplemented by masterly application of an "air brush" and the finest glazing by transparent paints.

LONDON WEST BANK GALLERY

London West Bank is an independent Art Gallery located in the heart of London's Notting Hill, specialising in street, urban and contemporary art. The gallery is spread over three floors of a charismatic old bank building.

Our mission is simple; to showcase both ‘established’ and ‘up and coming’ international and local artistic talent. To provide a beautiful space in which private exhibitions, workshops and events can be held. We try to maintain a fresh perspective, hanging pieces by artists we consider to be passionate skilled and informed. The combination is an eclectic mix of aesthetics which have come to define our unique identity as a buzzing Arts hub.

With over 30 shows hosted over the past two years both at the gallery and traveling shows internationally; London West Bank Gallery continues to go from strength to strength, with 2013 set to be the most successful yet.

Jenna Burlingham Gallery

Jenna Burlingham has worked in the art world for over 20 years and will be bringing highlights from her new gallery based in Kingsclere near Newbury, to the Henley Festival.

 On show will be a carefully selected mix of Twentieth Century British and contemporary art, including affordable works by collectable artists such as Julian Trevelyan, Elisabeth Frink, Victor Pasmore and Mary Fedden. These will be complimented by works from contemporary artists that Jenna sees as the collectable artists of the future, including: Daisy Cook, Geoffrey Robinson, Tony Scrivener, Adam Milford and Jane Skingley.

 Jenna herself, formerly a Modern British art specialist and London art dealer, spotted a gap in the market for collectable and decorative art with real pedigree, much of it at affordable prices and is quickly building a reputation for her gallery, on a national level, as the place to go for 20^th Century British and contemporary art

Allan Henderson

Allan Henderson lives and works in Henley on Thames. His work, always thoughtful, seeks to discover the essence of wellbeing. Most recently, he has re-tuned his gaze onto the human form, striving to capture the divergent states of peace and reflection and of movement and energy. He has developed his own distinctive style of descriptive mark-making over a number of years, using it to emotive effect in this new collection of drawings.

This is the 6^thyear that Allan has exhibited at and coordinated The Henley Festival Art Market. His works are exhibited widely and are held in numerous private collections both in the UK and abroad.

“My creative intent is to make art which challenges, intrigues and connects with people. The quality of the idea married to the execution is a key dynamic in my work. How my ideas are developed is determined by the optimal way to represent them, whether as drawing, sculpture, video, photographs or painting.”

More of Allan’s work can be seen at his website www.allanhenderson.me

Charlotte Cory

Charlotte Cory is a London based artist, best known for her Visitoriana - a complete, fantastical, wholly convincing alternative 19th Century. A post-Darwinian universe of highly surreal, reworked, recycled, collaged and montaged Victorian photography and taxidermy in which the animals are clearly in charge. Her pictures have been described as exquisite short stories, told without words and a monograph of her work You Animal, You! with an introduction by the distinguished writer and critic AN Wilson was published last year by Blackdog Books.  Charlotte Cory lives and has her studio/workshop in Greenwich.  Her Visitorian jewellery, furniture and designer silks are much sought after and her pictures have been exhibited widely and can be found in many important collections - including the Royal Photographic Collection at Windsor and the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition. The Sir John Soane's Museum has commissioned special limited edition artworks for their shop and the Globe Theatre sell a whole range of merchandise based on the Shakespearean Visitorians.   She has a major installation this autumn at the Bronte Parsonage Museum, Haworth and simultaneously at the Mercer Art Gallery, Harrogate.  This will then be shown in London at Long & Ryle Gallery who welcome all enquiries about her work (www.longandryle.com).

Frieda Hughes

The poet and painter Frieda Hughes brings a tantalising selection of both her figurative and abstract work to the Henley Festival this year, from her gallery in Mid-Wales.  She will be exhibiting some of the paintings of trees, rocks and landscapes that reflect her passion for vivid colour and her love of nature; humorous renderings of birds mingle with tangles of trees and hedgerows, and from her abstract work she has chosen organic images that are drawn from the natural world to describe her own emotional landscape.    

Frieda Hughes has been exhibiting successfully in the UK since 1989, and in Australia where she was short-listed for the highly prestigious biannual Doug Moran portrait prize, being resident there between 1991 and 1997.  Her most recent exhibition was held in London in 2012.  

