Sunday, 31 October 2010

'Here and Now' exhibition preview


Celebrating two years in the life of View, we welcome back four of our most popular and successful artists with new collections especially for our show.

There is a dichotomy in the meaning behind the show's title. On the one hand, 'Here and Now' boldly suggests that, for these emerging artists, their time has come. They will be enjoying their second or third show at View and have enjoyed continued rave reviews and commercial success.

There is also a contrary meaning to the title, where the artists appear to go to another time or place to seek inspiration for their work. Whether it be a historical place, an inner retrospection, or pure fantasy, they take you away from here and now before returning with something new to reflect upon.

The name Beth Carter is now synonymous with 'collectable' as she has developed a large following of her instantly recognisable creatures in beautiful sculptures and drawings. Beth introduces new characters in both media for this show and the imagination and quality continues to be stunning.

The stories in Catherine Knight's faceless landscapes conjure up numerous personal images where the past meets the present. Her personal relationship with the history of the subject brings a real and haunting quality to the delicate painting. Click here for video.

There seems to be no limit to the depth of thought and emotion in the self portraiture of Fran Williams. This new collection of paintings provide the next stage of an autobiographical journey of personal expression through her art.

Amber Merrick-Potter wears her artistic heart on her sleeve. She describes her paintings with the same passion that oozes through the vibrant colour and abandonment of brushstroke in her painting. Each piece is an emotional roller-coaster in its production, evidenced by the depth of layers, textures and composition. Click here for video

These very different artists create work of unique beauty that initiate intriguing stories and stimulate deep emotion. The art is also immediately accessible and has stunning aesthetic quality that grabs your intention and draws you in before capturing the imagination.

The relationship with the art that follows provides a longevity that belies its inanimate form. As I write this blog, I look across at my Minotaur Reading sculpture and paintings by these artists... my mind wanders into other times and places before returning to here and now with a new experience.




Sunday, 10 October 2010

Sylvie Broussine - Art Commentator

Sylvie Broussine visits View and comments on the 'Dreaming Out Loud' exhibition.

In this latest exhibition View Art Gallery has combined five artists who, in very different ways, come together to convey their own interpretations of the sub-conscious and inner workings on the mind. The beauty of an exhibition like this is that whilst walking around, new perspectives and forms shoot out at you unexpectedly.

Take the artist Damian Daly for instance. His enigmatic, detailed piece ‘Fall of the Rebel Angels’ was at first something I saw as uplifting. I felt he was conveying a modern pseudo-religious piece using a mystical world as his subject. It wasn’t until closer inspection that I realised Daly had created what I felt to be a modern apocalyptic scene, not dissimilar to the hell-ish pieces of Hieronymus Bosch in the late fifteenth century. Suddenly, my understanding was challenged, and rather than the dream-like quality I had originally read, I felt something more nightmarish in its place.

Daly’s work constantly demands our attention when we are stood in front of it. In this piece he plays around with patterns, creating the illusion of symmetry in a work that might be better described as ‘organised chaos’. The colours he chooses for the background depict a calm, heavenly scene, whilst the more sinister black and red ‘Rebel Angels’ spiralling around the piece work to change it into something more restless. I feel this art is the perfect example of what this exhibition is all about. This image makes real the multiple layers that lie within our sub-conscious and only comes out during dreams. Just as our sleep can bring confused thoughts and feelings to the surface, so does Daly’s art on canvas.

Another example of Daly’s work where this is apparent is ‘Secret Sisters’, a multi-panelled large scale drawing, sectioned into twelve separate boards. When first appreciating the work, I reacted strongly to the appearance of a wolf-like animal centred between the two girls on either side, their hair forming a collar for the beast. It wasn’t until I read the title that the symmetrical, dancing adolescents appeared to me. By virtue of this doubled layered effect, the creature in the middle evokes a more sinister side to the piece. In fact Daly claims the creature is not necessarily a wolf, but as with all his work, this depends on the interpretation given by his audience; perhaps the fact that I noticed it before the two girls says more about my sub-conscious than anything else.

The power of the piece is emphasized by the black and white, graphite form of the work. Whilst speaking to other viewers it becomes apparent that the numerous possible perspectives, along with Daly’s clear talent, make his work truly interesting. Rather than give you any detail about the various interpretations of this, or any of his other work on show at View, I feel Daly’s work is best appreciated via your own analysis, not to be mislead by anyone else’s. With an exhibition focused on our inner thoughts and feelings, viewing this art is very much a personal experience, and viewers are encouraged to develop their own understandings. So rather than me tell you more, I think it is better for you to go visit and experience it for yourself.

