West Sussex is humming with artistic events in June, at galleries and many other venues. Chichester Festival runs from 11th June to 10th July, part of a whole season of events called Culture Spark 2022. This includes an exhibition at the Novium Museum entitled The Art of Chichester, which runs from 25th June to next February.
1. Until 5th June
You can visit two concurrent exhibitions at the Oxmarket Centre of Arts.
Daniel Freaker is a graduate of London’s Slade School of Art, who studies the relationships between recorded media and painting. In his Scenes We’ve All Seen exhibition, he presents a selection of painted scenes that we commonly recognise and share emotionally from watching films.
You can also see the Afterlight exhibition of oil paintings by Sussex artist Ashley Hyland. These explore the memory and impressions of the local landscape, as recollected afterwards. Ashley is very involved in the ideas of belonging, memory and home, and how what we see in the country landscape contributes to these themes.
2. 7th to 19th June
Oxmarket presents the Chichester Art Society’s Summer Exhibition 2022. This thriving local group has resumed its full and active programme for the Chichester arts community and will present a selection of members’ works. This will include jewellery and prints as well as paintings, all available to buy.
3. 21st June to 3rd July
Finally at the Oxmarket Centre, Lockgate 200: ARTEL Artists Celebrate the 200th Anniversary of Chichester Ship Canal is a historic event put together by 15 local artists. They present a collection of prints, paintings and other media which will be available for purchase.;
1. Until 17th July
Undercover: the Art of the Bookjacket continues at the Pallant House Gallery, with covers from some of the gallery’s 19,000 rare and precious books on display. The exhibition shows 20th-century titles and a range of well-known artists who contributed their work to these publications.
The Pallant also has a substantial Modern British Art collection on permanent display. It includes works by many and varied artists, such as Henry Moore, Barbara Hepworth, Walter Sickert and Damien Hirst. It offers a wide range of artistic styles, from Cubism to Pop and contemporary.
2. Until October
If you’re visiting the Pallant House Gallery, you can also see the works of Glyn Philpot R.A. (1884-1937). This British artist progressed from being a painter of Edwardian society portraits to a radical modernist, and was unusual in his choice of under-represented subjects. In the exhibition are over 80 sculptures, drawings and paintings, exploring how Philpot’s work contributed in modern art to themes of identity and representation.
The two display galleries at Colonnade House are running several shows this month.
1. 31st May to 5th June
An exhibition titled 3Style shows works in various styles collected by three artistic friends, demonstrating how art contributes to mental well-being. All three women have experienced a change in lifestyle, with adventures in art helping them to readjust. Amanda Booth experiments with acrylic painting, and Nicky Dawes explores acrylics and resin art. Angeline Pantall is interested in serial observations of animals, worked up in drawings and paintings from original photos.
2. 7th to 11th June
Curious Threads is a group of seven experienced textile artists, who exhibit both in Britain and abroad. This show covers three of their recent group productions, including the ‘Recycle’ installation, and will also display some of their sketchbooks and textile samples. A Sense of Place displays the individual works produced during the pandemic.
3. 14th to 26th June
Nora Young is a local artist focused on mindfulness and interior self-analysis. Her current show Befriending Frazzles represents some of her fragmented and often repeating thought patterns. She works in a wide variety of media, including painting, printing, drawing, photography, video and ceramics.
You can also see a presentation by artists of the Figment Arts Studio, titled Looking Out. This collection comes from an interesting group of artists who are learning disabled or otherwise neurologically challenged. It includes screen-based work, photography and illustration, as well as performance art and poetry.
4. 28th June to 3rd July
You Are Here is an exhibition by two West Sussex artists. Daniela Maria Gargiulo produces collages of urban and coastal environments that she observes while out walking or cycling. Anna Vartiainen shows paintings, drawings and prints of her local area, as minutely catalogued during lockdown.
5. 28th June to 9th July
West Sussex photographer Chris Prince is showing some of his acclaimed wildlife photographs under the title My Wild Side. An active local conservation volunteer, Chris is a dedicated birdwatcher as well as a keen observer of wildlife in Africa.
Continuing at the Horsham Museum & Art Gallery is Eleanor Coate’s exhibition of botanical photographs, A Botanical Celebration: A Photographer’s Perspective. These detailed, scientific photographs show the life of botanical specimens in every phase from seed to flower. Eleanor’s work has been recognised with a Gold Medal awarded to her by the Royal Horticultural Society.
1. Until 19th August
The exhibition Frank Auerbach: Unseen continues at the Newlands House Gallery in Petworth. More than 65 of Auerbach’s paintings, drawings and etchings span the past 70 years, demonstrating the artist’s developments in technique and style. You’ll see portraits of famous faces and classical oil paintings in the style of the Old Masters.
2. 30th May to 12th June
At Petworth House, a collection of photographs documents the activities of charity and community volunteers across the county. If you don’t want to visit the house and gardens, the We the People exhibition in the Cowyard is free by arrangement.
Steyning, 3rd to 5th June
The Steyning Art Trail is a feature of this area’s annual local festival. With over 60 contributors in 20 different locations, Steyning Arts offers you an opportunity to visit artists and craft workers in their own studios or private homes. You’ll see a broad spectrum of media, including photography, painting, ceramics, sculpture, jewellery and other crafts.
If you’re interested in having artworks, prints, or even 3D objects framed, do get in touch with us at Lasermark and we’ll be delighted to help!
