Grundy Art Gallery, Artangel and award-winning artist and Spider-Man enthusiast Hetain Patel present a new exhibition that began with a nationwide call-out inviting members of the public to share the activities to which they dedicate their spare time. David Simper heading to the town centre gallery to fine a colourful, creative and touching body of work.
The show features many artists and craftspeople and is based around hobbies, from which come quirky beauty and art. The exhibition is underpinned by the work of Hetain Patel and Andy Holden and works with local people, while being a national initiative involving 13 partner organisations.
Andy Holden’s installation, Cat-tharsis, comprised of a video loop and 200 hundred ceramic cats.
The exhibition has a bewildering plethora of contributors. Blackpool and Fylde Radio Controlled Model Society contribute an illuminated model aircraft. Colourful Crochet by Mae – crocheted pigeons. Omani Hanmer – painted mannequins, mask and head. Val Hesketh/The Paper Garden – paper flowers. Hetain Patel – spiderman costume and Transformers. Mandy Smith – felt snow hare.
There’s also a number of exhibits from the Grundy collection, including coastal and landscape paintings by Geoffey Scowcroft Fletcher (1923-2024) and Cloisonne vases (maker unknown).
An eclectic mix! Really all the contributors should be listed, but there are too many for a short review article. A complete paper list is available at the gallery.
As I’ve commented before, video installations are not always my cup of tea, but there are always going to be exceptions and the two here are exceptional.
Hetain Patel’s film was brilliantly photographed and edited, using slow mo creatively but not excessively. The film did create a bit of a game of spot the items in the gallery, but it also added context to those objects. The felt rabbit might have been meant to be sinister, but that wasn’t quite working for me. The sound was also manipulated brilliantly. The model aircraft being prepared and then flying in formation through the air at dusk was really quite breathtakingly beautiful. After watching too many cat videos, I half expected a moggy to appear and knock one of the model trains over.
The film left me with some hope that, despite the takeover of smartphones and endless web browsing, hobbies will continue. That the intrinsic value of making something physical with your hands, will be recognised. I thought that the groups that people were in, came across as particularly valuable. Shared interest brings people together. If lonely, get a hobby you can do in a group.
As a dedicated cat man, Andy Holden’s installation was bound to be of interest to me. In addition to the cases of ceramic cats, the exhibit was a video loop of Andy unwrapping his grandmother’s said cats and talking about them and his grandmother as he did so. The fact that the cats were wrapped in the Daily Mail didn’t seem to be a good start, but as soon as I’d thought this, Andy’s voiceover outlined the reason for this. The collection had been amassed over years, from charity shop visits. A lot seemed to have breakage injuries, sometimes crudely fixed with glue. I have to admit to having been transfixed as cat after cat came out of the box and wrapping.
This show is absolutely worth a look, though taking it all in and matching the products with the creator is tricky. It continues until 7th June 2025.
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