Sculpture on the Peninsula

 

"A young woman in blue" - Margriet Windhausen

 

Today I went out to Charteris Bay to see Sculpture on the Peninsula, a large annual sculpture exhibition held as a fundraiser for Cholmondely Children's Home, who offer residential care for children in temporarily difficult circumstances. Their home was condemned after the quakes, and this money will help to ensure that the new buildings will be largely debt-free. The works are all by professional sculptors and artists, some of our best among them. We could also vote for our favourite, to win the Viewer's Choice Award. "A young woman in blue" is mine. She evokes the kore of the Greek Archaic era, serene and unfussed, focussed on something way beyond the viewer.

 

 

 

The site for the exhibition is the farm estate of Loudon, and the works are dotted around, some hidden in farm buildings, this one on the skyline.

 

This is not a sculpture but should be - the old travelling PA system. Marcel Duchamp would have loved this. The line between sculpture and 'real' things has become increasingly blurred; people look at an object unsure of whether it's an exhibit or not. You could leave a wheelchair or a bicycle in the middle of a field and it would be a sculpture.

 

"Burden" - Sam Mahon. I think this is a comment on bringing up children; the parent goes through a huge balancing act to ensure that the child's life can be undisturbed.

 

Corrugated iron cow - don't know the artist.

 

"Rabbit on top" - Paul Dibble

 

These ceramic beehives were intriguing, covered with pictures and historic images and maps, with sayings in Slovenian and English, inspired by the artist's visit to the Bee Museum in Radovlijic.

 

"World apart" - Graham Bennett

 

"Top spot" - Hannah Kidd

 

My other favourite. "Harestand Edition No.4/6" - Julie Ross. Light, elegant and joyful.

 

"Teaching an old dog new tricks" - Hamish Southcott

 

"Laid" - Eggs et al. Sited outside the real hen-house, it looks like the hens' pile of rejects.

 

I don't know what this was called or who by, (apologies to the artist) but it was very attractive to the children present. Lots of photos were taken with this steel plated bear and his (her?) shopping trolley.

 

All of the works are for sale, alas, way out of my reach financially, but good to see them in such a spacious setting, and such a wealth of sculpture, almost 200 items.