The Great British Seaside
The exhibition
space is beautifully designed with the centre devoted to a cinema disguised as
beach huts, starting in shades of grey to reflect the black and white pictures
then gradually becoming coloured. The videos
about the artists shown there are excellent.
The works started in the late 1960s with the work of Ray-Jones as part of his “The British at Leisure” series with all the lovely clichés of sandcastles, men in socks and jackets and getting changed under towels but all pictured with a wry humour. The theme was continued by Hurn’s pictures from the 1970s. Both were showing the seaside holidays of my youth. Worryingly no-one really looked happy! Maybe the British endure their holidays rather than enjoy them.
Colour came with Parr’s pictures. I’m a huge fan of his ability to spot a strange juxtaposition of images and I loved his picture of a child sunbathing in front of what looked like a tank! I did laugh out loud at a picture of an old lady setting of for a day on the beach in a cardigan and scarf. The museum had commissioned a new series by him of Essex beaches and I loved the pictures of an Asian family using the beach for a religious celebration.
The show closed with Robert’s work who is based in Brighton and has set himself the task of photographing all 58 pleasure piers in the UK. The pictures were shown with lovely quotes from the artists and I think his summed the show up well “I see the British seaside as a series of landscapes through which we can trace part of our national history.”
Review
Telegraphy
The works started in the late 1960s with the work of Ray-Jones as part of his “The British at Leisure” series with all the lovely clichés of sandcastles, men in socks and jackets and getting changed under towels but all pictured with a wry humour. The theme was continued by Hurn’s pictures from the 1970s. Both were showing the seaside holidays of my youth. Worryingly no-one really looked happy! Maybe the British endure their holidays rather than enjoy them.
Colour came with Parr’s pictures. I’m a huge fan of his ability to spot a strange juxtaposition of images and I loved his picture of a child sunbathing in front of what looked like a tank! I did laugh out loud at a picture of an old lady setting of for a day on the beach in a cardigan and scarf. The museum had commissioned a new series by him of Essex beaches and I loved the pictures of an Asian family using the beach for a religious celebration.
The show closed with Robert’s work who is based in Brighton and has set himself the task of photographing all 58 pleasure piers in the UK. The pictures were shown with lovely quotes from the artists and I think his summed the show up well “I see the British seaside as a series of landscapes through which we can trace part of our national history.”
Closes on 30
September 2018
Review
Telegraphy
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