Sylvie Broussine

Tuesday, 31 August 2010

'Dreaming Out Loud' exhibition preview

'Dreaming Out Loud' is a show full of unconscious moments of genius, surprises, even accidents. Six artists share a common process where the subconscious has influenced, or even taken over, to create art that tells a story from deep within.

In this new collection of work, there are recognisable forms and themes that emerge from the abstract. These have been allowed to materialise through a variety of unusual processes, such as drawing blind, creating chemical reactions, and painting in a trance-like state. There is rarely a start, middle and end; the life of this artwork goes on beyond the physical process and continues to evolve with every new viewer's interpretation.

Suzanne Partridge builds a relationship with each of her paintings, without prior thought or planning. The palette is selected from mood, and layers of paint are applied and removed repeatedly until the end result represents the emotions and thoughts she was experiencing.

In Damian Daly's paintings and drawings, initial whimsical ideas form characters that develop on a journey of story telling. Initially, innocent fairy-tale characters are influenced by personal associations and then latent meanings emerge and numerous characters evolve over long periods.

Spontaneous, improvised, unpredictable. Harry Simmonds uses a multitude of unusual techniques to create raw images of portraits in his paintings. He only allows split second glimpses of his model to create components of a painting , which are then assembled to show the important memorable elements and discarding the waste of conformity.

Ann Goodfellow returns to View with a new collection, building on her sell-out show earlier this year. Her sculptures are 'drawn' using only the sense of touch and unusual markings emerge on beautiful self modelled ceramic bodies.

Photographer Charles Emerson uses ink, water and flowers to experiment with the boundaries between photography and painting, but without the use of digital manipulation. There is a sense of theatre in the process as ink is added to submerged flowers and a unique moment is captured in the 'performance'.

Installation and video artists Becky Kidson exhibits 'Fortress', where a search light emits abstract patterns that dance around the room from a honeycomb of taleidoscopes. The projections try to distract our attention from what is locked away in the centre of the fortress.

If we could build pictures from our dreams and capture the moments as they happen, we would be sharing our inner most hidden thoughts. We could translate the surreal and cryptic images into a visual expression. We could dream out loud.

'Dreaming Out Loud' runs from September 16th to November 14th 2010

Visit ViewArtGallery.co.uk for artist profiles and images of their work.

Saturday, 31 July 2010

Feedback and debate

We appreciate feedback and we love a good debate. The great thing about discussing art is that there are no right and wrong opinions. Everyone's view is valid, no matter how diverse or extreme. At a recent private view I over heard an in-depth discussion about a painting that was being described as "Goya meets Michael Jackson". I also heard someone remark angrily "that's shit, I couldn't be paid to put that on my wall". Love them both.

When we put on an exhibition at View, the first thing we aim for is high impact. Of course we need to sell art to stay in business, but it is a secondary consideration when selecting work and curating exhibitions. First and foremost we have to be stimulated by the art, provoke a strong reaction, and enjoy the viewers' response.

Some people like to comment directly to us when they visit the gallery and that is very much appreciated. But for many, a gallery can be an intimidating place (we really hope ours isn't) and so we offer a number of ways of commenting on what we do. There is the comment box at the end of every blog, Twitter messages, postings on our Facebook pages, or comments on the work published on Flickr and YouTube. Whatever your preference, we hope you can spare a few minutes to tell us what you think - about what we do, don't do, or anything art related.

By the way, the picture above is of Sarah, our gallery manager, and she'll hate me for putting her photo on this blog. This is often how an artists feels when they are putting their art on display for everyone to critique. Some enjoy the attention and some are more reserved, but without exception they all crave feedback, both good and bad - indifference is the biggest insult of all.

Sunday, 11 July 2010

Haiti Benefit Exhibition


We are proud to be hosting an exhibition which has the dual benefit of introducing some unique international artists whilst supporting a very good cause.

The Haiti Benefit Exhibition at View will be on from 22-25 July before it embarks on a UK tour. We are delighted to be the first venue to show these talented artists from Jacmel, Haiti, and launch the travelling exhibition. The vibrant colours and free expression in the abstract compositions relay messages of sadness and hope.

