H_A_R_D_P_A_I_N_T_I_N_G from the beginning:

The H_A_R_D_P_A_I_N_T_I_N_G exhibitions began with four artists Ian Boutell, Philip Cole, Stig Evans and Patrick O’Donnell, who all worked in studios at Phoenix Art Space Brighton. Meeting regularly and talking about their practices, they decided to develop an exhibition which would show their work and that of other artists, who they felt shared similar concerns that resonated with their collective practice. 

Many meetings over the months thrashed out what our connections were, and then the important decision about a title for the first show had to be made. This was hard, many possibilities were already taken and used. We didn’t want anything that related solely to the type of work exhibited but which also spoke of what it is like to be an artist who paints, sometimes with hard edges, but not always … but with intention. H_A_R_D_P_A_I_N_T_I_N_G suddenly leapt from these late night ruminations. Unanimously it was decided that it was direct enough to grab attention but ambiguous and open enough to allow multiple interpretations, and for a diverse array of artists to be invited. Under this H_A_R_D_P_A_I_N_T_I_N_G banner, non objective artwork, and it’s elusive qualities that instinctively we were drawn to would be celebrated. Although none of us were able to see the Arts Council England touring show curated by Sam Cornish called KALEIDOSCOPE it seemed that the time was right to look again at abstract, or non-objective art. 

Stig, Ian, Phil and Patrick

Long story short …

Tess Jaray was represented in that ACE show and Ian Boutell owned a signed silkscreen of an early Jaray painting called ‘Minuet’ which she allowed us to show.

Minuet by Tess Jaray

In Feb 2018 the first H_A_R_D_P_A_I_N_T_I_N_G exhibition opened. It was partially crowd funded through various artwork sales. It also involved invited artists Johanna Melvin and John Bunker – both based in London. The show was in the main North Gallery and also in the South (currently called Window) Gallery and included works on canvas, board, collage, paper and site specific wall artworks. The exhibition was accompanied by gallery walks, artist talks and a performance on the opening evening where local artist Ed Briggs made music using paintings as musical scores.

Two years later a second more ambitious H_A_R_D_P_A_I_N_T_I_N_Gx2 secured substantial Arts Council England (ACE) funding, helped by the success of the earlier show. A couple of the curators had been to an exhibition called Transforming Surfaces in ArtHouse gallery, Bermondsey, and were impressed by the non-objective art and the essays of the catalogue author and artist Della Gooden resulting in the invitation and acceptance from Della to join the curatorial team. As the collective ambition grew for the show the team wanted to show more artists. It became apparent that they needed to do the next exhibition in two parts to accommodate the 23 artists they had collectively agreed to invite, hence the title H_A_R_D_P_A_I_N_T_I_N_G x 2.

ACE funding for this second exhibition allowed them to fund transportation costs, an illustrated catalogue with essays by Della Gooden, two preview evenings, artist seminars, community events and workshops and guided tours. This two part exhibition featured the work of established, as well as mid career and emerging artists, making connections and new dialogues between works and artists that may not have been seen side by side before.