The Southport Contemporary Arts (SCA) ArtHouse gallery on Eastbank Street is preparing for its Summer Open Art Exhibition, timed to coincide with the influx of visitors for the golf championships. The exhibition, themed 'Southport: Land, Sand and Sea', celebrates the local coastline and aims to showcase the town's unique qualities to newcomers.
Exhibition Highlights Local Talent and Coastal Inspiration
Co-director of SCA, Norrie Beswick-Calvert, explained: 'Our Summer Open is all set to show off the unique qualities of Southport to all of the visitors we will have in town for the Golf Championships. Many of the visitors won't have visited Southport before and we'll be bringing a taste of all that they might enjoy to their doorstep with a show that explores and celebrates Southport's Land, Sand and Sea.'
The exhibition is open to artists and makers from the Liverpool City Region or Lancashire and features a wide range of contemporary art and craft from emerging and established artists. The show highlights the region's creativity, including works depicting Southport's buildings, open spaces, golf courses, beachfront, bird reserves, parks, sandscape, and skies.
Featured Artists and Their Works
Mixed-media artist Amanda Clark-Price, originally from Liverpool and now based in Burscough, will present 'Salt Marsh Skies', a watercolour, soft pastel, and coloured pencil study inspired by a Sunday morning walk near Marshside. She said: 'It's one of a series I did from some photographs I took one Sunday morning looking over the salt marsh out to sea near Marshside - one of those bright but stormy looking mornings. I wanted to capture the drama and exaggerate the colours and contrasts.'
Becky Atherton, also from Burscough, will exhibit 'The Protection of Salus', a painting inspired by the sculpted face of the Roman goddess Salus on a Grade II-listed Victorian building on Lord Street. She noted: 'While being part of the SCA Heritage Group, we explored number 479-481 in Lord Street... The groups researched and found and named her as Salus the Roman Goddess of safety, welfare, health and prosperity. I wonder is Salus still protecting the people of Southport today and in turn are the pigeons protecting her?'
Photography and Collage Contributions
Professional photographer Guy Keen, who studied at Southport College of Art and later served in the fire service for 30 years, will feature his monochrome image 'Cloistered Glade' from Ainsdale's pine woodlands. He stated: 'Since my teens when I first discovered the magic of a monochrome image appearing before my eyes in a home made darkroom and seeing the incredible work of photography masters such as Ansel Adams, I've been hooked on black-and-white photography.'
Liverpool-born artist Anthony Coulthurst, who returned to the North West in 2019 after living in London for over 30 years, will present a collage titled 'Picnic'. He explained: 'The improvisational quality of collage makes it particularly suited to representing transient effects... I wanted to create something with a sense of excitement and fun. The exact location in Southport is ambiguous but somewhere near the sea as indicated by the inclusion of a beach ball and a Herring Gull.'
Paintings and Textile Art
Alice Lenkiewicz from Liverpool will exhibit two paintings: 'View of Hesketh Park' and 'Woman at a Window'. The latter was inspired by an Art Nouveau stained-glass window in Wayfarers Arcade designed by architect George E. Bolshaw in the 1890s. She said: 'I painted the lady from imagination, allowing the imagery to unfold naturally, but I wanted to place her within a distinctive interior space and began searching for a suitable window design.'
Textile artist Barbara Richardson, a graduate of Roehampton Institute, will display a contemporary screen print of Southport's historic architecture, created from collages of photographs, sketchbook studies, and recycled magazine print. She commented: 'I take inspiration from our coastline and the natural materials found along the shore. I develop my finished pieces from photographs and sketchbook studies incorporating sea-washed stone, wood, glass and botanicals to reflect the changing light and colour palette that defines the shifting boundaries between land and sea.'
Exhibition Details and Dates
The Summer Open will begin with a Preview Evening on July 7 from 6-8pm at ArtHouse, 65 Eastbank Street, Southport. The exhibition runs until August 15, open Tuesday to Friday 10am-3pm and Saturdays 11am-4pm. The event aims to attract golfers, followers, and families visiting for the championships, offering a taste of Southport's artistic and cultural offerings.