Earlier this year we all heard of the devastating effects of the earthquake in Haiti. One of the victims was an art community centre called FOSAJ, causing damage to buildings and death. The founder, Patrick Boucard, has set up a relief fund to help rebuild the centre so it can support the resident artists and the many handicapped and homeless people who benefit from their work. Follow the links for more information on FOSAJ and the Haiti Relief fund.

We at View were touched by the stories the art tells and impressed with the strength of expression in the painting. This is evidenced in the pain of the figure in the painting above, 'The Flight for Forgiveness' by Haiti artist Narbal.

We may not yet know the names of all the exhibiting artists, but they deserve a mention. The exhibition will include paintings by:

Prince Luc
Destin Domond
Rose Marie lamour
Desire Obelto
Jean Garibaldi
Marc Arthur Lamitie
Eddy Prevot
Jean Paul Sylvaince
NarBal

We hope many people can enjoy the work and support the foundation in the 4 days of the show.

Saturday, 10 July 2010

Naked Truths Preview


Naked Truths is about how we view things, as well as what we see. We are challenged to look inside our minds and consider what we find hard to reveal and why we keep things hidden away. The show's artists explore a variety of subjects where we may find exposure difficult to address – nudity, sexuality, death, and fear. Our response may be shock, laughter, sorrow or reflection, but there is little room for indifference.

The art work also reveals some amazing creativity, technique and beauty. Each piece stands alone with aesthetic quality as well as a deeper sense of meaning.

The context of the subjects is significant. We may see nudity in a gallery as art, whereas the same image in a sex shop is pornography. Similarly, a death theme may provoke a fear of horrific memories for some people or innocent comedy to others. When we view these images, we are often looking at a reflection of ourselves.

There are seven artists featuring in Naked Truths, each with a different combination of media, style and message:

  • After longer inspection, the apparent chaos of the angular shapes and striking colours in Thomas Dowdeswell’s painting starts to generate familiar figurative forms and strange stories.
  • Peter Bullen is influenced by the artist/model relationship and contrasts the confident contortionist with the vulnerable first-timer in his nude portraits.
  • There is a wonderful innocence and charm to David Thompson’s male figurative paintings, with an undercurrent of commentary on our attitude to sexuality.
  • In ‘The Sex Shop’ series, Simon Ledson plays with our minds as we explore apparently innocent forms in imprints and wallpaper.
  • Russell Oliver's large and dramatic paintings explore the attitudes to life and death through the eyes of different subjects, including a self portrait.
  • Tim Perks challenges the traditional figurative sculpture, as the unusual poses and compositions of the female form involve imaginary cross breeding of species.
  • In Becky Kidson's 'Young Hearts' installation three friends take it in turns to jump into a bowl of mirrors.

Naked Truths presents some beautiful art with provocative themes and offers us a mirror to reveal our hidden thoughts. The show runs from July 29th to September 12th.

Friday, 25 June 2010

Urban View 2


We're half way through the Urban View exhibition and we're refreshing it with a whole new collection of art, much of it created at this years UPFEST.

The festival this year was the biggest and best yet. The expanded area around the Tobacco Factory was packed with new and returning artists and the attendance was huge. If you haven't yet seen any photos of the festival then take a look here and you'll get a flavour of the weekend. The Urban View and UPFEST launch event was held at the gallery and this was also an exciting event. Around 300 people attended and were enjoying the live painting outside on the gallery wall and by the entrance door. Thankfully, the weather held up and we are grateful to Brothers who sponsored the event with some very tasty (and strong) pear cider. The outdoor activity was complimented by some wonderful art by UK and international artists inside the gallery. Take a look at these photos of the evening and in particular the progression of the art being created.

Urban View 2 opens on July 1st and runs through to July 18th. Some great names in the urban art world will be exhibiting, such as Fake, Agent Provocateur, T.wat, and ZeeZee. Many more new works will be part of a changing show that will look and feel different. Prices will start from just £100 for original art and there will be a more busy look to the show, with a large selection of work and artists.

It is also worth reminding ourselves of the support that UPFEST give to the NACOA charity, in terms of funding and awareness.

Enjoy the show.

Saturday, 22 May 2010

Urban View



For the second year running, we're joining with UPFEST to put on a show of the best urban art being 'sprayed' this year. 'Urban View' 2010 is being extended to accommodate two shows. The first will focus on the latest creations from seven of the top spray painters around. The second will open up to a larger number of artists and feature the best of the work created in the live weekend festival of spray painting.

