Background moods

Pine Gallery, 12 Claremont, Hastings

Jonathan Cole and Phillip Harvey, Nicholas May, Andrew Milne-Hume

opened October 16th – October 31st 2005 with Special guests Uncle Gav's band

Painters love paint and often find themselves intoxicated by its magic. For the four artists in this exhibition, paint is not only the means of depicting images but also an intrinsic part of the subject matter.

To the non-painter paint as a subject matter can seem a banal and self–regarding preoccupation. Making art about the mechanics of making art is the refuge of the technician. However, good art goes way past the means of its creation and these paintings are about more than just paint.

The exhibiting artists span a range of attitudes towards painting and it would be difficult to superimpose a homogenous approach onto such disparate practise, however, how the paintings are painted is fundamental to all four artists.

Thirty, Forty, Lift

A 12 Claremont Open day culminating in an evening party. The title referred to Marley and Jon's birthday year and the celebration and relief for Jon, in completing the lift project.

YOU ARE INVITED TO CELEBRATE WITH US THE REFURBISHMENT OF 12 CLAREMONT, HASTINGS SATURDAY 25TH JUNE 12-4 PM. 4pm approx performance on beach by CANDLAND ARTISTS T&T. GUIDED TOURS OF THE NEW FACILITIES ON THE HOUR EVERY HOUR. MEET THE ARTISTS, JOIN OUR MAILING LIST, FIND OUT ABOUT OUR ACTIVITIES,

FREE CUP OF TEA OR COFFEE AT THE EAT @ 12 CLAREMONT CAFE.

EVENING PARTY IN THE BASEMENT EIGHT TIL LATE DJS ON ROTATION: JIM BULL - HALF CAN STAN - NEIL BONES - SKIP DONAHUE - BOB WEATHERALL - CARTER(LIVE) -TURKTOWN ALL STARS(LIVE)

 

ABOUT 12 CLAREMONT in June 2005

 

12 Claremont is a five storey, mixed use arts space situated in the centre of Hastings next to the central library. It was built originally in 1880s as one of the first YMCA centres in the country. The building is owned and managed by artists Jonathan Cole and Caroline Le Breton who are also active in supporting the formation and continuing development of Claremont Studios, a group of ten professional contemporary artists who rent space in the building.

The centre is an example of how regeneration and provision of community space can be privately initiated and led by local residents. The business is run on a social enterprise model with a small proportion of commercial lets subsidising the lower rates charged to artists for studios.

 

OCCUPANTS

EAT @ Café, Claremont Studios, The Arts Council South East Creative Partnerships

 

COMMUNITY SPACE

The Old YMCA Reading Room has been restored and is available to for community hire. It is used regularly for yoga, pilates, shiatsu, dance classes meetings, presentations and training

 

RESTORATION

The building has undergone three years of renovation. Funded largely by the owners with contributions from grants from the Arts Council South East, Hastings Town Center Management and Sussex Enterprise.

 

The refurbishment of the works to date are:

• new roof

• restoration of the front façade,

• complete replacement and modernisation of the back façade

• internal adaptations and modernisation of the interior

• installation of an eight-person passenger lift to four floors

Red Roaster

Jon exhibited a number of new works at the Red Roaster in Brighton. The cafe is a well known landmark situated at the bottom of St James' street in Kemptown, Brighton. The remarkable pictures were based on a newspaper cutting of a group of figures that included Osama Bin Laden. Jon named the figure in these images as 'the third man'.

Jon also showed two of the Ali pictures that had first appeared in the Spitz Gallery.

Philip Cole

Basement Bash

The Pine Gallery Basement Bash

Saturday 4th September. 11am onwards ...

'A Celebration of the Abundance of Art'

The aim of this event was to introduce Jon and Caroline's plans to transform the basement into the Pine Gallery: A contemporary exhibition, workshop and training space for artists in the centre of Hastings. Their plans featured a gallery, set up and run on a voluntary basis by artists from Claremont Studios. At the same time, Jon and Caroline were working on a proposal for a refurbishment of the basement together with a programme of events including exhibitions, discussion, training and workshops.

For this show, the space was shown in a state of flux as its transformation got underway. For the duration of 'Basement Bash'  the building work, excavations and demolition were momentarily paused and re-arranged.