As a previous Times poetry columnist, and having published five poetry collections, the most recent being ‘The Book of Mirrors’ (Bloodaxe Books), Frieda Hughes explains that her paintings elaborate on subjects that she doesn’t feel she can put into words, while her words describe events and people that she would not wish to paint – except as abstract concepts.

The addition of abstract imagery to her gallery has given her licence to express her reaction to events in a way that landscape is unable to, and so extends her visual vocabulary, while the effects of spending considerable amounts of time in Australia and Wales, and travelling through Utah, Arizona and California continue to be an important influence on all her work.

Images of all the artwork can be viewed at www.friedahughes.com

DANIEL DUNNE

Concepts of process and deconstruction have been central in Dan Dunne’s art. In recent years his work has evolved into a form of abstract figurative painting and drawing. The use of materials, most recently bitumen (tar), wax and charcoal is a reference to the base, primal origins of us. He works with his media highlighting the sensory qualities of each material and mark, producing works which push the balance of the figure between absence and presence.

Dan has exhibited regularly since his Ba Fine Art at Bath and works from his studio which is based just outside of Henley on Thames. Full details of exhibitions and more work can be seen at www.dandunne.net

Frances Macve

Frances Macve has been living and working just outside Montpellier since 1997.  She has held numberous shows both in the UK and in Southern France.

Since this time her work has moved from the entirely corporal, to the abstract, still life and more recently landscape.  Throughout all her work however lies a sense of meditative spaciousness.  Her paintings provide a pause from the perpetual movement of our increasingly frenetic modern lives, enabling one to catch ones breath and regain ones mindfulness.

"I paint in the hope that these painting are literally "a place to go",  a place to recharge and return to oneself albeit for a quick few seconds before resuming our busy schedules. A place to bring the mind home."

Having trained in the "technique mixte" method of Van Eyck, Frances works with a combination of both modern and traditional techniques, applying the paint both "alla prima" and in a multilayered system of glazes; literally trapping in the light within. Like generations of artistes before her, the play of light is a source of eternal inspiration, whether falling through a beech wood, across the water or through a blinded window. Whether painting the full light of the day or the falling light of dusk, whether painting from light to dark or dark to light the process is endlessly thrilling and challenging.

HENRY PIPER

Having grown up surrounded by art and artists, looking back, it seems only natural that I should have become interested in the construction and expression of my ideas and feelings through sculpture. From 1988 to 1991 I studied Philosophy and Cognitive Sciences at Sussex university where these ideas developed and in 1994, after living ‘on the road’ in an old fire engine converted into a motor home/workshop, I returned to Frome where I now live and work.

Based partly on environmental ideals, but also on a fascination with curios, I use mainly found or discarded objects including parts of broken machinery and equipment, watches and toys, reclaimed building stone, empty oil cans, copper wire stripped from electrical cable; anything that inspires me to create. A huge variety of beguiling forms emerge including faces, dancers, heads, strange creatures, mobiles, and abstract assemblages. Each has its own character that is enhanced by the former life of the materials that make it up.

My sculptures range from small to large scale, from steel constructions to stone carving, from indoor to out and from gallery to commission, suiting work to people and to places.

SAM CHARLES

"Sam Charles paintings illustrate majestic moments in time where nature, wildness and raw beauty come together as one. The art is pure, harmonious and engaging with each piece drawing the viewer into the present moment and their own space of calm. Sam Charles is renowned as an artist with a completely unique painting style; he has his own visual language.

Every artwork explores the relationship between movement, anatomy, colour and the wild. There is geometric precision within each painting - shape, form, colour and tone are all carefully combined together as one. It is less about spontaneity and more about an exact process; a natural science if you will. Sam Charles Art is simply about visual exploration.

LUKE PIPER

"...the colour, light and structure of our surroundings fascinates the more you observe until you finally unearth the raw spirit of it all and come home feeling infinitely satisfied and strangely human…"

Luke Piper (b.1966)

Studied Geography at Cambridge University. Son of artist Edward Piper and grandson of John Piper.

www.lukepiper.com

GABRIELLE LEVENE

Gabrielle Levene is an artist and filmmaker from London. Her art and design work often incorporates themes, elements and styles from bygone eras, created with a macabre, decadent or mischievously unexpected twist.

