AUTUMN-WINTER 2014
DAVID JAGGER | JILL CAMPBELL | PAUL DIGBY
ANDY FULLALOVE | SARAH COGGRAVE | KITTY NORTH
ANDRES JAROSLAVSKY | SOLITUDE ENTRIES | EXHIBITION RECOMMENDATIONS
www.yorkshireartjournal.com
Dedicated to the memory of Catherine Ann Logan
A shining winter star
Welcome to Yorkshire Art Journal’s first
printed edition. This volume focuses on the
notion of solitude. We invite our readers
to explore the work of accomplished artists
who are exhibiting in Yorkshire today,
while reflecting on the portraiture of a
painter who was born in the county during
the late nineteenth century.
Warm thanks to everybody involved in the
creation of this volume and to the artists
who submitted work for the competition. At
the time of writing our third volume’s
artist call is open – we are searching for
work relating to the theme ‘afterglow’.
Don’t miss it!
Yorkshire Art Journal is a non-profit
organisation that is self-published,
relying on the continual support of its
readership for future publication
opportunities.
Editor: Katherine A. Caddy
Vol. II Contributors: Sarah Coggrave,
Nicola Cappleman, James Norris
Photographer: Benjamin Selby
Print: Press Green, York
Special thanks: Brian & Mary Caddy,
Benjamin Selby, Andy Fullalove, Gillian
Jagger, Colin Simpson, Sarah Coggrave, Jill
Campbell, Andres Jaroslavsky, Leeds College
of Art, Cecile Creemers
All best wishes for a wonderful 2015.
Katherine A. Caddy
Founder & Editor
www.yorkshireartjournal.com
www.yorkshireartnews.com
© Yorkshire Art Journal 2014
On the cover: Andres Jaroslavsky, ‘Madres’, 2014. Above: detail of ‘Madres’, both © the artist.
Everything within this volume has been carefully sourced and to the best of our knowledge we have received all appropriate permission.
Please see our website for full article source lists: www.yorkshireartjournal.com/sources
David Jagger was a highly esteemed early
twentieth-century painter, born in the
village of Kilnhurst near Rotherham in
1891. Jagger famously created portraits
of illustrious members of society. His
paintings draw on the spirit of the
sitter; they are characterful and
evocative. Some of the identities of
Jagger’s sitters are lost today - we
wonder who they were and what they did
during their lives. The paintings are
highly searching, vivacious, and
predominantly glamorous. Jagger focused on
his sitter’s temperament and style,
contemplating the way in which they
responded to the world around them.
Jagger is remembered as a fairly reclusive
character and little is commonly known
about his life today. He and his brother,
Charles, and sister, Edith, all painted,
sometimes exhibiting together under the
title ‘The Jagger Family’. David painted
landscapes, which are difficult to locate,
as are the majority of his works, commonly
held within private residences. The
sitter’s name is entirely lost for several
of his works. This lack of information
encourages creative speculation. What I am
interested in is the traditional aversion
of the female gaze compared to the
strikingly purposeful stare of male
sitters within Jagger’s paintings.
‘Kathleen’ presents a luxuriously dressed
lady, his wife, in a sensationally
theatrical pose, emphasised by a stark
black background. Kathleen’s shawl and
brown hair appear to merge with the
darkness, while her hand clasps her
sleeve, as Jagger articulates the soft,
flowing lace that ripples across the
sitter’s form. Light above is implied in
Kathleen’s eyes and on her skin: she gazes
upwards, creating a striking stance, her
long fine neck allowing for focus on the
sheen of her illuminated face.
Portraiture’s conventional solitude
encourages limelight for the figure, who
almost appears to be spot lit, with no
sense of location in the murky backdrop.
Kathleen is given substance through her
gown, which dominates the lower half of
the canvas. Her averted gaze enhances a
sense of drama; it is as though the sitter
is in her own world, and has more pressing
matters to contemplate than our presence.
This aversion of eye contact offers a
dignified and modest tone to some degree.
However, Kathleen’s pose is highly
contrived and is of course intended to
give the impression of a refined lady,
intensifying a youthful glow through the
gleaming nude silk.
David Jagger, ‘Kathleen’. © Williamson Art Gallery & Museum and
the Jagger Estate.
The anonymity of some of Jagger’s sitters
today is bizarre considering the
artist’s renown for painting illustrious
members of society. This can be read as
marking a lack of regard for female
sitters compared to male, whose identities
are notably better preserved and easier to
decipher. The portraits highlight gender
disparity and a lack of serious societal
acclaim offered to women during the early
twentieth century. Men are painted in
military attire, offering them a stronger
identity and sense of place within British
society. The expression of female strength
and refinement is perhaps hindered by the
sitters’ timid and elusive expressions,
which work to enhance beauty, but do
little to express individuality. At the
time of creation the works held weight in
capturing the magnificence and status of
those depicted. Our lack of awareness as
to who the female sitters are causes
them to appear striking yet anonymous,
alluring through the stories and histories
they conceal.
