Aneta Regel and more at Sarah Myerscough Gallery
I was just as excited to go and see the new gallery space at Sarah Myerscough Gallery as I was to view the work on display. Situated in Mayfair, a stones throw from Selfridges, the gallery is a newly renovated victorian schoolhouse that has been carefully brought back to life by re-using materials from the site and allowing original features to show the history.
You enter into a long, narrow hallway, painted in a warm terracotta colour with art works illuminated on the walls, and are immediately transported away from the bustle of Oxford St into something rather special. At the end of the hallway sits a beautifully crafted bronze chair by Full Grown and an extraordinary wall hanging made from inner rubber tubing by Patrick Bongoy, both staged and lit from the feature window behind, creating a sense of drama that pulls you into the building. Walking through the hallway, and set back in the wall, you discover a wonderful vignette created by some of the original stone steps that have been used to display some Aneta Regel’s works. A fantastic preview of the exhibitions inside.
Hallway featuring The Gatti Chair (Bronze) by Full Grown
Way of Ancestors by Patrick Bongoy
Original architectural features creating a gorgeous display of Aneta Regel’s work
The downstairs gallery was showing an exhibition called PERCH which presented a collection of crafted chairs by a variety of makers using material, design and innovative techniques to interpret the seat. Also in this space were a number of large hanging pieces from the THREAD exhibition that had been on previously at the gallery, featuring work that embraces threading and weaving as a fundamental process to their creation. It was an absolute feast for the senses with all of the textures, the light and the amazing smell of natural materials. I really liked the way the large hanging THREAD works broke up the space and simultaneously framed and shielded the work which was slowly revealed as I moved around. I felt like I was like walking through a surreal forest that was both familiar due to the chair forms and the natural woven materials but also unknown because of the innovative ideas and their presentation. It was probably a good thing that the majority of the chairs and seats were on plinths as I would have loved to sit in some of them to try them out.
The upstairs gallery hosted the BENEATH THE SKIN exhibition by Aneta Regel and was the main reason I visited, as I have been a fan of her work for some time. Regel incorporates rocks, grit and stones within the building of her pieces and the work has a real sense of connection to the Earth taking inspiration from childhood landscapes in her native Poland.. In this exhibition she explores how materials change, and how they ooze from beneath the skin and through to the outer layers of her ceramic pieces.
They were displayed quite low on the floor so you could easily see inside the vessel forms and it was great to witness that tension between the internal and external. The low display meant that I could sit on the floor and feel like I was amongst them. I stayed a good while just sat in silence taking them in and found that they have such a sense of life that I almost felt that they were breathing with me. Superb!
I was then made aware that Aneta Regel had also written a poem to accompany the exhibition which I found very moving. On reading the poem I understood that BENEATH THE SKIN is not only about the earth and physical movement of material but also about our feelings and essentially being human. Yes, it brought a tear to my eye and what a moment to read it as I sat on the floor surrounded by her work that I could feel breathe.
If you also like Aneta Regel’s work you might like to read my previous blog post about her work from MEMORY LANDSCAPE exhibition - another spectacular exhibition. Click here to read.
If you’d like to know more about the exhibitions mentioned there is more information on their website at sarahmyercough.com