Paper, Canvas, Neon presents a broad selection of work from the Grundy’s permanent collection which dates back to 1911 when the gallery was established by local artists and polymaths John and Cuthbert Grundy. The brother’s bronze busts stand guard in the foyer of the gallery today.
The exhibition starts in Gallery 1 with a range of print and works on paper. The display includes Pablo Picasso’s Dove (circa. 1952) which was used to illustrate the 1949 Paris Peace Congress and became an international symbol of peaceful and political action. This is displayed alongside works by Eric Ravilious and Julian Trevelyan – all were gifted to the Grundy by the Contemporary Art Society.
The paper gallery also showcases some of the Grundy’s new acquisitions including works by Yinka Shonibare MBE, Joe Fletcher Orr Marcia Farquhar, Pil and Galia Kollectiv.
Gallery 2 focusses on painting on canvas. Split loosely into two sections: Portraits and People, and Landscape and Interiors – the work shows the range of artists and work we have, and continue to, collect. The landscapes take you from Adelsteen Normann’s Norwegian Fjords to Nina Blaker’s Ibizian villages, the dappled light of Epping Forest by F.H. Glasbury and then back home to the Blackpool seafront with Keith McGinn’s sun lounge where the viewer can almost look through the walls of the gallery out onto the rainy view of the Illuminations beyond.
‘Portraits and People’ includes the enigmatic woman with budgie and pear Josefina by Lisa de Montfort which was acquired in the 1950s alongside newer works such as a portrait of the Grundy’s previous curator Richard Parry (and friends) by Liverpool-based artist Joe Fletcher-Orr.
Prem Sahib’s throbbing green neon invites you into the Neon display in Gallery 3. This room showcases some of the Grundy’s most recent acquisitions from Tracey Emin, as well as a new acquisition and gift from Joseph Kosuth and long-term loans from David Batchelor. The Grundy is invested in the research and collection of light-based works which result in an annual exhibition of artists working in the field during the autumn period coinciding with the Blackpool Illuminations.