Jagger’s ‘Lady in Green’ exemplifies this.
The artist subtly captures human emotion
through the articulation of a slight
earnest frown. Jagger brings his lady to
life through vivid moss-green eyes that
reflect bright light beyond. She grasps
her fine emerald green jacket and is
reflected in the convex mirror behind her,
which contains a hint of the artist’s
form. The work has lost its true title today referred to as ‘Lady in
Green’ or ‘Elegant Lady’ - yet this
painting is likely to represent one of the
most illustrious ladies in twentiethcentury British society. The work sold for
almost £40,000 at Christie’s in 2012,
demonstrating its fine quality while
alluding to a lingering regard for
Jagger’s work today.
Many of Jagger’s ladies have lost their
identities while I could only find a
single ‘anonymous’ male portrait by the
artist online. ‘Portrait of a Man’
demonstrates Jagger’s entirely different
treatment of male subjects:
he stands upright, facing us, making
direct, confident eye contact with the
viewer. There is no sense of figural
melodrama or timidity; he is depicted as
self-assured, the only theatre provided by
the impending dark clouds beyond. He does
not cling to his clothes, gazing away, but
stands upright with hand firmly in pocket,
the depth and sheen of his coat adding to
an image of magnitude. Today he lacks
identity, yet arguably appears assured and
thus characterful to a greater extent than
the ladies noted previously.
It is crucial to remember that Jagger was
painting during an extraordinarily
turbulent time - he painted many esteemed
military men throughout two World
Wars. This, combined with constraining
societal conventions, perhaps explains why
the juxtaposition of often anonymous
female sitters and prestigious, remembered
male sitters is so stark. The comparison
today is to a degree flawed; during
Jagger’s day these works were privately
commissioned by those depicted. Our lack
of information about the women is
partially due to the paintings’
having passed through private hands rather
than into gallery ownership early on. We
cannot fairly compare the male and female
depictions in terms of their
expressing identity as we have lost so
much detail historically regarding the
ladies in these works. In addition, the
artist painted a plethora of portraits
during his lifetime, but digital copies
are limited.
The works tell us a great deal about the
portrayal of women in portraiture during a
period of fluctuation. ‘Sewing’
presents Jagger’s wife again. A comparison
of the two portraits of Kathleen implies
progression in early twentieth-century
portraiture. In ‘Sewing‘, Kathleen
glances a little helplessly directly at
the viewer, marking a turning point in
Jagger’s work - hardly any of
his ‘anonymous’ works contain this
affecting female eye contact. Jagger
provides no sense of context besides the
domestic act of sewing. The partial nudity
of the figure is less restrained than in
any of his other works: painting his wife
allowed for a greater degree of artistic
freedom. Her face is suited to Jagger’s
artistic practice; here he conveys
melancholy and longing, a lady amidst a
whitewashed space, focusing solely on an
expression and the act of sewing.
Jagger’s work illuminates aspects of
portraiture during the Wartime period. A
sense of instability can be read in his
‘anonymous’ female sitters’ faces that may
be said to allude to the tempestuous
period in which he lived, while
demonstrating gender distinctions of the
early twentieth century. Jagger’s
portraits are at worst tedious depictions
of renowned military men who wished to be
remembered, but at best they demonstrate
the artist’s exceptional skill, expressing
quiet emotion and a certain tension.
Today, the ‘mysterious’ works have become
more intriguing than they may have been
before, their elusive quality allowing for
speculation and distanced comparison of
constructed gender differences that
existed during the artist’s lifetime.
Very little information is available online on this artist. We believe
this would make a fantastic dissertation or other research topic.
Both detail images were drawn from the work overleaf, courtesy of
Liverpool Museums and the Jagger Estate, 2014.
If you are interested in seeing the other works discussed in this
article, please see: http://yorkshireartjournal.com/2014/06/
06/historical-feature-david-jagger-and-the-female-gaze/
David Jagger, ‘Sewing’. Date unknown. Oil on canvas. © Liverpool Museums and the Jagger Estate.
Our cover artist is Andres Jaroslavsky, a recent graduate from Leeds College of
Art’s Creative Practice MA course. He is a self-taught and accomplished figurative
painter who is highly interested in representative drawing and old masters’
techniques. His work commonly explores social issues, most recently surrounding
troubles in Argentina.
