New contemporary art £275,000 collection on display at Ipswich Waterfront

Two of East Anglia’s most successful contemporary artists, Robert Priseman and Simon Carter, have joined forces with University Campus Suffolk (UCS) to launch the region’s first ever dedicated collection of contemporary art for the East of England.

Artists from seven counties Suffolk, Norfolk, Essex, Cambridgeshire, Lincolnshire, Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire have contributed work.

The East Contemporary Art collection is on display at the UCS Waterfront Gallery September 24 and will then be open to the public until November 13.

All the art on display has been produced after the year 2000 by over 115 different artists.

The donated works have been valued at over £275,000. In total 160 works will be displayed at the UCS Waterfront Gallery over a series of exhibitions; the first between September 24 and November 13, the second and between November 27 and16 January 2014.

A third exhibition is scheduled for October 2014.

Leading East Anglian artists including Maggi Hambling (four works), Mary Webb (who recently had a retrospective at the Sainsbury Centre), winner of the European Sovereign Painters Prize Susan Gunn, The John Moores Prize Winner Nick Middleton, local well—known artist James Dodds and Tate exhibitor Justin Partyka are just a few of the 115 artists who have generously donated their work.

Historically East Anglia has been home to some of the world’s most famous artists – Constable, Gainsborough, Morris, Bacon, Freud and most recently Maggi Hambling, John Wonnacott and Christopher Le Brun.

Simon and Robert realised that this level of artistic excellence had continued to evolve during the 21st Century with a new group of internationally distinguished artists practicing in the East of England. And it was for this reason that the idea of forming the collection was born.

Robert Priseman said: “East Anglia is blessed with many distinguished art museums displaying collections of real significance such as the Fitzwilliam Museum, the Fry Art Gallery, Christchurch Mansion and Gainsborough’s House.

“Simon and I set out to see if we could bring together a new collection, distinct from the historic collections yet complimentary to them, which would act as a showcase for the wealth of artistic talent at work in East Anglia in the 21st century. We were fortunate to receive much in the way of helpful advice and guidance and it quickly became clear to us that UCS in Ipswich was the ideal institution we should seek to collaborate with.”

The exhibition marks the beginning of a relationship between artists and UCS’ academic staff and students and will be available to be enjoyed by the local community, people from across the region and visitors to Ipswich.

EXHIBTION DETAILS:

Dates: 24 September – 13 November

The first exhibition will be hung in a salon –style and will feature work from:

Richard Allen, Esmond Bingham, James Dodds, John Doubleday, Charles Debenham, Steve Downey, Wendy Elia, Anne Schwegmann-Fielding, Jane Fredrick, Barbara Howey, Jo Howe, Maggi Hambling, Elizabeth Hughes, Linda Ingham, Gary Malcolm Johnson, Jacqui Jones, Tory Lawrence, Helen Napper, Nicholas Middleton, Malcolm Moseley, Caroline Mc Adam, Caroline Munn, Gideon Pain, Justin Partyka, Barbara Pierson, Freya Purdue, Alex Pearl, Arabella Shand, Sarah Sabin, Ron Sims, Harvey Taylor, Gemma Watts and Mary Webb.