Earlier this year my sister Mary sent me information on a major ceramics show that she’d just seen. Material: Earth A Survey of Ceramics was presented at a newly opened Art Centre in Tisbury, Wiltshire, just down the road from her home in Salisbury. The catalogue listing of a fine collection of mainly 21st Century English ceramics was fascinating, but of equal interest is the building it was shown in. Messums Wiltshire has only been open for just over a year, but surely because of the reputation of its parent gallery Messums in London, it is fast becoming a destination West Country gallery and sculpture garden.
The building is a beautifully restored thatched Medieval tithe barn, the largest of its type in England. I mentioned to Mary that I’d really like to see this new Art venue, so on our way to a family event in Somerset we stopped in Tisbury. The barn is huge, and instead of being a sterile, clean gallery space, its old beams, long slim windows and thatched roof give a warm, ancient atmosphere to whatever the gallery owner, Johnathan Messum chooses to display.
On this occasion we were impressed by the eclectic, colourful, multi-media installation Roots Up by British-born, New York-dwelling artist Judy Pfaff. She explains that her work always references events, experiences and places in her personal life. Two years ago she was shown the barn, under restoration at the time, and nearby places such as Stonehenge, Salisbury Cathedral and the Wiltshire landscape generally and these places have found their way into her enormous installation.
In particular we found manipulated images of the cathedral interior and floor tiles installed as ‘mats’ on the floor of the barn. Judy is fascinated by naturally occurring or man-made phenomena such as a tree which has grown around building stones, bricks and metal. She found an amazing example locally and delighted its owners by having it removed for them, adding colourful ‘sap’ to it and using it as the entrance to her show.
There are so many ideas to admire as one wanders around the barn, some wonderful fabrications such as the glass-stepped spiral staircase going nowhere, glass orbs swinging just above the floor, neon lights echoing the long slim windows of the barn, tall pillars to draw your eyes to the height of the building and the colourful photographic shapes on the floor.
As usual, I took photos. These will give you an idea of the variety and vastness of the show and this little video gives a better idea of how the parts appear together.
There is a brand-new building across from the barn which houses a long gallery intended for the display of 2D work, and just now there are several large and small pieces by Judy Pfaff, as well as some work remaining from earlier shows, all for sale.
I’ll add another blog to show the outdoor sculpture at Messums.
This is a gallery I’ll want to visit again. Thanks Mary and John for taking me there.
This is a link to a blog on the Messums Wiltshire website about the show:
http://messumswiltshire.com/talk-judy-pfaff-installation-roots/
Dear Gillian McMillan, Thank you so much for your thoughtful and closely observed comments. I’m here in upstate New York with a storm approaching and Wiltshire seems long ago, far away. Unexpectedly I found your blog. For a while it has felt like the installation was like that tree falling in the forest….you have supplied the needed sound.
Dear Judy, thank you for letting me know that you have found and enjoyed my blog. I like the ‘can anybody hear?’ reference. G