Eastbourne art gallery to celebrate female artists

An art gallery in Eastbourne is celebrating the work of female artists as part of its upcoming autumn exhibitions.
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The Towner Eastbourne will be exhibiting Margaret Mellis: Modernist Constructs and Melissa Gordon: Liquid Gestures from October 16 – January 30.

Towner director Joe Hill said, “It has been a really brilliant summer and we are heading into an exciting autumn and are hoping that people will feel confident to come back in.”

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Mr Hill spoke about the influence Margaret Mellis had before her death in 2009, as well as the vibrancy of Melissa Gordon’s work.

Margaret Mellis, Six, 1980. © Margaret Mellis Estate. Courtesy of The Redfern Gallery SUS-210909-105911001Margaret Mellis, Six, 1980. © Margaret Mellis Estate. Courtesy of The Redfern Gallery SUS-210909-105911001
Margaret Mellis, Six, 1980. © Margaret Mellis Estate. Courtesy of The Redfern Gallery SUS-210909-105911001

He said, “Melissa is a younger, emerging artist so the nice thing is we can have these two exhibitions that are not dealing with exactly the same thing but are dealing with similar strands that are going through them.

“People can see an artist that was working in the earlier part of the 20th century next to an artist that is working now.

“We have got two artists that probably have been a bit overlooked by history but we are giving them a bit of a moment in the sun.”

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Mr Hill said the exhibitions will be a ‘must-see’ for art lovers both in and out of Eastbourne.

Melissa Gordon,Female Readymade (Intestines, Mabel’spainting, sleeve, hole, test painting, large erasure), 2019. Photo: Kristien Daem SUS-210809-171039001Melissa Gordon,Female Readymade (Intestines, Mabel’spainting, sleeve, hole, test painting, large erasure), 2019. Photo: Kristien Daem SUS-210809-171039001
Melissa Gordon,Female Readymade (Intestines, Mabel’spainting, sleeve, hole, test painting, large erasure), 2019. Photo: Kristien Daem SUS-210809-171039001

While talking about the Modernist Constructs exhibition, the director added, “The fact that she uses driftwood she found on the beach and putting stuff like that in her sculpture and paintings is really interesting. I hope the residents will really enjoy it.

“Next to it you have a younger painter, quite jazzy and exciting, and what we try to do is put different shows next to each other so you can push people a little bit and say, ‘you liked this, maybe try this’, and it is good to promote younger artists that are still living and working today.

“I think Towner has always had a really strong focus on female artists as well, which is really good because often the men have had the limelight in the art world throughout the 20th century. So it is nice to look at some of the really important women.”

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Mr Hill added, “We want Towner to be the best regional gallery in the UK and to be thought of in that way so people want to travel from miles around to come and see it, but also so residents who live here want to spend time here.”

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