Exhibition of Sussex Sculptors 2024
Discover attended the launch event at The Secret Garden in Kemptown, as they unveiled their new sculpture exhibition. The exhibit features 10 Sussex-based sculptors, and is open to the public every Saturday and Sunday from 11am – 5pm until June 2nd. The space will reopen on June 16th on Sundays only until 29th September.
This hidden gem is an oasis of calm away from the hustle and bustle of Kemptown, the perfect place to sit and soak up the art displayed while enjoying some tea and delicious homemade cake from the cafe.
The artists featured this season are: Julian Wild who works with stainless steel to great effect, with highly reflective surfaces that play with the viewer’s perception of form. Helen Mary Skelton works with slate, carved with her own poems. She teaches Skelton Workshops. Terrance Collin, who is a former student of Helen’s, carves letters into Portland Stone. He enjoys playing with unconventional letter forms, such as graffiti style. Will Spankie also uses stone carving as his medium, capturing the ambiguity and ephemeral nature of life in the permanence of stone. Fergus Davidson is another master stone carver, who exhibits Walt Witmans prayer and a piece entitled ‘Show me the splendid silent sun’. Rosie Jones is an award winning sculptor who creates forms that are curvilinear and sensual, embodying a powerful feminine energy. Mark Stonestreet’s sculptures are a playful investigation into line, definition and geometry, using granite and marble. Walter Bailey is a wood sculptor, creating earth to earth artifacts, in praise of ecological connection, looking towards a resilient and regenerative culture. Christian Funnel creates galvanized trough sculptures, designed to integrate into a garden. A birdbath being an example of this. And finally, Jackie Fitzgerald, whose work exemplifies the relationship between humankind and the natural world.
The Secret Garden is a volunteer run, community garden which is dog and family friendly. Run by the Antony Dale Trust, a registered UK charity. Antony Dale was an author, historian and conservationist who founded the Regency Society in 1945. Among his many achievements, he saved Brunswick Square and Adelaide Crescent from demolition and spearheaded the campaign to stop the gardens of Regency Square being turned into a car park. He wrote many books about Brighton’s history and died aged 81 in 1993. His legacy for preservation lives on through the charity.
