'No Straight Lines' at the Victoria Art Gallery

Friday, 11 May 2007 04:14

Bath, UK - Drawings and sketchbooks by distinguished artist Maggi Hambling are the subject of a new exhibition which opens on Wednesday 9 May at Bath & North East Somerset Council’s Victoria Art Gallery in Bridge Street, Bath. Hambling notes: “Drawing is an artist’s most direct and intimate response to the world.  The touch of charcoal, graphite or ink on paper is full of endless possibilities.  I try to distil the essence of a subject and capture the life-force of a moment.”  On exhibition until 10 June, 2007.

In this exhibition of drawings and sketchbooks, Hambling achieves a potent language of marks. Variously lent by the Ashmolean Museum, the British Museum, the Tate and the artist herself, the drawings range from the powerful Rhinoceros in Ipswich Museum, 1963, done when she was seventeen, to drawings of herself and her dog Lux dating from this year.

Jon Benington, Manager of the Council-run gallery said:"We are delighted to host this exhibition of one of the most eminent British artists of her generation.  Maggi Hambling's drawings of people, animals and waves are highly personal, moving and insightful.  Like Rembrandt, her marks seem to capture the endurance of the human spirit whilst also recognising our physical vulnerability."

Hambling was born in Suffolk in 1945, and trained at Ipswich School of Art, Camberwell School of Art and the Slade School of Fine Art.  She was the first artist-in-residence at the National Gallery in 1980-81, and won the Jerwood Painting Prize in 1995.

The exhibition has been toured by the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge and is accompanied by a catalogue, supported by Marlborough Fine Art.  Some of the framed works are for sale, likewise a portfolio of hitherto never-seen drawings of the sea.  The exhibition runs until 10 June.

The Council-run Victoria Art Gallery, near Pulteney Bridge in Bath, is open Tuesday to Friday (10am-5pm), Saturday (10am-5pm) and Sunday (1.30pm-5pm).  The Gallery is closed on Monday and admission is free.  To find out more about the Victoria Art Gallery, log on to its website at www.victoriagal.org.uk or call Tel: 01225 477231.

Bath & North East Somerset Council’s art gallery houses the area’s permanent collection of British and European art from the 15th century to the present day including works by Gainsborough, Turner and Sickert.  The gallery has one of the best temporary exhibition programmes in the region, ranging from prints to sculpture, including national touring exhibitions and major retrospectives.  There are frequent workshops, holiday activities and a full programme for schools.