So very sorry to post that John Rance died in March 2023 – our thoughts to his family and friends.
We commemorated John’s creative output in our annual exhibition in June.
John wrote:
My work involves both painting and sculpture and often the two mediums will overlap into what is effectively a 3D painting/relief sculpture. I have worked with a variety of materials using what best suits the end result, welded steel, bronze casting, plastics, etc. though currently I’m principally working in wood. I like to work a material against its natural qualities to set up questions in the mind of the viewer.
My work in wood will often look like folded paper which of course is not possible with a hard product like wood so it creates a small perceptual mystery I’m also extremely interested in colour (at heart I am a colourist) and how colour works both physically and emotionally in both the mind and eye of the artist and the reception in the onlooker.
My other love is Life Drawing, I think it is essential for an artist to stay in touch with the core values of observational drawing and the disciplines involved.
What lies beneath, Oil on canvas
Tropical nights, Oil and collage on board
Deeper, Oil and collage on board
Summer, Emulsion on wood
Thanks to everyone who attended our opening night.
The exhibition continued daily until Saturday 24 June, open from 11am to 5pm.
Group members were present in during these times, to discuss the show with visitors.
Joint event with the Norfolk Contemporary Art Society on Tuesday 20 June.
Thanks to everyone who came, and for an engaging question and answer session at the talk end.
Group meetings at The Chapel, Park Lane, Norwich NR2 3EF from 7.30pm
Tuesday 3 October – New Licentiate members
Thanks for giving a great welcome to our recent graduates from Norwich University of the Arts who have been invited to join the group for a two year period, talking about their art practice.
Thanks to everyone who made our first meeting of the Autumn on Tuesday 5 September such a lively evening, with plenty of art to see, from group members and others.
Please note that everyone is welcome to bring art among to open meetings.
All are welcome come along to meetings in months of January – April, also June, and September – December
May is for members and proposed members only, and there are no meetings in July and August.
2024 meetings – these are usually the first Tuesday of the month.
Very pleased that artist Simon Bill gave a talk, as a joint event with Norfolk Contemporary Art Society – the venue for this was the Undercroft, during our group exhibition in June:
The subject of Visual Perception featured strongly in the teaching of art until the 80s, when it was dropped because it was not commensurate with Critical Theory. The orthodoxy of Critical Theory is in decline, whilst the study of perception as a branch of neuroscience has advanced rapidly. The response to these developments has been slow in art schools – this talk offered an introduction to Visual Perception and a survey of the subject as it stands today.
Simon with two images from his Op Art murals on Great Yarmouth seafront:
Tuesday 6 June – The role of arts to engage people with the Earth crisis
Thanks to Bridget McKenzie and Jennie Pedley for introducing their practice and ideas, and for thoughts on how the visual arts can engage people with climate and biodiversity issues to enable Norwich and Norfolk to be more liveable, safe and healthy in future.
Bridget McKenzie is an artist, researcher and creative curator focused on culture’s response to the Earth crisis. She is the founder of Climate Museum UK and of Culture Declares Emergency. She is working on links between the local arts and environment sectors, and creating a base for the Climate Museum in the City. Jennie Pedley is a co-founder of Edible East Community Interest Company, which promotes a healthy and sustainable future for everyone through creative workshops, community gardening and cultural events, all informed by the latest research.
May – Welcome to our two new members, Natasha Day (former licentiate member) and Rachel Furze.
Tuesday 4 April
Thanks to everyone who came along to a busy evening at the chapel for an open meeting format – with plenty of artwork brought along to display and discuss.
For ‘open’ meetings – all are welcome to bring artwork along – we advise bringing something that you can easily carry, and can be displayed on a table or leaning on a side table or chair against a wall.
Tuesday 7 March
Another ‘open’ meeting, where artists – both group members and not – shared ideas and showed both work in progress and recent art.
Tuesday 7 February, which had a Q & A format, thanks to Christine Allman and Jos Wickham – group members who each talked about their work, with questions posed by Peter Baldwin and Martin Battye.
Tuesday 3 January 2023 – Good to see old faces and new at our first meeting of the year with plenty of artwork displayed and discussed.
Tuesday 6 December – our annual party celebration!
