Capturing Cambridge @ Byard Art

MOLLY DORKIN pops into Byard Art and checks out their new Capturing Cambridge exhibition, which references lots of past greats, and makes use of lots of art forms.

art exhibition beckie reed byard art capturing cambridge eleanor curtis elisabeth lecourt gareth hacon helaina sharpley jackson pollock lee madgwick rene magritte vanessa stone

Byard Art, 29th May – 19th June

Byard Art’s new Capturing Cambridge exhibition offers a small and well-curated selection of works that do exactly that – capture Cambridge – from a variety of angles and in a range of media. Better still, many are within the scope of a student budget… or, at least, nearly.

Photographs by David Ponting

Among my favourite pieces were Vanessa Stone’s small-scale, paper-cut views of Cambridge’s landmarks, which feel like woodblock prints. Some of her works are monochrome, while others make judicious use of vivid colour to highlight a green stretch of lawn, or a yellow awning. Vanessa’s work includes a sample of views familiar to any resident of Cambridge, though she often captures them from a slightly unconventional perspective; like through a railing, or looking down from rooftops. The linear quality of the paper-cut medium lends itself well to the architectural motifs.

As an art history student, I can’t help but play ‘spot the influence’ at contemporary art exhibitions. And, I’m sure that Lee Madgwick must have been thinking of Rene Magritte (perhaps his famous La Condition Humaine) when he painted Untitled. At a first glance, it is a lonely view of a desolate street enlivened by a vibrantly graffiti-ed stretch of fence. A closer examination, however, reveals the Magritte-worthy joke: a gaping square hole in the fence is precisely the same size as the painting that stands on an easel in the window of a small art gallery. In fact, the surfaces match up perfectly; the painting is the missing part of the fence.

Madgwick shows us that the definition of art is dependent on its context. As a part of the fence, the square panel is merely vandalism, but when transplanted to a gallery window, it becomes a painting worthy of display.

Madgwick isn’t the only exhibitor who appears to be referencing past greats in his work. I can imagine, for instance, that Beckie Reed spent time looking at paintings by Jackson Pollock, perhaps observing that the layered droplets and looping lines of dribbled paint resemble the leaves and branches of a grove of trees – and that’s what she has given us in this exhibition.

From the top down, her compositions are abstract in the way that Pollock’s are, but they resolve themselves toward the bottom of the canvas into a grassy path or a row of tree trunks. The acrylic and enamel medium, also characteristic of Pollock, produces a lively and reflective surface.

The show is completed by an assortment of works in other media forms, including photographs by Eleanor Curtis, who looks at King’s College, and Gareth Hacon, who focuses on the quieter corners of the city and university. It also includes Calder-esque wire sculptures by Helaina Sharpley; and even sculptures of children’s dresses, made of maps, by Elisabeth Lecourt. I wonder whether they come in adult sizes?!

Altogether, a highly enjoyable exhibition for both Cambridge locals and visitors.