All Things Considered

Plywood

As a material, the versatility of plywood is hard to beat. It can be bent to form strong, aesthetically pleasing objects from the old skool school chair to a classic Eames creation or a canteen tray to a skate board.

Invented in the 1850’s plywood consists of layers of veneer sandwiched together, each layer’s wood grain runs opposite to the next making it very strong and stable. The 1850’s heralded its commercial birth as a material suitable for furniture applications when a German emigre to the US, John Henry Belter, developed a heat process to bend the plywood in three dimensions. Further improvements to this technique came with research by the aviation industry during World War 1.

Plywood became a cheap and accessible material for 20th century designers such as Alvar Aalto and later Charles and Ray Eames. After falling out of favour in the 60’s and 70’s, due in part to the popularity of plastic, it wasn't until the late eighties before designers started to appreciate this material once more.

Jonny Hannah

We're getting very excited about our next exhibition at the gallery that opens on November 24th - featuring the work of Jonny Hannah and Mark Hearld.

Born & bred in Dumfermline, Jonny studied illustration at Liverpool Art School and then the Royal College of Art. Since graduation in 1998 he has been working both as a commercial designer/illustrator (his clients include The Daily Telegraph, The New York Times & The St. Kilda Courier) and printmaker,  creating wonderful screen printed books, posters and prints for his own Cake & Ale Press.   A passionate music lover, his ‘Hot Jazz Special’ - a book of red-hot rhymes and bold poster-style art - took 2nd place in the 2005 V&A Illustration Award.

If you'd like to receive an e-mail invitation to the opening of this and all of our other exhibitions you can sign up for our free e-mail newsletter - you'll only hear from us a few times a year and you can unsubscribe instantly at anytime. We'll also let you know when we've uploaded examples of Jonny's work on our website a week or so prior to the exhibition.

Robert Tavener

We're delighted to be showing the work of Robert Tavener at our gallery.

Angie came across his work for the first time reading an obituary  in a newspaper shortly after his death in 2004. We not entirely sure how we've managed to miss his work before.

Born in London, after war service he attended Hornsey College of Art (1946-1950). He was head of Printmaking at Eastbourne College of Art and Design from 1953, later becoming vice principal until he retired in 1980. He also taught at St. Martins School of Art.

Tavener was well known for his illustration work and commissions for organisations such as Shell, the BBC, and London Transport, and he was a senior fellow of the Royal Society of Painter Printmakers. His work is held in over 25 public collections including the V&A and the Government Art Collection.

Until November 17th you can see a range of prints at St. Jude's but if you're unable to visit us in Norfolk you can view a selection of his work online.

Cinema City

Finally, after 3 years of major redevelopment, Cinema City is about to re-open its doors after a multi-million-pound lottery funded refurb. Before the historic 15th Century building's renovation, it was a quirky one screen cinema with lumpy seats and crackly sound. It now has three screens with state of the art digital projection, 350 extremely comfortable seats and you can now consume alcohol from the in-house bar in the auditorium.

There is also a restaurant set in two vaulted rooms, with a former chef to The Prince of Wales, Chris Barber overseeing the menu.

Before the revamp, the film choice was excellent but limited due to capacity, now with three screens there should be an even greater variety of art-house, independent and foreign films.  We've decided to become annual members, it will mean we'll feel more compelled to get out of the house and go and see the films we always say we'll see but don't. The membership is good value too, giving discounts and invitations to previews and selected screenings.

Cinema City opens on the 19th October . For more information on the screenings visit their new website Picture House.

Weapons of Mass Communication

'Weapons of Mass Communication: War Posters' is the title of an exhibition that's just opened at the Imperial War Museum in London.

I'm hoping to make it along in the next couple of weeks and will aim to add another post with some comments then.

The exhibition will explore the nature of propaganda from the First World War to the present day - its poster (which I saw on the Tube yesterday) is a variation of the publicity material that David Gentleman designed for the Stop The War Coalition (pictured here).