The festival kicks off on the Friday with the opening night at View and the live painting starts from there. We have some exciting ideas for where and when the spraying starts but as ever, these things are flexible due to the spontaneous nature of the people concerned and the challenges they set themselves; some of the objects targeted for spraying this year are pretty inventive!

There's always a buzz around Bristol for this festival and this year is no exception. As the big names get confirmed, the PR builds momentum and the energy (and stress levels) rise, we know UPFEST will be bigger and better than ever. Urban View goes international with spray stars from France and Germany exhibiting alongside some of the best of Britain.

We are also confident that the quality of art improves year on year. Urban Art is no longer just about graffiti in the back streets of Bristol. For better or worse, the cross over between fine art becomes more and more blurred. At View we consider this a positive trend as it allows us to provide broader access to this exciting genre of art and give everyone the opportunity to take home a bit of art history.

For a reminder of what happened at View last year, take a look at these photos. And to get a taste of one of the main featured artists have a look at this short video. Finally, to see the full UPFEST 10 press release click here.

Enjoy the show.

UPFEST 10 Press Release


Europe’s Biggest Urban Art Festival Just Got Bigger!

Upfest’10 - The Urban Paint Festival Releases Full Line-up

More than just Europe’s biggest urban and street art festival, Upfest has announced the broad range of events taking part at the two-day festival in Bristol.

As in previous years, the festival will be centred on live painting at the Tobacco Factory on 5th and 6th of June. Over 200 urban artists and illustrators will be painting live over the weekend, with 50 artists having come from around the world to be a part of the event. The artists will be mixing it up with this year’s MashUP theme, with some very special collaborations due to take place.

Upfest’10 will kick off with a preview of the Urban View group show at View Art Gallery (159-161 Hotwell Road, BS8 4RY). The show features work from seven urban and contemporary artists and will run through 17th July.

Saturday, the festival will be in full swing at the Tobacco Factory (North Street, BS3 1TF). From 11am, over 200 urban artists and illustrators will be painting live. Visitors to the free event are also invited to take part in the painting, with a children’s painting area and the Kiss101 Give It a Go painting boards.

The Tobacco Factory will also host a Very Affordable Art Sale and dedicated print room, where original artwork and prints by the artists painting at the festival will be available for sale at bargain prices. There will also be badge making, clothing, and art material stalls around the venue.

Throughout the weekend, DJs, beatboxers, hip hop groups and MCs will take to two stages at the Tobacco Factory (full schedule attached). Along with music, the world renowned Kompany Malakhi will host dance workshops on Saturday.

During the day (11 am to 6 pm) on Saturday, a live illustration event will take place indoors in the Tobacco Factory Theatre Foyer. In the evening (6 pm), six artists will battle it out in a Secret Wars live art competition. The public will vote to decide whether Upfest or Monorex will be named champions of the 90-minute battle at the Tobacco Factory Cafe Bar.

The evening will wrap up (10 pm to 4am) with the Upfest’10 Mid-Festival Party at Basement 45 (8 Frogmore St., BS1 5NA), presented in association with Kiss101, featuring The Loose Cannons, Ninebar Sound System, Chris Read (Music of Substance), Dave Cridge (Ninja Tune) and Kiss101 DJs. Tickets available at Bristol Tickets Shop (£4.50) or on the door (£5 before 11, £6 after).

Upfest’10 continues on Sunday at the Tobacco Factory from 10 am with additional live painting, music, and art sales. Upfest has raised over £10,000 for Nacoa (National Association for Children of Alcoholics) since the festival began and as in previous years, Upfest’10 will raise awareness of and fundraise for the charity..

Friday, 2 April 2010

Life in Stillness Preview


In many inanimate objects we see and feel life. Life in Stillness is an exhibition where five artists bring consciousness to their subjects through different sources of inspiration and use of media.

In the windows we'll see the usual high impact art and once again we'll be featuring sculpture. Dawny Tootes uses recycled aluminium from discarded household objects to create fluidity in her tree sculptures that have an apparent organic quality. These large pieces interchange between tree and female human form when seen from different viewpoints. In the rear gallery a 13ft high sculpture will dominate the space, needing to be rebuilt in the gallery for the show. Dawny's wall mounted pieces are figure landscapes where the female form is used to reflect the curves of nature.