Andres believes that art has the power to place a big problem on the table for
people to discuss. We selected Andres’ painting for the cover of this edition due
to the instantaneous impact of the glare of the mother in the centre of the work,
who carries an image of a lost loved one.
The painting tells a story from the brutal dictatorship that existed in Argentina
between 1976 and 1983. During this period many people were kidnapped, tortured and
went missing, never to be found. Children of the disappeared still don’t know the
fate of their parents. Andres is one of those children - his father disappeared.
Andres describes the work:
“Madres is a symbolic representation of the endurance and courage of those mothers,
but also the fear, sadness and solitude that they have to overcome.“
This is evident in the looming dark background that is challenged by six solemn
women moving across the canvas in unison.
“The women in the picture are friends, mothers of some of my students, students of
the MA. Finding the central face was particularly difficult. I saw that lady once,
with her amazing eyes, but I couldn't contact her. After looking for her everywhere
for months I saw her at a street party during the Tour de France. I grabbed her to
ask her to come to my studio to show that the painting was finished but without the
central face. I told her "if you don't pose for me I can't finish my MA". So she
did…”
The artist just completed his MA at Leeds College of Art. He describes the impact
this has had on his work:
“I am a self-taught painter so my method and technique were a huge mess of
information. John Constable said that “A self-taught painter is one taught by a
very ignorant person.” This is probably true, but I never had the chance to learn
in an academy. The MA provided me the space and time to give a structure to my
painting process. I am eager to start my new series of paintings, putting in
practice this method, improving it, adjusting it.”
Andres has a background in human rights and articulates selected concerns through
his paintings. He was born and raised in Argentina and moved to the UK with his
family in April 2000. He decided to run life drawing classes at a community centre
in York in order to fund his MA studies, while running the Corner Gallery in York.
These classes are ongoing – they allow for social activity alongside more serious
work and study. Find out more via Andres’ website: www.cornergallery.net
Detail of ‘Madres’ and a photograph of Andres at work in his gallery in York. © Andres Jaroslavsky, 2014.
www.jademichellelong.com
Harbour Lights
Dance
In the salty night sky
Boats gently rock
On the moon flooded sea
Echoes of laughter
The remains of the day
Families retire
As the wind picks a chill
Couples huddle
Stroll on the sand
Waves gently lapping
Lulling and calm
Alone on the pier
A figure stands still
Leaning into the fret
Breathing in the unknown
Looking up to the cliffs
Sea breeze in his face
Bracing he turns
By the lighthouse
He rests
Sheltered for now
He sits, and he sits
Listening to the whispers
Of the dark hidden sea
Serene in his solitude
www.eveningscribbles.wordpress.com
Earlier this year I saw Andy Fullalove’s
exhibition, entitled ‘Sheltered’, at Leeds
Central Library’s Arts Space, which had
recently re-opened. The rooms are now
ideal for art displays, located aside from
Leeds Art Gallery in a quiet and light
space. The exhibition comprised solely of
Fullalove’s paintings, curated by the
artist, sparingly dispersed throughout the
white and grey rooms. I was fortunate
enough to speak with the artist. I
endeavoured
to
gain
a
greater
understanding of his energetic and subtle
work.
Fullalove
enjoys half-revealing
images
beneath layers of paint. He explains that
sometimes a friend will contact him having
gazed at a painting in a certain light and
seen something they had never noticed
before. This could be a house, a person, a
tree,
or
any
other
section
of
the
landscape that has disappeared within
these multi-faceted, vibrant works. This
encourages us to engage deeply with the
paintings, leaving us wondering what may
lie beneath the surface.
In ‘Edge of Isolation’ one can imagine
that with one more brush stroke the little
house could become an aspect of the deep
blue
painterly
sky
above.
Fullalove
gestures towards the delicate aspects of
painting in that with a momentary decision
the painting and its meaning can change
entirely. This work comprises of two
canvases adjoined, encouraging the idea
that
the
work
could
be
broken
in
two, forming separate entities, alluding
to tectonic plates. The little house is on
the edge of isolation itself, in a vast,
looming, moody blue-green landscape. It
becomes immersed within it.
The painter likes strong contrasts and
uses them to convey his concerns regarding
the raw and harsh aspects of living
in nature. He is interested in the extreme
circumstances human beings can survive
within. Fullalove’s work is usually not
entirely
abstract.
In this
series
he places
objects
and
figures
into landscapes to give the works an
element
of
reality,
establishing
a
firmer sense of meaning.
This is especially successful in his
paintings
featuring
a
tiny
solitary
figure, such as ‘Distant Shelter’. The
artist
strongly
expresses
the
subordination of man to nature in this
work through the scale of the moon and
tree in relation to the person, while
illustrating nature’s ability to become
our shelter. We are simultaneously
threatened and protected by aspects of
nature. Intriguingly, Fullalove points out
that this lone figure, who looks away from
us, is a person in his life. They have no
idea
it
is
them.
