The Sea: Paintings by Maggi Hambling & LS Lowry
The Lowry, Salford Quays
Sat 17 October 2009 – Sun 31January 2010
“It’s the battle of life – the turbulence of the sea – and life’s pretty turbulent, isn’t it?”
LS Lowry
“But this raging beast [the North Sea] is as demanding as a lover and I am still challenged and seduced”
Maggi Hambling
Maggi Hambling, one of Britain's most distinguished contemporary artists, will show her latest, extremely powerful paintings of the North Sea alongside Lowry's own deeply compelling seascapes. This major exhibition includes a new wave sculpture and previously unseen, large scale works by Hambling and a wide selection of Lowry’s sea paintings and drawings.
Seascapes are perhaps the most surprising element of L.S. Lowry’s work for those familiar simply with his industrial scenes. Yet the sea was an important metaphor for Lowry who, according to The Guardian’s Robert Clarke, ‘was the greatest seascape painter of the 20th century’; Maggi Hambling is, arguably, the greatest seascape painter of the 21st century and is as absorbed and excited by the sea as her predecessor.
In 2003 Scallop, the artist’s controversial sculpture to celebrate Benjamin Britten was unveiled on Aldeburgh beach, Suffolk. In the pause between making the maquette and beginning work on the actual piece, Hambling began her now famous series of North Sea Paintings. The restless movement of the sea continues to obsess the artist and has never been so convincingly or physically expressed as in these latest works. The action and energy of the paint directly challenge the viewer.
“The surprise of Lowry’s sea-paintings is that they are unpeopled. He achieves a stark clarity which speaks directly to us. He can create the undercurrents as if by magic, with great economy of mark and minimal gesture. The results are hypnotic and contemporary.
His paintings are in complete contrast to my recent work with the sea. As a child, I would walk a short way into the sea, stand still and talk to it. Now I listen. The huge power is awe-inspiring and the North Sea, often like a raging beast, is fast consuming the land. As I get older, I identify with the shifting shingle, the sea, like time, enforcing an inevitable erosion.” Maggi Hambling
You are the Sea by Maggi Hambling, a beautifully produced book of words and images, will be launched at the exhibition.
Posted on Thursday, 18 June 2009 under Press Galleries Press