Quirky and colourful exhibitions not to miss
People’s hobbies laid bare and the return of the Caravan Gallery
Two eagerly awaited exhibitions (and it can’t be just by me) are coming up soon in Sunderland at the Northern Gallery for Contemporary Art (NGCA). They will – I just know it – make us smile and provide a colourful snapshot of contemporary North East life.
You’ll find both at the National Glass Centre, where the NGCA is located these days.
In the main NGCA gallery, with its ground floor riverside entrance, you’ll find the latest manifestation of Hetain Patel’s obsession with the nation’s hobbies, the things that – if we’re completely honest – many of us live for.
Patel is a London-based artist whose creativity manifests itself in many forms – as film-maker, performer, sculptor, photographer and painter. He has exhibited widely and his work has been much admired and (not always the same thing) enjoyed.
Patel is also – important this – a Spiderman fan. Meticulously, he made a Spiderman suit, investing time in it, just as others do in furtherance of their absorbing passions.
Come As You Really Are, commissioned by art producers Artangel with the NGCA and other partner galleries around the country, began as a nationwide call-out, inviting members of the public to share the things they do and make in their spare time.
The response was impressive and the first fruits of that call-out, artfully arranged by Patel, were displayed in Croydon last summer along with the Spiderman suit (titled The Other Suit) and an earlier sculpture, Fiesta Transformer, essentially the artist’s first car covered with hand-tufted carpet, brightly patterned.
What was there to see? Well, you name it. Hobbyists and their obsessions come in many varieties, each intriguing in its own right but almost overwhelming when presented all together.
In Sunderland we’ll see the North East response to Patel’s invitation. What will it look like?
Let’s prepare to be surprised and enchanted – and perhaps to regard our neighbours rather differently in future. Who knew they did that in their spare time?
Come As You Really Are opens at the NGCA on Saturday, March 22 and runs until July 5.
A preview of the exhibition on Friday, March 21 is open to anyone from 6.30pm to 8.30pm, and at 5.45pm the artist will be in conversation with photographer Julian Germain, for which tickets must be booked.
The other attraction – opening on March 22 but available to see at the same Friday evening preview – is the latest exhibition by the fabulous Caravan Gallery.
For years the Caravan Gallery folk have been travelling the country photographing the things they find funny and telling – recording, in short, life as it really is.
They hold a mirror up to the communities they visit, inviting people to share in the wackiness, the weirdness and the nostalgia. They have jogged memories, shared laughter and brought people together.
In the NGCA Collection Space (enter through the National Glass Centre’s upper level next to the carpark and ask at reception) the Caravan Gallery will be recalling its last visit to the city a decade ago.
In 2015 they mounted a wonderful exhibition called Extra(ordinary) Photographs of Britain (there were more than 100 colour photos on display) in the former NGCA site on Fawcett Street, above the old City Library.
Accompanying it, in a nearby empty shop unit, was a Caravan Gallery ‘Pride of Place’ project which saw photographers Jan Williams and Chris Teasdale hosting events and workshops and engaging in conversations.
Local people offered artworks and memories and joined in exploring the heritage and folklore of Sunderland - supported by the trademark travelling art gallery housed in a 1960s yellow caravan.
The latest exhibition, comprising material generated by the visit of the Caravan Gallery in 2015, poses several questions. How has Sunderland changed since then? What has Sunderland gained and lost? What makes its citizens proud about the city?
That exhibition runs until May 11 and you can find out more about both of them on the NGCA website.