Based in Kyushu, the southern island of Japan, Makoto Kagoshima’s celebrated ceramics are a fusion of design and heartwarming motifs making each object a unique, one-of-a-kind work of art. His hand produced and decorated works are designed with a variety of plants and animals remembered from his childhood. They speak of whimsy and elegance and […]
Saturday 28 March 11:00am- Podcast interview with ceramic artist Thiébaut Chagué. Register in advance here Thiébaut began his career in 1976, training in France, Belgium and in England under Michael Cardew and Richard Batterham. Returning to France in 1981 he set up his first workshop in the Loire Valley and in 1984 built a new studio […]
An inaugural exhibition of original tintypes and by photographer Tif Hunter. The alchemy of tintypes is one Tif Hunter has mastered in the background of a highly successful career as a professional photographer. Celebrated by agencies for his exacting detail in the pre-digital era, Tintype has been his sole focus now over the last decade and has seen him develop this mercurial early means of image capture. It is now a celebrated medium in its own right, praised for its uniqueness and authenticity in an age that has seen image manipulation become a filter through which we are looking.
Charles Poulsen’s large-scale drawings are realised in layers of pencil, wax and gouache to create striking abstractions that capture the energy of drawing as a primary means of expression.
“I was particularly influenced by commentary in Tate Modern’s catalogue for an exhibition of Agnes Martin (2015), as follows: ‘The root word for ‘grid’ in both Latin and Greek denotes ‘wicker work’ – flexible twigs or shoots woven criss-cross into a horizontal-vertical format.’* This released me – from the idea of the grid as simply a rigid structure of straight lines – and led me to start drawing loose, overlaying structures of irregular spatial elements based on fragments of the grid.” Charles Poulsen
The drawings start with the square sheet of paper and a drawn square frame within. The square is chosen for its stability, calmness and because there is not the same association with landscape or the portrait of a rectangle. They are more about energy than any particular subject matter – the invisible energies, the internal organic forces of growth, the forces which drive the winds and currents the energies within the earth. They are often drawn to music as the musical language of harmony, melody, rhythm and form has a very close relationship to the language of his drawings.
The materials he employs are deliberately limited: pencil (he favours a hard lead to begin, capable of creating grooves in the paper, but may turn to the very soft at the end of a drawing); gouache (opaque water-soluble pigment); wax (a ‘resist’ medium over which coloured wash can be laid, Poulsen sculpts a range of drawing edges from blocks of it). He begins and often ends with pencil. His process is one of layering, building form and space. There is an established sequence of his media: wax is usually the second to be laid down (where white is needed), then gouache (to provide light tones), then more wax, and so on, with the final application of gouache providing darker tones.
Charles has shown his drawings and sculpture throughout the UK and his book ‘Charles Poulsen Drawing’ was published by Hughson Gallery in 2017. He lives with his wife, the textile artist Pauline Burbidge, in the Scottish Borders.
Pre-register interest We are delighted to present a selection of Inuit Canadian sculpture and textile, which have been brought together by Pat Feheley, Director of one of the last remaining commercial galleries in Canada dedicated exclusively to traditional and contemporary art from the Canadian Artic and an expert on the work of Inuit textile artists. The […]
As part of our Tuesday lecture series which accompanies each exhibition we are excited to welcome Francesco into the gallery for an in depth discussion and presentation on his work and his processes and printmaking methods. The talk will accompany Francesco’s series of prints that will be on as part of our emerging talents programme. […]
Describing the kind of Japanese paper he uses to make his prints, Francesco Poiana says; ‘It is very thin and also very delicate. I like its feeling of lightness and also the rich tradition and history of paper from which it comes, which has had such a big cultural influence in the West; van Gogh […]
Leading ceramics expert Paul Greenhalgh takes us back to where it all began, introducing two of the biggest names in Korean ceramics working today for their debut in London, as part of our focus on Ceramic across both London and Wiltshire venues.
