Jerwood Gallery Invades Hastings

Jerwood Foundation

Jerwood Gallery opens this weekend, bringing collection to public view

The Jerwood Foundation is gearing up to throw open the doors to its brand new gallery. Chairman of the Jerwood Foundation, Alan Grieve, explained how the new gallery ‘is the culmination of the initiative to make a new home for Jerwood’s collection of 20th and 21st century art and place it in the public domain for the first time.’

The collection includes major works by key artists such as Sir Stanley Spencer RA, Lawrence Stephen Lowry RA, and Augustus John OM, RA, alongside works from winners of the Jerwood Painting Prize, Craigie Aitchison RA, Maggi Hambling OBE, Patrick Caulfield and Prunella Clough. It will also host the exhibitions for the Jerwood Visual Arts Programme – including the Jerwood Drawing Prize, Jerwood Contemporary Makers, and the Jerwood Contemporary Painters – widely recognised as a place to discover ‘rising stars’ in contemporary arts.

The new gallery will be located in Hastings, and designed by young architectural practice HAT Projects. ‘Hastings is linked with a number of artists featured in the collection. With its rich history and strong, ever-expanding artistic community we felt that Hastings was the perfect location for the Gallery’, Grieve explained.

The new gallery complements the £9 million redevelopment of the Stade – a historic area in Hasting’s Old Town, and home to Europe’s largest beach-launched fishing fleet. The £4 million building has been funded entirely by the Jerwood Foundation, and is hoped to be an important catalyst in the cultural and economic regeneration of the area. It will help establish Hastings in the ‘string of pearls’ of prestigious cultural attractions along the South Coast, which includes the Turner Contemporary at Margate, the Folkestone Triennial, the Towner in Eastbourne, De la Warr Pavilion at Bexhill and Pallant House at Chichester.

The Jerwood Gallery will open with the UK’s first retrospective of the works of Kent-based artist Rose Wylie – the artist who has just been awarded the 2011 Paul Hamlyn Prize for Visual Arts. Rose is no stranger to the Jerwood Foundation, having been shortlisted for its Painting Prize in 1997 and featuring in the Jerwood Drawing Prize in 2003.

Liz Gilmore, Director of Jerwood Gallery said:

‘We are delighted to celebrate Rose Wylie’s contribution to painting through our inaugural show. Rose sets the direction for all our future exhibitions: to recognise creative talent and nurture what is most significant and important to both artists and visitors. The contemporary programme will complement Jerwood’s Collection of Modern British Art, which itself is live and growing and a source of inspiration for artists today.’

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