Saturday 12th May 2-4pm
Tom Hammick, Peter Waldron, Andrjex Jackowski and Joe Packer.
Four of The Festival 15 exhibiting artists, discuss their approach to their work methods, and inspriation.
Artist Talk. Four artists discuss…
Panel Talk: Art in a Seaside Town
Friday 11th May 7-8.30pm (6.30pm)
A panel of local VIPs and artists will field questions from the audience and discuss the history and development of Hastings as an arts hub for the South East.
The panel will consist of:
Joe Hill – Towner Gallery, Eastbourne
Peter Chowney – Leader, Hastings Borough Council
Rosie Cooper – Curator, De La Warr Pavilion
Charlotte Snook – Artist
Joseph Long – Artist and lecturer
Believing in Time Travel (Moors) by Colden Drystone
A performance and film screening of Colden Drystone’s ‘Believing in Time Travel (Moors)’ 2014
Saturday 12th May 2018 6.30pm (performance will last approximately 40 mins) FREE EVENT no booking required
Hastings Arts Forum, 36 Marina, St Leonards on Sea, TN38 0BU
In 2014 during a residency with Cambridge University Colden Drystone undertook a trip back to the landscape of his childhood in West Yorkshire. Over a period of 24 hours he documented the journey from a small cottage on the edges of Oxenhope up onto the moors and eventually to the mythical setting of ‘Wuthering Heights’ – a dilapidated farm house on the very tops of a wild moor where it is said Emily Brontë took inspiration for her famous novel.
Colden spent the night filming and writing under the moonlight and witnessing the rising sun at dawn before heading back to Cambridge to edit the footage and compose a piece that he will be performing this evening alongside the original film.
Profound, funny and at times even absurd ‘Believing in Time Travel (Moors)’ is a heartfelt homage to landscape and childhood and a tribute to the creative force of the imagination that is encouraged and nurtured in the wild places of both.
For more information please contact 01424 201636 or email admin@hastingsartsforum.co.uk
A Funny Thing Happened on the way to the (Arts) Forum
Saturday 5th May 2018 7.45pm (Doors 7pm)
Tickets £6.50 in advance | £8 on the door | Ticket price includes a free drink
A mixed palette of readings and performance pieces on the theme of art and artists by Man in the Moon theatre.
Tickets can be purchased from Hastings Arts Forum in the gallery, or via phone on 01424 201636.
Jennifer Baird
In her largest UK exhibition to date, Hastings-based artist Jennifer Baird explores her journey from remote Caribbean rainforest to East Sussex coastal town.
More than thirty years living in Trinidad and Tobago has had a huge influence on the work of painter Jennifer Baird, particularly as she spent the last 16 years of her time there as a recluse in the remote rainforest, living simply, painting prolifically, and immersing herself in her meditation practices. For the last five years Jennifer has made her home in Hastings, East Sussex, and is still very much in the process of integrating the decades of living, painting and exhibiting in Trinidad and Tobago. Her work and outlook is truly international.
Jennifer Baird’s largest UK exhibition to date, The Enchantment Aesthetic, at Hastings Arts Forum, May 15-28, consists of recent work completed since 2014, and is a rare chance to see such a large body of her work on public display.
Over the last 45 years Jennifer has produced a diverse array of works, ranging from the scenic and narrative to the mystical and visionary; developing varied styles and techniques along the way. The influence of many cultures, mythologies and metaphysical ideas can be seen weaving a continuum through her work.
Figurative works include On The Way To Jerwood Gallery a view from the West Hill over Hastings Old Town, alongside those more tropical in flavour, while many are abstract such as the multi-layered Deep Time series of paintings which depict vast time spans, as tectonic plates shift and flow over and under each other. Her paintings are technically intricate and complex, the 55 pieces in this exhibition representing many thousands of hours work.
Since her previous UK show in 2014, Jennifer has exhibited in San Francisco (2015) and Hungary (2016) with other international artists involved in the contemporary art movement, ‘Integral Art’. Through her alignment with this movement she questions and rebels against many of the fashions and taboos of the mainstream contemporary art world, particularly the absence of depth phenomenology and the spiritual in art.
Jennifer said: “I’ve painted since I could hold a brush in my hand and have always had a burning curiosity and thirst for knowledge, especially of that which seems mysterious – which has fed into the work I’ve produced. Everything gets woven in and over the years I’ve developed several styles and many techniques to best be able to create paintings from myriad sources of inspiration both external and internal. Some ideas come fully-formed in dreams or waking visions. Some are meticulously thought out and planned. Some develop slowly and organically and others spontaneously arise with no idea at all. There’s a common thread that runs through them all – from abstracts that portray concepts in cosmology or human development, through paintings that radiate the wild and mystical bliss of life in the rainforest to themes of the sacred land or beautiful views that move me. That thread is the strong yearning and striving I feel for aesthetic depth and value. What I’m interested in is transmitting a vibe that can enchant/ intrigue/ delight/ pierce/ catalyse.”
Artists Social Media Tutorials with Paula MacArthur
Thursday 10th May 2018 10am – 4pm
Cost: £15 for Hastings Arts Forum Members, £17.50 for non-members
As places are limited BOOKING IS ESSENTIAL, please email admin@hastingsartsforum.co.uk or call 01424 201636 to book your place.
An opportunity to have a one to one surgery with Artist and Social Media genius Paula MacArthur. In these 30 minute tutorials Paula can give your social media presence an MOT and offer advice on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook pages & events for artists. Find out which social media platform is most suited to your needs and what each one is useful for, how to build a following over time and demystify the dreaded hashtag. These sessions are aimed at improving your existing social media presence and answering specific issues.
Please bring a smartphone, tablet or laptop and a notebook if you like taking hand written notes – sometimes the old methods are best!
The workshops will be facilitated by Rye based Artist Paula MacArthur, an experienced Painter, Curator, Lecturer and social media guru.
Artist Statement Workshop with Judith Alder
Wednesday 2nd May 2018, 12pm – 2pm at Hastings Arts Forum, 36 Marina, St. Leonards-on-Sea, TN38 0BU
Cost: £10 Blue Monkey Network and Hastings Arts Forum members, £12 non-members
BOOKING IS ESSENTIAL – e-mail admin@hastingsartsforum.co.uk to book or phone 01424 201636 for more information.
During this two-hour workshop you’re invited to join artist Judith Alder for a relaxed and friendly workshop exploring the world of artists statements and aimed at helping you feel more confident about writing your own.
Writing about our art can be a difficult business, yet it can also be crucial to promoting our work and gaining opportunities to show it. When we exhibit our work, we are usually asked to provide a short piece of writing about it and if we have an online profile or website a written introduction to our practice is essential, yet it can seem very hard to get it right.
We will look at how other artists write about their work, discussing what seems successful and what doesn’t; we’ll think about some of the contexts in which our statements might be used and how we might use varying formats for different purposes. We’ll also think about presentation and talk about some of the key things we might want to include (and what to leave out) when we write about our work.
Judith Alder is a visual artist with almost 20 years experience of working as an artist and curator. She has exhibited her work with museums and galleries across the UK including The Freud Museum, London and Towner, Eastbourne. She is an active member of the East Sussex arts community, co-founder of Blue Monkey Studio and Blue Monkey Artists’ Network and visiting lecturer in Fine Art Printmaking at The University of Brighton.
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