New exhibitions at the Pier Arts Centre

, Pier Arts Centre

This spring, the Pier Arts Centre hosts two new exhibitions highlighting artists with differing approaches to documenting their surroundings.

'The spaces between ~ Richard Welsby Artist Photographer 1972-2022' will be on display from 30 March until 8 June.

Richard Welsby (1953-2022) was an artist and photographer who lived and worked in Orkney for 27 years, from 1980 to 2001 and returning again between 2005 and 2011.

The exhibition at the Pier Arts Centre, curated by Clare Froy (Welsby), includes drawings, photographs, and films spanning Welsby’s work from the early 1970’s until 2022.

Clare Froy commented “The recently opened Pier Arts Centre and establishment of the St. Magnus Festival, as well as the beauty and history of the islands, were instrumental in Richard deciding to move to live and work in Orkney in 1980. He actively supported both, being part of the Pier Arts Centre Management Committee for a period and contributing to the St Magnus Festival on many occasions.”

Froy continued “The interrelationship between the visual arts, music and science was central to Richard’s approach. This led him to involvement in Science Festivals in Orkney and – following a working trip to post-war Bosnia in 1997 that made a deep impression on him – Slovenia.”

As well as presenting conventional techniques in less conventional ways, Welsby’s work extends the medium of film and photography, using time-lapse, mirrors and pendulums to alter the camera’s view, and create images to reflect his interest in nature and perception.

Following a stroke in 2008, in 2011, the artist was given a small digital camera that he could use with one hand. As a result from that point, he documented the ‘flotsam and jetsam’ of life through daily photographs, taken in Lymington, Hampshire.

A new publication The spaces between ~ Richard Welsby Selected works 1972-2022 is available in the gallery shop at the special exhibition price of £15 (RRP £20)

On display alongside is 'Philip Hughes/Notebooks' – 30 March - 18 May

This exhibition of drawings, paintings and notebooks by British artist Philip Hughes (b.1936) celebrates the publication of a new book by Thames & Hudson.

The publication, Philip Hughes/Notebooks details a new selection from Hughes’ unpublished notebooks spanning the last 25 years.

The display includes a selection of the original notebooks, with paintings developed from Hughes’ sketches, depicting landscapes in Orkney, Scotland, Antarctica and Svalbard, capturing the spirit of each place through the artist’s unique perspective.