Join us at 6pm in the gallery during printmaker Norman Ackroyd’s exhibition ‘Images of the North’ to hear the artist talk about his work and inspiration. Norman Ackroyd has built a reputation as one of Britain’s most highly regarded printmakers. He made his first etching at Leeds College of Art 60 years ago before winning […]
Saturday 8 – Saturday 15 February Preview Party: Friday 7 February, 6 – 8pm RSVP Collectors Tour: Saturday 8 February, 11 – 12pm RSVP The Pod at Messums Wiltshire is a unique retail space presenting a fusion of artists and makers brought together to explore the margin where art meets design and craft. The […]
Gommie’s pictures are a testament to one of the most extraordinary years in British history. We have had the vote and these are the first responses from an artist at the coalface of an area that was once a Labour heartland. Gommie started to make these pictures during one of the lowest ebbs of his life […]
Messums London and Wiltshire are delighted to be back at the London Art Fair in January 2020. The London Art fair aims to provide a space to showcase the most exceptional modern and contemporary art of our time, a place to discover and to buy. Specially curated for the art fair, Messums will be showing […]
We are delighted to showcase these remarkable sculptures here on Cork Street and to preview the maquette and concepts for the public commission to be installed at Printers Office Street, Doncaster in May 2020. In 2018 Laurence Edwards was awarded a commission by the town of Doncaster for a sculptural installation celebrating and remembering the […]
An exhibition of pictures by one of the most distinguished observers of the British landscape, Norman Ackroyd, will be on show at Messums in London throughout January. Twenty-two aquatints and etchings of the Yorkshire countryside – from the snowy plains of the dales to the shadowy presence of Whitby Abbey – will reveal the majesty not only of the landscape of the North but of Ackroyd’s technical skill.
PAPUNYA TULA ARTISTS Paintings and Woodblock from the Western Australian Desert Indigenous Australian people have lived in the remote deserts of Australia for tens of thousands of years. In the late 1960s, the Australian government moved several communities from the Western Desert region – primarily Pintupi, Luritja, Warlpiri and Arrernte peoples – to […]
This December our Talks and Tapas event will explore the work of Kurt Jackson. Alongside authentic Spanish tapas and champagne there will be an in-focus discussion led by art critic David Boyd Haycock examining Jackson’s artistic process. Working both out on the riverbank and in the studio Jackson’s work takes many forms but never deviates […]
Kurt Jackson has for a long time been a champion of the environmental movement. Whilst his paintings, with their range of media and texture and their three dimensionality, are clear calls to experience the physicality of the world first hand – to get in there amongst it all, to realise that this landscape – so threatened as rivers […]
SOLD OUT 3 December 2 – 3pm. The Royal Academy lecture theatre £20 Due to overwhelming demand to view Kurt Jackson’s work at Messums London, the gallery will now be open before and the Royal Academy talk from 10am – midday and later from 6 – 8pm. Attending the gallery is free of charge but […]
Messums London and Wiltshire is honoured to represent the celebrated sculptor Albert Paley’s work and studio in Europe and Australia. Albert Paley joins a roster of artists whose working practice is exemplified by their choice of material and we are delighted Albert will be visiting the gallery during his forthcoming exhibition of drawings and smaller […]
The Talk & Tapas with Albert Paley on Thursday 28 November is now sold out so due to popular demand we announce an extra date on Wednesday 27 November. Messums London and Wiltshire is honoured to represent the celebrated sculptor Albert Paley’s work and studio in Europe and Australia. Albert Paley joins a roster of […]
Three remarkable evenings designed to appeal to our senses of occasion and exploration have been curated by Johnny Messum, Rebecca Jago and Alex Motture. You are invited to take your seat at the table to enjoy a pairing of exceptionally rare and aged spirits from The Last Drop Distillers with a five course supper prepared […]
Messums London and Wiltshire is honoured to announce representation of Albert Paley’s work and studio in Europe and Australia. Albert Paley joins a roster of artists whose working practice is exemplified by their choice of material. As representatives of Paley’s work in Europe and Australia we are delighted to present an exhibition of his drawings […]
Tuesday 29 October, 6:45pm, £10 Join us for an illustrated talk by the award-winning journalist, novelist and painter Philippa Stockley discussing her new book Restoration Stories: Patina and Paint in Old London Houses. The book features interviews with the owners of sixteen restored London period properties, one of which is her own, alongside ravishing photographs […]
Tuesday 15 October 18:30 – 20:30 £15 Our Tuesday talks and tapas are an opportunity to delve into a theme that springs from the artists on show at the time. From the 8th of October we are excited to have the drawings of Brian Taylor and Henry Lamb in the gallery and therefore our evening […]