This
gives
you
a sense of the
artist’s
playful
and
contemplative
nature,
making
for
beguiling, unpredictable works that we
may never fully grasp.
“I start with a title or phrase, which
will have come from writings I do whilst
looking within the landscape, and then
paint what that means to me. Only when the
painting finally reveals itself to me as
that title or phrase do I know that it’s
finished”.
In front of ‘Silent Landscape’. 2014. Photograph: Benjamin Selby.
This work is about looking and re-looking.
Andy
does
not
work
from
meticulous
drawings but from feelings and memories of
moments,
often
re-visiting
ideas
or
working
off
of
a
constant,
nagging
feeling. Andy is aware of fellow artists’
work but tries not to look at it too much
in order to maintain his own style. He
loves Howard Hodgkin for his fearless use
of colour.
When Fullalove was a little boy he would
sit on his grandfather’s knee as he
painted. His oil paints were left to Andy,
who created his first painting aged ten (a
copy of Van Gough’s ‘Sunflowers’ in oil.)
The artist is still naturally drawn to
painting in oil. The medium offers his
work vitality and luminosity.
Fullalove’s paintings explore the notion
of humans living within the landscape,
engaged in a constant battle. Andy creates
composite works containing fragments of
man-made objects merged with the natural
world around them, which dominates space.
We are lured in by these little man-made
pieces; we seek the familiar and the
stable; we see a house and perhaps feel
more comfortable somehow.
www.andyfullalove.com
Andy Fullalove, ‘Edge of Isolation’, 2013. © the artist.
Solitude is by no means a homogeneous
concept. Indeed, the idea of being alone;
of becoming separated from others, or
isolated in some way, has different
connotations for everyone. For some, the
very idea of solitude evokes fear and
unhappiness. For others it represents a
state of bliss and enlightenment. A
mixture of both is perhaps more accurate
for most, and the tension between these
fluctuating dimensions is played out daily
in the life of Miss Pilchard.
Sarah Coggrave, ‘Enjoying Her Own Company?’ 2014.
Miss Pilchard is a middle-aged spinster of
indeterminate age. She wears tweed, enjoys
literature and is a fiercely private
person. She likes cricket, dancing the
Charleston and sitting on vacant benches.
Scarborough,
the
town
in
which
she
currently resides, offers plenty of the
latter,
alongside
stunning
views
and
plenty of beautiful countryside, all of
which greatly appeal to our lady in
question.
sense of rejection. Humans are, on the
whole, inherently social beings. We are
drawn together; not just to reproduce, but
also to protect one another, to be part of
something bigger than ourselves. When
relationships dissolve or do not exist to
begin with, life can seem hopeless and
meaningless.
Being stranded on the outer realms of the
social world can offer great insight, but
often at the cost of sanity and wellbeing.
Indeed,
solitude
might
be
a
consequence or cause of madness…or perhaps
the beginning of a creative journey.
Spiritual quests and pilgrimages have
historically
embraced
the
idea
of
solitude.
However,
solitude
does
not
necessary deliver what those who seek it
desire.
Sarah
Coggrave is
a
resident
artist
at Crescent Arts in Scarborough. She has
dedicated vast amounts of time to the
documentation of Miss Pilchard’s antics,
even moving from Manchester to Scarborough
to continue her coverage of the spinster’s
journey. She believes that Miss Pilchard’s
solitary life illustrates the hazards of
minimal interaction with others, but also
the resulting creativity and humour. There
is still much to be learned from her.
Originally hailing from a mill town in
Derbyshire,
Miss
Pilchard
has
long
eschewed the conventions of marriage and
children that haunt her peers, instead
opting for a life of quiet solitude.
Dwelling alone in a small, shabby, but
cosy bedsit, she lives a simple existence
dictated by meagre wages and a dislike of
anything excessive or ostentatious.
As with many shy, sensitive people, who
prefer
books,
peace,
and
meaningful
conversation, Miss Pilchard has found
herself at odds with those around her,
settling into an existence that requires
her to re-frame consequence as choice,
thus finding solitude invigorating and
empowering. Without the responsibilities
of a family, or a demanding social life,
she is free to pursue a diverse range of
pastimes.
Sometimes her illusion crumbles. The stark
reality of loneliness rears its head – at
this point the agency that underpins
solitude is replaced by an overwhelming
Sarah Coggrave, ‘Stunning Views in Scarborough’. 2014.
S.C.
