Arkade Studios & Gallery is on a bit of a roll at the moment with another brilliant exhibition in the form of 'In - between' featuring the work of students moving into their 4th year at Grays School of Art. With the group hailing from the fine art corridors the show was sure to provide an insight into what goes on behind the closed doors of the art school.
It's strange to look back on the life of Grays from when I first visited the school to see an ex girlfriend many moons ago and spent many a lunch time hanging out like I was a student, so much so that everyone thought I was. Since those heady days I've always been proud to make new friends with new students, either through supporting exhibitions or meeting like minded creatives at the various events hosted at Grays throughout the years. Of course as I've gotten older the generational shifts occur and I now find myself at a point where I have more friends on the teaching roster than on the degree treadmill. I do miss being able to walk around Grays and meet familiar faces and to peek inside their studios. So being able to walk out of my studio at Arkade and see a show of fresh and inspired painters was great!
The show is part of a remit set by Grays that students branch out of the art school bubble to find an exhibition space and to mount their own show. This includes all aspects of the set up, hanging the work, pricing and of course getting people down for the opening night. This might sound easy on paper but its takes real effort to pull everything together and especially to do it well. There's a certain skill when it comes to hanging a show and fitting work together with everyone striving for their own unique creative voice. It also means you have a lot more ego's to contend with, and I don't mean that in a bad way per se but it's also about knowing people's skill sets, who's good at doing promo, who's good at levelling a painting and being able to pull it all together.
As I walked through for a preview of the exhibition I thought the assembled artists were a little too relaxed until one appeared slightly flustered but declaring that everything was set and ready to go with 10 minutes to spare. I've never actually made it home to change before setting up a show and opening it so I was genuinely impressed.
Family and friends flooded the gallery along with staff from Grays eager to see the work and to support the Inbetweeners. Curious strangers also wandered in, seeing the throngs of people heading into the dark passages at the back of Marischal College. And they were in for a treat as both the gallery and project space we're transformed by the work of 13 painters.
The painting degree show has often been a highlight at Grays and I was sad to miss this years in person event due to my first bout with Covid (and hopefully my last). The work is varied and shows the different approaches to painting and the themes of each artist, ranging from the self reflecting works of Brodie Wilson with his dark self portraits to capturing still life's of everyday items via the paintings of Sarah Calder. I enjoyed a lengthy chat with Brodie where we discussed his love of classical painting and a desire to learn from the painting techniques and skills of the old masters along with more serious topics around mental health. It's nice to take something away from seeing an artists work but its even better when you can converse with them in the real world and to cut through some of the faff.
There's a lot to be gleaned from these artworks overall and it gives a clear signpost that painting is alive and well in 2022 despite the emergence of new technologies and a softening of traditional skills within the artworld, why draw it when you can pump key words into an AI image generator. Of course there's a lot of excitement about the ability of technology to push artists in new directions and to inform their work, I just don't know if AI images should be the end result. But I always appreciate the analogue approach and an artist's ability to move pencil on paper or paint across a canvas. Capturing the most subtle of light or capturing the mundane, painting always has a power to reflect the artist and the show provides the evidence of 13 distinct voices who will be ringing out through the corridors of Grays!
With skills that date back centuries, the inbetweens have a hand on the past and eye on the future and that's an exciting prospect. Well done to all the artists involved and well done to their tutors for coming down to support them!