With two connected exhibitions on offer at our excellent Grundy Art Gallery, plus a Collection Spotlight, David Simper went along to view the gallery’s autumn offer.
On entering the Grundy Art Gallery to view its trio of new exhibitions, I found Tom Ireland’s Blackpool Stands Between Us and Revolution mounted on the west wall. Although this neon-based work wasn’t turned on, it still looked impressive, given that it’s designed to be in the open air.
The main gallery is given over to Linny Venables and her Sweet Factory exhibition. Venables is a Liverpool-based Disabled artist whose work is described as celebrating rich, shared sweet-making histories, working-class food traditions and seaside culture. It consists of a set of glass pieces, combining confectionery coloured elements with clear glass. Cases containing the works are placed on stacks of crates from a Blackpool rock manufacturer. Large wall-mounted photographs of rock and Blackpool sweet outlets complement this display, together with a video loop showing the rock-making process.
The exhibition attempts to link molten sugar and molten glass, with an emphasis on rock, but this didn’t really work for me. I am not a rock fan and am pretty sure that being bought it as a kid is responsible for some of my fillings, which may partly explain why I did find this one somewhat underwhelming, despite some of the individual pieces being undoubtedly beautiful and technically brilliant.
The video loop finished up just as I was passing and for a change with these things, I was then able to watch it uninterrupted from the start. Despite disliking the stuff, the rock-making process is truly fascinating, and I now have some idea of how the lettering is made to run through it.
After touring Linny’s exhibition, I moved to Collection Spotlight: Gifted where there were some splendid and varied pieces from the Grundy’s collection. As the name suggests, these pieces have been gifted to the gallery over decades, including the collection’s oldest work A Philosopher by Dominicus Van Tol (1635-1676) acquired in 1913, and the recent neo-art piece Anatomy is Not Destiny by Linder.
I was delighted to see The Yellow Funnel by a particular favourite artist of mine, Eric Ravilious, presented by the Contemporary Art Society in 1954. 2026 is the Grundy Art Gallery’s 115th anniversary and this little set of quality work is a fitting tribute to it and the Grundy brothers’ vision in setting it up.
Completing the Autumn display is All Sweetness and Light, a collection of neon-art pieces linking back to the Linny Venables display and perhaps sharing some of the colour palette. As one enters the side gallery where the main lighting is dimmed, the constituent pieces’ effect is striking and borders on surreal. It’s good to see the Raspberry Ripple piece by Tony Heaton, but also some spectacular work not previously known to me. This confirms the Grundy’s 15-year programme to establish itself as an organisation committed to commissioning new light-based work.
All Sweetness and Light brings together pieces by Chila Kumari Singh Burman, Jack Brown, Jeremy Deller, Cerith Wyn Evans, Tony Heaton, Chloe Macfarlane and local arts organisation LeftCoast. There’s a strong link to Blackpool’s pioneering use of light, most clearly expressed through the Illuminations display and now the annual Lightpool event which is on this half term week, when Storm Boelo allows.
This excellent three in one show is open until 19th December 2026 and is not to be missed.