Evocative figures appear from the depth of Fran Williams' oil paintings. Vivid colour and texture almost mask the face and body of her subjects. The strength of colour and free use of the brush are in contrast to the vulnerability of the portraiture. These are images that you can see through and discover a strong emotional connection with a person who has mystique and a story to be told.

Continuing the theme of female figurative work we have Ann Goodfellow's sculptures. Using only the sense of touch, unusual markings emerge on the self modelled ceramic bodies. A heightened awareness of her body creates exaggerated scale of the relationship between head and torso. There is energy and sensitivity in the cold, hard material that brings the figures to life and demand attention.

In the second half of the gallery we dedicate the space to photography, as part of the Bristol Festival of Photography. Two artists bring life into their images using different subjects and styles.

Frank Drake captures the music of his subjects in the drama of live performance. Limited edition large prints of images from his book 'Sounds of Music' feature photos of musicians from various album covers, commissions and WOMAD festivals around the world. Frank has had the unique opportunity to access the unguarded emotions of the performers. Signed books will also be available at the gallery.

In the front of the second gallery we feature the photography of Chris Parks. An ethereal world is created through his dynamic fluid paintings which capture light, movement and depth in a totally unique way. Using mixed media within a liquid medium, Chris creates continually changing images that develop over time and are frozen at a particular moment through photography. The paintings are naturally occurring events without digital manipulation. They only exist for a moment before they evolve and are lost for ever. In the basement installation room we are showing a stunningly beautiful film by Chris with movement of colour and shape that is quite mesmerising.

Click here to see images from a small selection of work from the show.

Life in Stillness runs from April 15 to May 30, 2010.

Wednesday, 17 March 2010

Exhibitions and Festivals

The festival season is coming soon and the Bristol art scene is no exception. View is taking part in the Bristol Festival of Photography in May with two very different photographers exhibiting in the 'Life in Stillness' show. In June we are pleased to be one of the venues in UPFEST, Bristols urban painting festival, for the second year running. Our 'Urban View' show will include many of the major artists from the festival.

More information on the festivals can be found on their websites from the links above. The shows at View are introduced below with more details to come nearer the time.

Life in Stillness

In many inanimate objects we see and feel life. In the next exhibition at View Art Gallery, five artists bring consciousness to their subjects through different sources of inspiration and use of media.

Dawny Tootes uses recycled aluminium from discarded household objects to create fluidity in her tree sculptures that have an apparent organic quality. Evocative figures appear from the deep forest of colour in Fran Williams' vivid oil paintings. Using only the sense of touch, unusual markings emerge on the self modelled ceramic bodies of Ann Goodfellow's sculptures.

As part of the Bristol Festival of Photography, View introduces two photographers who portray life in imagery in both reality and abstract forms. Frank Drake captures the music of his subjects in the drama of live performance. Chris Parks creates and ethereal world through his dynamic fluid paintings, which capture a movement of light in organic materials that can never be seen again.

Life in Stillness runs from April 15 to May 30.

Urban View

Following the hugely popular urban art show last year, View Art Gallery once again teams up with the UPFEST movement and showcases the best artists from this year's urban art festival. Examples of last year's 'spray fest' can still be seen on the exterior walls and entrance floor of the gallery. 2010 promises to be bigger and better than ever, with live painting, original art on canvas, limited edition prints and the antics of more of those uniquely styled artists.

Urban View runs from June 3 to July 11.

Saturday, 13 March 2010

New Video Channel


In response to many visitors of our website who cannot make it to the gallery for every show, we've decided to launch a video channel. We will be showing videos of each exhibition, artist interviews, special events, and some of our favourite videos from the art world.

We're using the YouTube facilities (why reinvent the wheel) and have set up a View Art Gallery channel. You can access this from the YouTube logo on our home page or click here. There are only a few videos to start with but we'll be adding many more as we exhibit new work and artists, so be sure to subscribe to our channel so you don't miss out on anything new.

A huge thanks to Becky Kidson who has filmed and edited some fantastic 1 minute interviews with artists featuring in our Comfortably Strange show. These can be accessed via the channel home page or individually from our artist profile pages on the View website. Just click every time you see the blue video icon (shown at the top of this blog). and you'll link to the relevant video.

We hope you like this new feature and it inspires you to visit the gallery to see the real thing.

