Review. Site Seers Exhibition by Caleb White

It is Saturday morning. I have a long day ahead of me. I’ve landed a position at a gallery – details pending – and there is a lot of work to do. Nevertheless, today is also the opening of a new exhibition at Saul Hay Gallery: ‘Site Seers’.

James Naughton - Pool

Running between July 26 – August 9, the gallery presents the work of four artists, tied together by the common thread of imagined landscapes. Saul Hay Gallery often holds short exhibition runs, spotlighting artists and promoting their work. Any work bought during this show will stay on the Gallery walls until after the show is over. Between shows, the gallerist informs me, artwork can be purchased right off the wall.

I arrive early in the day. There is an unconnected photoshoot happening outside. I can understand why. It is a beautiful location, peering over the canal, shadowed by the great viaduct that runs overhead. The reclaimed brick building, previously used in the timber industry, is now quaintly named ‘Railway Cottage’. During my visit, a train rumbles overhead, only adding to the atmosphere. The Gallery is one of the few places that can truly boast the moniker of ‘Hidden Gem’.

Inside, it has been designed to evoke a living space, with natural light pouring in from the windows. The intention, to present art as it would be in your own house. This is a success. Tasteful furniture and a cosy but navigable room make for perfect gallery space.

Deborah Grice - The Weightlessness of Hope

As for the exhibition itself, I first encounter the work of Deborah Grice. Using icy blues and whites, Grice creates dreamlike vistas, captured and framed in ovals. Her works illicit an almost tangible presence of light. They anticipate, but never truly show, the aurora borealis. The flatness of her landscapes keeps them wholly imaginary. While buildings are present, they are uninhabited.

Emily Moore - Technicolour days are sad and beautiful

In conversation is newer artist Emily Moore. Using the true shapes and forms of the Glaswegian mountains, they overlay many a texture, abstracting and distancing themselves from the real. They appear as if half-printed images from some long-forgotten newspaper. An analogue version of digital art. Chromatically, they pair well with Grice’s work, however I am less drawn into them. I find them distancing, compared to the other works which feel as if they have the power to trap you inside of them.

James Naughton - Intermittent Light

One such work is James Naughton’s Intermittent Light. Immediately I am brought back to looking out over the Rivelin Valley from the vantage point of Bole Hills, Sheffield. For supposedly imagined landscapes, Naughton’s works seem eerily familiar, tapping into the same vein as Constable or Turner, only with a clear absence of people. The interplay of dusty greens with warm, almost peach-like light brings to mind the moment before a thunderstorm.

Lois Wallace - Drift

Finally, we find the works of Lois Wallace, who was actually in the gallery during my visit. I had the pleasure of being introduced. Her works are not far from an omen. They feature points of burning light. Strange fires dotting the landscapes. Whether they are signs of life, or of destruction, it is hard to initially say. A few, on closer inspection, seem welcoming. Moments of respite in once again frosty worlds. Others seem destructive, the remnants of some apocalyptic happening, especially in Drift.

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Lois Wallace - Distand Fire and Beacon

The common thread between the works is strong and well teased out by the gallerist. The works are engaging and engrossing. Moreso, they are for sale via the Own Art scheme. This means a lot to me, a demonstrable success in enabling sales and getting money to the artists who deserve their work to be sold. By breaking down the cost of a work into interest free instalments, owning one of these works becomes a possibility. I’ll be honest, if I had unlimited finances, I would have bought a lot of the art on display, and I hope it to sell. The artists deserve it.

Ultimately, Saul Hay gallery is a wonderful, airy, and welcoming space, and I am awfully glad to have seen this exhibition. While I do feel that Moore’s works slightly broke the spell, they do offer a nice counterpoint, and I understand their inclusion. They are, themselves, rather nice artworks. It is a shame that this exhibition is on for such a short time, as I would highly recommend a visit. I look forward to visiting Saul Hay Gallery much more in the future.

Site Seers is exhibited at Saul Hay Gallery between July 26 – August 9

Review by Caleb White (calebowhite.com)