Sarah recently embarked upon a project entitled ‘Stories from
Scarborough’, in which she creatively researches aspects of the
town’s past. She collects memories, artifacts and images relating to
selected Scarborough attractions, making archival material
accessible and engaging for wider audiences.
Find a range of Sarah’s artwork and research content on her website:
www.sarahcoggrave.tumblr.com
www.tonynoble-artist.com
Above: Paul Digby, ‘Airport’, 2011-12. Below: Paul Digby, ‘Buildings’, 2011-12. © the artist.
Paul
Digby
is
a
Yorkshire-based
contemporary
painter
and
installation
artist. He studied at York College before
graduating from Norwich University of the
Arts in 1997. Paul exhibited and worked
with the non-arts sector including Leeds
Mental Health Trust before increasingly
gaining recognition in 2001 and 2002. This
article will address his ‘At Home and At
Work‘ series. I want to examine the way in
which Paul’s work engages with the human
condition – our suffering, isolation,
alienation – while contemplating ways in
which these works are somehow relieving in
their articulation of conditions we each
have in common.
Relating to ‘At Home and At Work’, Paul
explains that he regularly teaches in a
community group setting, often within
socially deprived areas, and that these
experiences drive him to depict what he
sees. The artist portrays emotive scenes
“as stimuli for the viewer to respond to.”
He wishes to use his position positively,
creating works that earnestly articulate
everyday
experiences
and
issues.
He
explains that as his work has progressed
over the years, developing a social
conscience has influenced the content of
the artwork, but emphasises that he
remains primarily engaged with ‘art for
art’s sake’.
This series is affecting through its
blatancy - its immediate impact and the
repetition of solitary figures with their
heads in their hands. The variation of
location and unrelenting suffering of the
figures within bold and bright locations
intensifies the message – the light does
not have the power to cast away the issues
these people face. I feel that this
daylight exemplifies the ongoing mental
anguish of the figures as they collapse in
isolation,
surrounded
by
everyday
interiors,
which
add
little
genuine
protection
or
comfort.
The despairing
human beings are bound within various
structures
including
hotel
rooms,
bedrooms, army tanks, airport lounges,
offices
and
toilet
cubicles.
The
structures enforce a sense of entrapment
but also add a strong tone of familiarity
and nostalgia.
Viewing the paintings as a slideshow,
slowly, one after the other, I feel moved.
This series encourages us to peer into the
uncomfortable and
tortuous
moments
experienced by lone human beings, while
the
figures
themselves
are
entirely
bound up within their own concerns.
Consequently we may view the works and
become bound up once more with ourselves,
relating these images to times when we
personally have experienced such misery
and helplessness.
The paintings have a certain clinical
edge. They are impartial in a sense – the
figures’ faces are concealed and they
remain
solitary,
untouched
by
our
presence, with no eye contact or sense
of the viewer’s presence. We are able to
see these people from angles otherwise
unlikely, such as the man in a cubicle
viewed from above or the man within a
hotel room who is seen closely through a
tower block window.
The paintings highlight the sense in which
we each share these moments – we all
suffer, are at times isolated and feel
alienated. In this we are not alone. In
solitude there is perhaps time to come to
that realisation. We see these figures in
moments of pain but these are momentary
glimpses,
and
one
can
imagine,
for
example, the lady in the airport lounge
taking this moment to despair before
picking up her bag and going home, to move
on from the situation in some way, if
initially only physically.
At the time of writing Paul is working on
a series of portraits of people expressing
joy. This must be an entirely different
experience to painting the tumultuous
series discussed here. His new work will
be
displayed
at The
Tetley in
2015,
alongside around one hundred portraits
drawn by Leeds school children, featuring
interviews with the portrait subjects. An
accompanying exhibition will be held at
Gallery Munro House in Leeds, consisting
of previous portraits by the artist. The
project
is
sponsored
by Arts
Council
England. Paul aims for his new works to
tour during 2015 – he is currently
approaching venues in order for this to
happen.
The artist is a member of the Yorkshire
and Humber Visual Arts Network. He is
enthused by the group as they aim to
provide
opportunities,
contributing
towards the formation of a supportive
network for artists and arts professionals
within the region.
I ask Paul, “What is the best piece of
advice
you
have
ever
received?”
He
responds, “Simply, to keep making work and
draw every day”.
www.pauldigby.co.uk
I shuffle a deck in the Travelodge,
spread it out on the coverlet,
one by one by one
like the miles beneath my wheels.
It has come down to this:
a wide view of a car park,
the coral glow of the petrol-station,
a TV clamped to the wall
and cartoons at daybreak.
Someone in the next room
turning a tap on.
I think of the distance between us,
and skies when the light is going.
At the bedside are marigolds
in a glass vase.
