Summer 2014 Activities Program

Wednesday   9 April  7.30pm
Summer Exhibition (opens 2 April)
Paradise Regained:  Spencer and the Aftermath of the First World War
A limited ticket walk through the exhibition with archivist Ann Danks
£5.00

Monday        19 May  7.30pm
Paradise Regained:  Presentation by Chrissy Rosenthal
A closer look at the inspiration for the Exhibition.
£5.00

Tuesday       24 June  7.30pm
Spencer Goes to War:   Art Historian and Gallery Trustee Carolyn Leder.
In a series of masterpieces, Spencer produced some of the most original responses to the two great conflicts of the twentieth century.    The talk will include rarely seen historical photographs and will compare the work of some of Spencer’s contemporaries at home and in Germany.
£5.00                              

Monday       4 August  2.00pm
Sydney Spencer MC and the Cookham War Memorial
Village Walk to the War Memorial:    Remembering those commemorated and in particular Sydney,
Stanley’s brother.  Meet at Gallery (please book as party numbers limited)
FREE                                    

Outside the Gallery:
Saturday 23 August  7.00pm            
Spencer at St Nicholas’ Church Hedsor
An evening presentation about Spencer’s work.  Enjoy a glass of wine, a stunning view and hopefully a beautiful sunset.                                        
£10.00

All tickets from 

Maura Carr 01628 530181

or from the Gallery

Stanley Spencer Gallery, High Street, Cookham SL6 9SJ, UK

Stanley Spencer and Distortion

Professor Nigel Rapport 

On Mon 17th February Nigel Rapport (Professor of Anthropology, St Andrews University) gave a fascinating talk to a packed Gallery based upon his research into the subject of distortion in Stanley Spencer's art.  

He shared insights on a number of Spencer's more contentious figure paintings including the strange contorted couples featured in The Beatitudes of Love  series.  He pointed out how Spencer himself was aggrieved by critisism of these paintings and at pains to dispel any suggestion that were satirical in content.  Spencer wrote 'Whatever may be thought of me, the truth is evident in my pictures that everyone of these people are the beloved of my imaginings' (TAM 166).  

Stanley Spencer, Beatitudes VI; Consciousness,1937

Professor Rapport is planning a book on the subject and spent several days studying the Gallery archives to add to his research.

A new view of Spencer's Cookham Landscapes Photogrpahs Shortlisted for Exhibition

Local photographer Dennnis Jeffery submitted some photographs to the  London Independent Photographers group for the juried exhibition and was fortunate enough to have three shortlisted , two of which have a Spencer theme.  One of those was eventually selected to be one of the 100 prints to be included in the Exhibition. (The other shortlisted photographs are being displayed on a screen in rotation).

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22 OCTOBER - 3 NOVEMBER 2013

THE STRAND GALLERY

32 John Adam Street, London WC2N 6BP

Nearest tube: Charing Cross (MAP)

Welcome to London Independent Photography’s milestone 25th Annual Exhibition! Each year this is the highlight of our group's calendar - a must-see event for anyone interested and involved with photography in London. The exhibition runs from the 22nd October until 3rd November at The Strand Gallery, located in the heart of the West End. This year we received approximately 800 submissions from LIP members, with 108 images accepted for exhibition from 65 photographers. The prints were selected by Francis Hodgson, Colin Pantall and Roelof Bakker, and showcase the extraordinary diversity and breadth of talent within our group. The impartial selection process is key to the exhibition’s success, as every LIP member has an equal chance to exhibit.

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What Dennis said about his work:

I have a passion for Stanley Spencer’s work and, in particular, his landscapes in which he captured the ‘spirituality of place’.

This photograph is from a series of photographs I have taken to capture my interpretation of the scenes he painted in Cookham, Berkshire – now the location of a gallery dedicated to his work.David Hockney’s recent works inspired me to illustrate how the whole image is greater than the sum of the parts whilst focusing the viewer’s attention on the detail using a series of frames.Spencer rejected suggestions that he had been influenced. I make no such claim!