- Venue
- Glasshouse Gallery
- Location
The Glasshouse Gallery 81-82 Market Jew Street, Penzance
The bottom part of Market Jew Street is a bohemian area with computer cafes, secondhand shops and French restaurants. It is in the middle of this intriguing collection of emporia that you will find the spacious and contemporary and organised artspace that is The Glasshouse Gallery. It has been moved here from the specialist area that it once occupied in Truro. This brightly lit and comfortably carpeted area contains many attractive, colourful and engaging pieces-everything from fine art to jewellery.
For instance, there are Noel Betowski’s lyrical, deeply coloured canvases. Much in evidence currently are Jason Lilley’s copper aquatints of the rooftops of St Ives and his large acrylics of slated cottages in subtle shades of blue, buff and cream. These capture the essence of the town and display the empty black windows of St Ives in the winter sunlight. These are the flats and apartments that lie unrented and these apertures are represented by minature St Piran flags that seem to quietly raise social questions about what is actually happening in the community. An inquisitive draughtsman, Jason has captured the botanical profusion of veined lilies against black backgrounds in his elegant steel drypoints. His work can also be viewed at the out-of-the-blue gallery in Marazion.
The lovely and gently amusing blue paintings –with nautical themes, salty and seductive mermaids and fisherman- by Michelle Wright are featured in the current exhibition. These are accompanied by several interesting paintings, in particular, a lovely image entitled Venice, Morning Light by Zara Deveraux and Ray Berry’s Twelve days of Christmas- a pastel coloured abstract which has a quality that is reminiscent of the ceramic tableaux of that interesting Falmouth artist, Linda Styles. One of the exciting things about this gallery at the moment is the contrasts on display- such as the ochre-tinged nude by Judy Symons -Winter Glow-that has the vitality of the landscape of the north coast moorland of Penwith.
The other element, which also gives this gallery an added appeal, is the display of prints and other media. The chunky lovers and outlined figures in the etchings by Trevor Price have the zest of a naughty romp about them that could be described as cubism without the angst. There is no reason why art should not be jovial and entertaining.Setting off the ambience- so that your visit keeps the eye engaged are the pieces of jewellery, the pottery (ceramics and glassware) and the sculpture. The cases of necklaces, bracelets and broaches show the wide variety of work being produced, mostly locally here in Cornwall. Even more exciting are the amazing raku pots produced by Simon Rich which almost vibrate with iridescent hues- this is pottery that you literally want to take up and feel the powdery textures of the surface. If you are in Penzance, then do drop in to enjoy the current exhibition-“December Light” or a future show. There is a very detailed website at www.glasshousegallery.co.uk/