I like their fabric shine,
the way they will not wilt,
their bright, unfailing colours.
www.currockpress.com
Kitty North is a painter of landscapes and
people. Her works present familiar sites
turned visions; these spiritual and hazy
canvases immediately evoke some sense of
‘home’. Kitty’s paintings appear as if a
celebration of colour; of its delicacies,
its ability to be pastel, warming and
gentle, or vibrant, exclamatory, bold,
unafraid. Here I focus on her works in
oil, delving into their nostalgic tones
and disquiet subtleties. I will raise the
nature of familiarity within North’s work,
discussing the power of signs, and the
intrinsic link between togetherness and
solitude.
Kitty North, ‘Going Home’. © the artist.
North lives and works in the Yorkshire
Dales. She aims to reveal the “pulse and
spirituality of her subjects”. The
artist’s recurring use of deep and pale
pinks, and the way in which these pigments
are applied, reminds me very much of
certain paintings by Chagall. He drew the
viewer into a spiritual plane via
relentless luminous canvases, so unafraid
of vibrancy, presenting his subjects
within a pictorial space ablaze with
colour. North’s deep pinks and yellows
within ‘Going Home’ call this to mind. The
textural quality of this piece, its almost
gritty areas of black-greys and yellows,
which intervene across smooth pale lilac,
remind me of Chagall’s ‘Circus’, in which
startling reds and pinks are interrupted
by lines of Marc’s favourite Mediterranean
blue.
‘Going Home’ presents a cluster of
figures, huddled and in motion, headed
towards a house nearby. The group is
highlighted by a golden yellow that
permeates the canvas and serves the artist
well, focusing the eye on a tree beyond
and the moon in the sky. I find the notion
of familiarity fascinating – that with a
few brushstrokes an artist can create a
nostalgic vision, displaying a little
house in the distance that has the power
to make each viewer recall their own
notion of ‘going home’. Through the
depiction of a little roofed structure and
a huddle of people on a path we are
beckoned to think of home and those
dearest to us.
North seems preoccupied by this theme. In
‘Family Afternoon’ we see a group of
people striding across a dazzling orange
landscape, close to a house and a couple
of trees. The artist requires no more than
these signs to indicate the concerns of
the work. Kitty’s paintings are deeply
embedded within ‘the familiar’. She takes
a commonplace scene and enlivens it with
colours that appear almost ephemeral. The
figures wander home before dusk under a
soon to be setting sun, as blue shadows
pervade a golden scene. North marks key
aspects of the landscape in navy, echoed
within the sky above.
Notions of togetherness and solitude are
brought out within most of the artist’s
recent
works.
She
often
represents
couples, tiny amidst their surroundings,
lone
pairs wandering
across
silent
scenes. Kitty singles them out, offering
emphasis on the act of walking together in
nature.
They
appear
within
remote
settings, singular groupings, in lonetogetherness. In ‘Tranquillity’ the sky
appears to engulf the ground, implying
night’s victory over daytime. Striking
deep blues and purples sweep across the
canvas, harmonious, while a small moon
sits atop a lone walking couple. Kitty
thus takes wholly recognisable scenes and
showers them with rich colours, offering
them theatricality
and
meaning.
The
familiar and the mundane are presented as
shimmering and timeless.
Kitty North, ‘Family Afternoon’, © the artist.
www.kittynorth.com
2014-15
Open Now
The Hepworth, Wakefield: Conflict and Collisions - New Contemporary
Sculpture. An exciting programme of contemporary art that features three new
solo exhibitions and commissions by artists Alexandra Bircken, Folkert de
Jong and Toby Ziegler. Until 25th January 2015. www.hepworthwakefield.org
Yorkshire Sculpture Park: Emily Sutton – Town and Country. The largest ever
solo exhibition of work by celebrated artist and illustrator Emily Sutton. A
delightful display of original and intricate paintings and screen-prints.
Until 22nd February 2015. www.ysp.co.uk
Stanley & Audrey Burton Gallery, Leeds: Nostalgia & Progress - Illustration
after the Second World War. An exploration of British book illustration
after WWII until the 1960s. The post-war era, with its mixture of anxiety
and joie de vivre, resulted in some of the most beloved illustration ever
created. Until 28th February 2015. library.leeds.ac.uk/art-gallery
Huddersfield Art Gallery: Contemporary British Painting – The PrisemanSeabrook Collection. A celebration of the dynamic and vibrant painting scene
that is happening around the country right now, with many serious artists
working out of garages, spare bedrooms and garden studios across the UK.