Tuesday 1 November
Thanks to everyone who came to our meeting, where four recent NUA Fine Art graduates gave talks about their art practice.
A priviledge to hear from Jo Bellamy, Carl Durban, Catherine Swain and Luke Underwood, our new licentiate members:
Tuesday 4 October
Format – an ‘open’ meeting – with works in progress brought along to display and discuss.
Good to see a mix of familiar faces and new, thanks to all for attending.
Thanks to everyone who came along to our September meeting too, also an ‘open’ meeting, noting all are welcome – with or without artwork.
Please check here for updates and our newsletter for any changes to dates.
All are welcome to our meetings, noting that the May meetings are for members and proposed prospective members only.
Thanks very much to artists who brought their work along in May 2022.
We’re very pleased to welcome four new members:
Christine Allman, Craig Frost, Sally Hirst and Helen Ireland.
Thanks to members and visitors for making a successful return to meetings this year, here’s a photo from Tuesday 1 March.
2021: Lovely to hold our festive party meeting on Thursday 9 December.
Thanks to everyone who came along on Tuesday 2 November – with talks about their art practice by recent NUA graduates, Jennifer Lovatt and Natasha Day.
With thanks to Natasha, giving her talk in the photo below here, and Jennifer too!
Poster image – David Woods, Blue without green
Thanks to so many visitors for coming to the opening of our first group exhibition of the year, in the Yare Gallery, Great Yarmouth.
Plus to all those who visited over the almost four weeks which the show ran – with work on show from more than 50 group members, in six rooms over three floors of the beautiful gallery space.
Here are a few images from the opening night:
Huge thanks to artist Jayne Ivimey , who gave a wonderful talk about her art practice for our June meeting – this talk was postponed due to the pandemic back in April 2020.
Jayne Ivimey with David Jones at the meeting:
Thanks to everyone who visited our group exhibition, with dates of Monday 13 – Saturday 25 June.
Here are just a few views of the many artworks in the show, about 130 in all.
Horizon
After the group’s first show at this venue three years ago, the group returned for an exhibition at the Hostry, Norwich Cathedral, from Wednesday 22 December 2021 – Saturday 15 January 2022.
Here are some views of the exhibition, many thanks to
Julia Cameron and Rosie Winn for sharing photographs.
Many thanks to all those who visited, with positive comments received, we’re very pleased that so many came to see the exhibition.
Norfolk Arts Awards – Pleased that both Norwich 20 Group and group member Gennadiy Ivanov are Visual Art category nominees!
Nominees for Norfolk Arts Award, Visual Arts Category.
Representing Norwich 20 Group are Brigitte Hague and Julia Cameron, while Gena Ivanov was nominated as an individual.
The group was pipped to the post by Gena (centre):
Congratulations to Gennadiy Ivanov, award winner.
It was still an honour to have been nominated so there were no losers here!
Norwich 20 Group has also been nominated in the EDP People’s Choice Awards, and was a finalist in this category too:
Thanks to everyone who voted for us, with the awards taking place on 23 October.
Brigitte Hague and Julia Cameron, previous and current group chairs
The next group show followed fast on the footsteps of the end June/July 2021 annual exhibition – N2021G
– with a return to the bright and airy St Margaret’s church, for Outside the box, where 60 artworks by 35 members were shown.
Thanks to everyone who came to the opening night and who visited over the 13 days of the exhibition.
Exhibition dates – from Monday 20 September until Saturday 2 October.
Some views of the exhibition:
Thanks to all who visited our exhibition, with artworks from our weekly life workshop!
We haven’t been able to resume the workshop, works shown were created from the previous two terms – before the March 2020 lockdown, plus artworks created since then.
The exhibition was a celebration of the group’s life workshop, with 28 artists’ works included, life drawings and more – with works from 13 Norwich 20 Group members.
The exhibition also includes a selection of artworks by our much missed life workshop regular, Martin Ayres RIP.
With two of his sculptures shown here, and another on the poster below:
Local press coverage – a link to online EDP article with great images:
The exhibition ended with an open drawing event from clothed models posing in the church – great to see many attending, with some distance between participants – and enjoying the chance to draw!
We do not yet know when the life workshop will return, as soon as we have any update we will post here and via the group’s social media accounts.