Tuesday, 23 February 2010

Beneath the Petticoats... Ghosts Get Horny Too


I've just been marvelling at Nina Mankin's new stop gap animation. Two short films are showing in the Comfortably Strange exhibition at View, in our video room. The story is told below, in Nina's words. Hopefully you'll be enticed to come and see her films, which compliment her amazing sculptures and fit perfectly into the exhibition theme. For those who can't attend the exhibition, I hope to be showing the films on the website in the future.

Beneath The Petticoats... Ghosts Get Horny Too

The animation is based on the supression of women's emotion and feeling in the Edwardian and Victorian times, where a woman's dignity was all she had. Lustful thoughts are to be kept hidden behind closed doors...

"Petticoats, Petticoats, Petticoats,
Ruffles and ties, ruffles and ties,
Petticoats, Petticoats, Petticoats,
Starched white blouses
Stockings and thighs"

Eliza and Gertrude are ghosts, revisiting their past. They were not beautiful and did not marry, and they died old spinsters. The wooden doll posters on the ground symbolize a part of the self, and the stiff rigidness they had to embody. They are having a dream, a fantasy, where they are free and not bound to man's ideas of what they should be. Hands come out with a feather to tickle their breasts, strange heads and eyes come up from the floorboards to reach under their skirts... The face of the wooden doll has to hide behind the other pictures, she cannot witness such thoughts of lust and nudity.

"Too much fabric m'lady, too much fabric"

The hands and heads retrieve back into the walls and floor, it takes too much time and hassle to undo all the endless buttons and layers of clothing. The ladies swing again as before as though nothing had happened, the clock ticks and the dream was all just a tease.

Thursday, 18 February 2010

Comfortably Strange - exhibition review


‘Comfortably Strange’ promises to be one of View’s most innovative exhibitions to date. The styles are quite diverse but there is a commonality in the feelings that are induced through a journey of discovery. The show features some very collectable art from established artists, some new to View and some returning with fresh work.

Beth Carter is well known at View for her mythological sculptures but this time focuses on her drawing and painting to explore the shows theme. Caroline Watson, another Bristol based artist, has also been creating work especially for the show, using traditional puppetry and children’s stories in her paintings and 3D work. Nina Mankin adds some lyrical imagery to her predominantly doll themed painting and installations. John Simpson’s drawings are beautifully crafted and yet the subjects are bound to ask some challenging questions of the viewer. Alex Korzer-Robinson creates his art from old encyclopaedias that result in a very different form of book art. Arthur Lanyon’s abstract oil paintings perfectly fit the Comfortably Strange theme as we are presented with partially familiar shapes, changing as we lengthen our gaze.

The initial raw impact of all the show’s work is maybe one of playfulness, shock or humour. With further interrogation this is followed by deeper suspicion, perhaps sinister, sadness, or joy. The emotional transition through continual exploration of each piece is quite magical. All is not what it seems, and your first impressions will rarely be your last.

Comfortably Strange runs to April 11th. Images of a selection of the work on show can be viewed here.


Friday, 1 January 2010

New Year, New Work


To kick off the New Year, we're doing a bit of reflection combined with some forward thinking. We look back on our first year at View with pride and gratitude. We have found some amazing new talent, built a beautiful space to show their work, and met some wonderful people who have become regular visitors to the gallery.

Last year was an economic challenge for many individuals and businesses. I am very grateful that we have had such tremendous support from a growing customer base, to allow us to continue our quest to help local artists thrive in an emerging art scene on Bristol's Harbourside. Lets hope that 2010 brings an easing of financial pressure and we can all fulfil our ambitions.

In our next show, 'New Year, New Work', we look back at some of our favourite artists of 2009 who have some brand new work ready to exhibit. As usual we'll put together an eclectic mix of media and styles to appeal to many tastes in contemporary art. We have some images of a selection of the work on our Flickr pages. The show starts on January 21 and the full range of artists and work will be on our website soon. If you still haven't seen our current show then please enjoy a virtual visit via this short video.

We are working on some exciting new shows and other projects for 2010 that will keep things fresh at View. Our second show of the year, 'Comfortably Strange', promises to be one of our most innovative yet. We are also taking part in a number of local art events: the Bristol Art Fair, Photographique festival, and the urban art festival (UPFEST) in the first half of the year. We are developing some ideas to promote work from local schools and communities, which we hope to come to fruition this Summer. More news on all these events nearer the time.

To keep track of all our plans, please register with us for email updates and invitations, follow us on Twitter, or just keep looking at the website and blog.

We look forward to seeing you at the gallery soon,
Happy New Year.