Three autumn exhibitions, including a confectionery-inspired glass show by Liverpool artist Linny Venables, open as the gallery marks its 115th birthday
Rock, ice-cream and illuminations have long been Blackpool’s trade. This autumn, Grundy Art Gallery is making them the centrepiece of a trio of exhibitions.
Threy open at the Queen Street gallery on Saturday 24 October, timed to tie in with Lightpool and to the gallery’s 115th anniversary.
The centrepiece is Sweet Factory by Linny Venables, a Liverpool-based Disabled artist whose glass sculptures are modelled on confectionery. They celebrate shared histories of sweet-making, working-class food traditions and seaside culture. Venables draws a line between glassmaking, which starts as liquid sand, and sweet-making, which starts as liquid sugar, tying the two to Blackpool’s golden beaches and its history of rock and ice-cream.
Her work will hang alongside new sweet-themed pieces by Blackpool residents and artists from the pARTnership, Grundy’s artist development project for learning-disabled artists. They made them at an open-access glassmaking workshop with Venables over the summer, run with LeftCoast. Social history items on loan from Showtown History Centre complete the display.
Its companion show, All Sweetness and Light, draws on Grundy’s own light art collection and on works lent by public and private collectors. The gallery says the pieces tell stories of class, community and personal identity.
The third exhibition, Collection Spotlight: Gifted, looks back at the gallery’s beginnings. Grundy opened in 1911 when the brothers John and Cuthbert Grundy gave 33 paintings and £2,000 to start a collection that has since grown to more than 2,000 items. The show will tell the stories behind some of the pieces donated to it since.
Also on the programme is Blackpool Stands Between Us and Revolution by Tom Ireland, an illuminated, large-scale rendering of a line attributed to Thomas Hayton Mawson, the designer of Stanley Park. It will be shown as the park marks its centenary year.
“What I particularly love about this programme is the way it brings together light, seaside culture, working-class traditions, class, and community, while giving local people the opportunity to be part of the exhibitions themselves,” says Councillor Lynn Williams, leader of Blackpool Council and cabinet member for tourism, arts and culture. She points to the gallery’s “growing national reputation” as evidence of why Blackpool has been longlisted for UK City of Culture 2029.
The exhibitions run until 19 December, with a launch event on Saturday 24 October from 2pm to 4pm. All are welcome. The programme also includes workshops, talks and tours, and late openings during Lightpool.
Linny Venables: Sweet Factory, All Sweetness and Light and Collection Spotlight: Gifted, Grundy Art Gallery, Queen Street, Blackpool. 24 October to 19 December. Tuesday to Saturday, 10am to 4.45pm (last entry 4.20pm); closed Sundays, Mondays and bank holidays. Free. Launch Saturday 24 October, 2pm to 4pm. Late opening Friday 23 October, 6pm to 9pm. More at thegrundy.org.§