The living art installation was initially an idea to pay homage to a selection of
famous paintings or characters. After making the "power dressing" installation last year, it struck Gabrielle how Henley was so reminiscent of Seurat's "Sunday afternoon on the island of La Grande Jatte".

The idea of having characters from paintings, jump from their frame into the
setting at Henley, bringing them to life amongst the revellers there, seemed like
a perfect art installation challenge to create for the festival this year.

Gabrielle Levene presents the "Living Art" versions of Magritte's - 'The
Liberator', Seurat's - 'Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte', and
Monet's - 'A Woman Reading'.

Gabrielle's film work can be seen at: www.bluedragonflyfilms.com

Ian Edwards

Creation for Ian is a continuous journey:  from the age of seven  Ian knew that he needed to create with his hands and mind.

Born in 1974 he grew up in the rolling hills of Somerset. Ian’s deep love of nature and his surrounding countryside is reflected throughout his work.

After leaving school at 16 Ian began his apprenticeship in ornamental wood carving of early 16^th to late 18^th century. This provided the platform for Ian to express his love of form and movement, whilst developing the skills of his trade.

The traditional methods of ornamental woodcarving once learnt soon began to restrict Ian’s creative nature and curiosity: thus in 1998 he set up his own studio and started sculpting professionally.

Ian’s signature style is the flow and movement as he captures life within the sculpture. The vivid patinations that Ian has developed is an art form in itself.

Holding many exhibitions and one man shows the majority of his work is now sold in limited editions of bronze in galleries and found in collector’s homes around the world.

“My wildlife sculptures are a celebration of beauty within nature”.

Ian’s dream is to continue to grow as an artist going ever deeper into the realms of self-expression.      

MICK KIRKBY GEDDES

Mick finds his inspiration in discarded objects. Where we might send our broken washing machine to the tip, Mick will make a highly individual garden sculpture from his. ‘There always seems to be a starting point in my work, from which the sculpture will grow, whether it’s an old bike, fire extinguisher or even an ironing board’. Mick was born in Sheffield in 1966 and has been a professional sculptor since leaving Leeds Polytechnic with a degree in Fine Art in 1988. Heavily influenced by cartoons and children’s books, he surrounds himself in his Holmfirth workshop with life’s cast offs busily turning them into unique pieces of art.

www.mkg.me.uk

JANE WHITE

I first discovered the process of pit-firing whilst I was studying for my degree, and now I work solely with this unusual technique. My hand built and burnished pots are buried in sawdust in a large trench, and surrounded by seaweed and organic material.  A large fire is then built over them, which burns for about 6 hours, before the pit is sealed; two days later I return to discover the results buried in the ashes.  This is an exciting but highly risky technique, but when the pieces survive the results are stunning, and completely unique.  

The process is a marriage between the artist and chance, experimentation and observation, where discovery becomes as significant as invention. I am inspired and intrigued by the fact that the beauty of nature itself seems to have been encapsulated into the work when the elements interact and transform the surface of the clay into a myriad of different patterns and colours; consequently I am constantly striving to create forms that mirror the simplicity and balance evident all around us in the natural world, so that surface and form become seamlessly unified, as in nature.

In my life I enjoy taking risks, going on long journeys of discovery, and travelling to places where few people venture. By working in this way I am able to find the same challenges and adventure in my creative life, and I hope that my work conveys and retains the excitement and enthusiasm I feel when I am making it.

JANE GRACE SIMMONDS

Jane Grace Simmonds born Henley-On-Thames U.K.  Studied at Melbourne Art College Australia 1980's, Art and Design at Richmond School of Art 1990.s,  Work with mixed media in sculpture, photography, installations.  Shown in Auckland NZ, Sydney Australia, Tokyo Japan, London UK

Cemmick and Wylder

in 2005, the collaborative skills of world travelled wildlife artist David Cemick and mould maker Sebastian Wylder, gave birth to a unique working partnership. Cemmick and Wylder's powerful, well observed animal bronze sculptures, usually life size or larger, continue to enthrall an ever growing world-wide collector audience. www.cemmickandwylder.com