Featured artists include Sue Kennington, Fiona Eastwood, Andrew Munoz,
Harvey Taylor and Ruth Philo. Until 14th March 2015. www.robert-priseman.com
Work by Ruth Philo (Huddersfield Art Gallery, ’14-’15)
Millennium Gallery, Sheffield: Picturing Sheffield - The Life of a City.
Examining the relationship between views of the city and the identity of the
people who have lived and died there. Includes work by key artists from the
1700s to the present day, including J.M.W. Turner, Bill Brandt, Godfrey
Sykes, Linda Benedict Jones and John Hoyland. Until 12th April 2015.
www.museums-sheffield.org.uk
Work by (L-R) Samantha Snowden (According to McGee, Spring 2015) and Sally Taylor (The Tetley, Winter-Spring 2015)
Leeds Art Gallery: Cross Currents. French works from the gallery’s permanent
collection feature alongside works by British artists who were influenced by
new art of the Victorian period. This exhibition hones in on Yorkshire-based
art collectors. Until Summer 2015. www.leeds.gov.uk/museumsandgalleries
Opening Soon
Helmsley Arts Centre: Lesley Williams and Jane Kennelly exhibition. Lesley
Williams and Jane Kennelly have long been looking at and interpreting
flowers, fronds and leaves, moving towards individual abstraction. From
Tuesday 6th – Friday 30th January 2015. www.helmsleyarts.co.uk
The Tetley, Leeds: Jerwood Drawing Prize. 2014 marks the twentieth Jerwood
Drawing Prize - the largest and longest running annual open exhibition for
drawing in the UK. JDP has established a reputation for its commitment to
championing excellence and promoting and celebrating the breadth of
contemporary drawing practice within the UK. From 16th January – 1st March
2015. thetetley.org
The Norman Rea Gallery, York: Cecilia Mari. Questions as to what encompasses
fine art, drawing on issues relating to the environment, community, popular
culture and politics. From 2nd – 13th March 2015. thenormanreagallery.co.uk
Mercer Art Gallery, Harrogate: Edo Pop - Urban Heroes in Japan 1830 – 1890.
Exploring the fascinating hand-printed pictures made in the nineteenthcentury city of Edo. Fifty woodblock prints show celebrities, Samurai, Sumo
wrestlers, fashion icons, firemen, villains and their devoted fans. From 24th
January – 12th April 2015. www.harrogate.gov.uk/musm
According to McGee, York: Buy Art Exhibition. Work by David Swale, Samantha
Snowden and Adam Keay. 1 gallery / 2 rooms / 3 of the most collectible
contemporary artists in the UK. Paintings, prints, and posters available.
Between April and May 2015. www.accordingtomcgee.com
Find our full exhibition list online: www.yorkshireartjournal.com/exhibitions/
Jill Campbell creates bewitching and
responsive paintings that articulate
aspects of the North Pennines where she
lives. One can at once see an intention to
distance from reality and to ground the
works within a definite landscape, as
exemplified by the titles of her
recent paintings. These works are not
entirely abstract – they draw us
into contemplation of individual areas,
celebrating the natural world and the
possibilities of a painterly world
simultaneously.
I interviewed Jill to discuss her recent
work, along with her inspirations and
influences:
K.C: What inspires you?
J.C: Things – Stormy skies, big moody
landscapes, strange shapes, curlews
crying, shadows, colours, atmosphere,
feelings, connections, reflections,
poetry, beautiful paintings.
Exhibitions – The most beautiful
exhibition I think I have seen was the
Turner, Twombly, Monet exhibition at Tate
Liverpool. Three of my favourite artists.
I still think regularly about the stunning
paintings I saw there which really moved
me – particularly the Twombly Quattro
Stagioni paintings.
Artists – Over the last year I have been
particularly inspired by Peter Lanyon’s
paintings, especially those he completed
in the late ’50s, such as ‘Silent
Coast’ and ‘Forest Green’. I think I was
influenced a lot by his work when making
my degree show paintings. For my
dissertation I examined perception of
landscape with particular reference to the
Phenomenologist Merleau-Ponty. I think
Lanyon is an example of an artist who very
much had this philosophy in mind. He took
personal experience as a starting point
for his painting. I also love the work of
Barbara Rae, Joan Eardley and Sheila Fell.
K.C: When did you decide to become a
painter?
J.C: I studied art at A-Level when I was
seventeen and have always been interested
in drawing and painting throughout my
life. When I moved to the North East ten
years ago I fell in love with the dramatic
landscapes of Weardale and Teesdale and
was inspired to take up painting again. I
decided to do a part-time fine art degree
course at the University of Sunderland six
years ago – I graduated this year with a
first class degree.
K.C: Do you hide things within your
paintings? Are there secrets within them?
J.C: Not intentionally, but my painting is
a many-layered process and a lot of things
get hidden. I often write in the painting
- this may show up fully or partially at
the end, or be completely obliterated.
