Western Morning News (Saturday)
Art of capturing the essence of place
FRANK RUHRMUND delights in the joyous pictures of artist Emma Dunbar now on show
Needing cheering up, and thinking of Covid and all that’s happening in Ukraine at the moment (incidentally, the percentage that Sarah Brittain-Mansbridge, director of Cornwall Contemporary, Penzance, arranged to take from the proceeds of her last exhibition raised £1,500 for the UNICEF fund for children), viewers could do nothing better than to take a look at the current colourful and cheerful exhibition Goats, Boats and an Abundance of Flowers she is presenting there. The exhibition shows works by Emma Dunbar, an artist who has the good fortune to share her time between Cornwall and Surrey, and who in the 1980s studied at the West Surrey College of Art & Design where she gained a BA (Hons) degree in Fine Art and Printmaking. Since then she has not only exhibited extensively but has also had her work reproduced internationally as everything from greeting cards and limited edition etchings to fabric designs. One who works mainly in acrylic on birch panels with occasional touches of gold and silver leaf, evidence of her early training as a printmaker is to be found in her use of blocks of flat colour and in the way she scratches through her surfaces to reveal the pre-laid colours underneath. She cheerfully confesses to not being worried about visual accuracy, but sets out instead to capture the essence of a place, something she does so well in such works as Sheltering in the Hidden Hut, Staring Goats and Charlestown Cats. If her paintings are about anything it is perhaps enjoyment and the pleasure of life itself. Little wonder that they prove so popular, several were sold at the exhibition opening and two are already on their way to buyers in the USA. Talking of her work, Emma Dunbar says: “Daily dog walks, holidays, trips to the supermarket, and the chaos of cats, dogs and children wandering on to wet paint, all provide inspiration. Landscapes, new seasons, colour combinations, bright green grass against a blue grey sky, or shapes of moored boats in a harbour, patterns on packaging, all get me going. Fabulous bunches of flowers on a flattened table are frequently all I need and I’m regularly purchasing new mugs for the next painting. I also draw inspiration from my favourite artists, Mary Fadden, Milton Avery and Daphne McClure.” She also happens to be an admitted collector of objects that can turn up in her compositions. One of the highlights of the Ben Nicholson exhibition From the Studio she saw at Pallant House last year, for example, was the display of tableware that he had in his studio alongside the paintings in which they appeared.
“I have borrowed some of his beautiful striped and spotted jugs and mugs and put my own flowers in them.” From Birthday Bunch to Hot Dahlias they are a delight. So, too, is everything else in this show. As compelling as they are colourful, and not to be missed, admission is free, and Emma Dunbar’s joyous pictures can be seen in Cornwall Contemporary, 1 Parade Street, Penzance, 10am to 5pm, Monday-Saturday, until April 30.
The exhibition can also be viewed on the gallery’s website, www.cornwallcontemporary.com along with a 3D virtual exhibition tour, where one can “walk” around the gallery, view the paintings and measure the dimensions of each of them.