As representatives of the Henry Lamb Estate we are delighted to present a collection of oils and drawings by Henry Lamb from 1914 – 1921. The exhibition will go some way to telling the story of Lamb’s multifaceted experiences of war and how this nervous, sensitive, physically fragile artist come to be a front-line doctor […]
Drawings by Brian Taylor inspired by a period of time he spent in Naum Gabo’s studio in Connecticut will be on display at Messums London from 9 October – 1 November 2019. Taylor rarely made drawings of his subjects in advance of sculpting them in clay, but in 1984 he went to stay in New […]
We welcome back The Pod at Messums Wiltshire to Cork Street for a pop-up exhibition this October. The Pod at Messums Wiltshire is a unique retail space inside our 13th century tithe barn. It curates a fusion of artists and makers brought together to explore the margin where art meets design and craft. The Pod […]
We would like to welcome you to visit the British Art Fair where Messums London has been invited to take a stand presenting Modern British Art on the ground floor of the Saatchi Gallery. The works we will have on show range across the Modern British genre from textile to ceramic and are from both our London and Wiltshire galleries. […]
Messums London would like to invite you to the first of our monthly Tuesday Talks and Tapas evenings. An in-focus event for our collectors and friends to get together and explore the work of Laurence Edwards. Laurence is a creative titan who’s unique and world class casting methods have made him one of the UK’s […]
Messums are delighted to announce a double show of works by sculptor Laurence Edwards. The show is in divided into two parts, with large-scale public and private commissions on view in Wiltshire and recent works and studies in Cork Street. Encompassing works from the studio and a presentation of commissioned pieces including the unveiling of […]
In addition to the main show, ‘A Gathering of Uncertainties’ there is on display a new maquette series fresh from Laurence Edwards’ foundry. These pieces are a menagerie of unique studies and individual pieces, some created in preparation for larger scale works and some playful maquettes, unique examinations of the human figure. These sculptures work […]
An exciting selection of some of the key works from the Camden Town Group exhibition remain at Cork St. These highlights come from our exhibition on the Camden Town School and Royal Academicians representing the lifetime obsession of Christopher Mason-Watts with completing this collection. So often the context of a gallery is to allow an […]
‘The Pod’ at Messums Wiltshire is a unique retail space inside our 13th century tithe barn. It curates a fusion of artists and makers brought together to explore the margin where art meets design and craft. This window takeover in London focuses particularly on the medium of wood and its organic and versatile nature. Fritz Baumann, […]
Tuesday Riddell’s work takes us down to the forest floor and a glorious insight into the world that captures her imagination, that ethereal nocturne when all cycles of life and death carry on with rarely a watchful eye. However it is also her unique craftsmanship in the ancient art of japanning that catches the eye. […]
Danish artist Malene Hartmann Rasmussen works with figurative narrative sculpture and installation, creating work from individual hand-modelled ceramics and found objects. She is part of a vanguard of artists who choose not to define themselves by discipline or craft but instead blur the boundaries between Applied Art, Design and Fine Art, with exceptional hand-craftsmanship at […]
Join us at midday on the opening day of Daniel’s exhibition ‘STATE’ for a talk and tour of the show by the artist. Daniel Agdag is an artist and filmmaker based in Melbourne, Australia whose practice sits at the nexus of sculpture and motionography. He creates highly detailed sculptural pieces that have been described as […]
As one of the leading contemporary figurative artists working today Antony Williams is dealing uniquely with matters of reflection and thoughtfulness in a context embedded in tradition and provenance. This series of beautifully conceived works perfectly examples Williams’s recent development towards, not only the human psyche, but how this relates to the natural landscape. Williams’ […]
Daniel Agdag, an artist and filmmaker from Melbourne, creates models that come to life through the medium of stop motion animation. As static objects, however, these pieces invite close personal inspection and maintain suggestions of whimsy and narrative. Agdag’s pieces make no attempt to conceal the mechanisms and materials of his process. For Agdag, cardboard […]
A Very British Collection is a selection of 20th Century work that provides a unique opportunity to see together both a remarkably complete collection of Camden Town Group and British Figurative paintings. It is also an insight into the desire to collect, and how personality can shape that process. This collection comes directly from one […]