K.C: Tell us a little
industrial landscape.
about
the
post-
J.C: Where I live in County Durham the
area is marked everywhere with evidence of
centuries
of
coal
and
lead
mining
activity. It was probably at its peak in
the mid-eighteenth century, but goes as
far back as medieval times in some places.
The traces left behind, often reclaimed by
nature, can take the form of mounds and
corresponding
dents
in
the
ground,
cobblestone tracks, local places and road
names, disused buildings and quarries.
They
often
form
very
dramatic
and
‘abstract’ landscapes with their strange,
mysterious organic shapes and shadows,
which are wonderful to draw and an
abstract artist’s dream!
K.C: What is it about W.H. Auden’s work
that you most admire? How did you come
across him?
J.C: I often use writing in my work,
especially
from
notes
I
make
when
sketching, which frequently appear in
titles.
I
was
so
impressed
by
the
landscape here that I was convinced that
there must be some poetry written about
it. I wanted to try to link the painting
with poetry as another way to help me
connect with the subject. I find that
poets can put into a few words what you
have struggled for ages to express.
‘When I try to imagine a faultless love,
or the life to come, what I hear is the
murmur of underground streams, what I see
is a limestone landscape’. – W.H. Auden,
‘In Praise of Limestone’, 1948.
Jill’s recent works on paper can be seen
at Kunsthuis art gallery in Crayke, North
Yorkshire, until 11th January 2015.
www.jillcampbell.info
Jill Campbell, ‘Return’. Acrylic on paper, 2014.
www.sallygatie.com
www.capricornphotography.co.uk
LUCY ANTWIS is a textile artist based in York who works with many specialist
techniques including silk painting, batik, dyeing and embroidery. www.lucyantwis.com
KATHERINE A. CADDY is an arts writer, marketeer and photographer based in North
Yorkshire. She founded Yorkshire Art Journal in February 2014. www.katherineapril.com
JILL CAMPBELL is a contemporary landscape artist whose paintings are a lyrical
response to the wild and beautiful landscape of the North East of England.
www.jillcampbell.info
ALAN CARMICHAEL is a professional photographer whose work spans press and PR,
weddings, events, landscape and portraiture. www.capricornphotography.co.uk
SARAH COGGRAVE is an artist and researcher who uses performance to explore places and
their histories. www.sarahcoggrave.tumblr.com
PAUL DIGBY is a Leeds-based artist who makes drawings, paintings and sculpture. He
references the expression of emotions in his work. www.pauldigby.co.uk
ANDY FULLALOVE is a Yorkshire-based painter whose semi-abstract landscape paintings
are considered as representational metaphors of emotional states.
www.andyfullalove.com
SALLY GATIE is a Yorkshire-based figurative artist, producing both small and largescale oil paintings and photo-montages with deeply humanitarian cores.
www.sallygatie.com
ANDRES JAROSLAVSKY is a self-taught figurative painter who is interested in drawing
and old masters’ techniques, especially the use of restricted palettes exemplified by
Rembrandt and Zorn. www.cornergallery.net
PETE LANCASTER is a poet and artist living in Wakefield who continually draws
inspiration from the shifting patterns of light and reflection in the Washlands which
lie to the east of the city. www.currockpress.com
JADE LONG is a mixed media artist whose practice focuses primarily on memories,
drawing on years spent on the Isle of Wight as a child. www.jademichellelong.com
TONY NOBLE is based in his studio at Redbrick, Batley Carr, and specialises in
figurative painting - portraits, landscapes and anything else that catches his eye.
www.tonynoble-artist.com
KITTY NORTH is a painter of landscapes who is skilled in revealing the pulse and
spirituality of her subjects. www.kittynorth.com
BECKY SPENCE is a York-based writer, creating poems and flash fiction, capturing
moments and moving onto the next. www.eveningscribbles.wordpress.com
RUBY TINGLE is a collage artist working with photomontage, drawing, performance and
music; inspired by myths and metamorphosis she uses self-portraiture to create a
vicarious existence for herself. www.rubytingle.tumblr.com
If you would like to contribute to Yorkshire Art Journal, be it as a writer or artist, please get in touch via our website.
All articles © Yorkshire Art Journal 2014. www.yorkshireartjournal.com
All featured images © the artists, 2014.
www.lucyantwis.com
www.sarahcoggrave.tumblr.com
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Yorkshire Sculpture Park: The Chapel – Ai Weiwei’s ‘Iron Tree’. Photograph: Benjamin Selby
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On the back cover: Ruby Tingle, 'Self: Prayer on a Lily Pad’. www.rubytingle.tumblr.com