Local Artists Group Plans Art Antidote To Social Isolation

Local visual arts group Easterly Artists is staging a virtual online exhibition throughout May, delivering its own “art antidote” to the ravages of Coronavirus and the isolation it brings.

Titled “In Isolation”, the exhibition features some of the most creative artistic talent in Lowestoft and the surrounding area. 25 artists are presenting their work, all based on their own interpretation of what it means to live through, deal with and continue to create in a period of prolonged physical and social isolation.

A key feature of the exhibition is that all the artists are donating their work for nothing. As a result, all the pieces will be available for the public to access completely free of charge. For simplicity, they will all be in A4 format, making it easy for visitors to download and print them on a home computer.

The exhibition opens on the Easterly Artists website on Friday 8 May, to coincide with the early May Day Bank Holiday (this year, this holiday has been moved back to coincide with VE Day and the 75th anniversary of the end of World War II). It runs for three weeks and ends on Sunday 31 May.

Hugh Davies, Easterly Artists webmaster and the instigator of the exhibition, commented: “This show is a way to bring a little light and give something back to the local community. A lot of people are trapped at home, with nothing to look at or look forward to. The plan is to bring the work to them: to give them something inspiring to download and enjoy in their own home, and perhaps create some hope at a time when hope can sometimes appear to be in short supply.”

Visitors will be able to view work in a wide range of mediums, including drawing; painting in oil, acrylic, gouache and watercolour; mono print, screen print and lino-cut; photography; pottery and ceramics; artistic wood-turning and more.

To access the show, simply go to the exhibition website at www.easterly.org.uk/inisolation. Visitors can return as often as they want at any time of day or night, and download as many pieces as they like.

The 25 Easterly Artists members taking part in the exhibition are:

Bill Haward (Reydon) – Collage based on line drawing
Chris Milham (Henstead) – Modern contemporary art in oil and acrylic
Claire-Louise Dowson (Pakefield) – Abstract painting in acrylic and oils
Clare Johnson (Lowestoft) – Photographer/Mixed media artist
Darren Breeze (Lowestoft) – Artistic woodturner
David Sullivan (Lowestoft) – Realist painter engaged with political themes
Eileen Coxon (Brampton) – Fine art painting in oils and watercolours
Fiona Shreeve (Somerleyton) – Sculptural ceramics
Harvey Bradley (Lowestoft) – Porcelain pieces featuring expressive brushwork
Hilary Barry (Kessingland) – Figurative fine artist and painter
Joan Murray (Lowestoft) – Drawing, photography and book works
Lisa Hurcum (Lowestoft) – Printmaker
Lorry Cudmore (Bungay) – Sculptural and functional ceramics
Malcolm Cudmore (Bungay) – Fine art painting and drawing
Marilyn Jackson (Bungay) – Mixed media and mono printing
Mark Burrell (Lowestoft) – Fine art and magical realism
Neil Whitehead (Halesworth) – Acrylic painting and watercolour
Ni Gooding (Brampton) – Fine art screenprinting
Nina Roffey (Beccles) – Sculptural assemblages with found objects
Patricia Davidson (Reydon) – Fine art painter and printmaker
Peter Rodulfo (Great Yarmouth) – Fine art and magical realism
Rebecca Bergese (Wangford) – Painter and object maker
Rinat Baibekov (Lowestoft) – Abstract painting in mixed media or oil
Rosalind Bieber (Halesworth ) – Modern contemporary art in Ecos paint and conte
Simon Wilde (Lowestoft) – Fine artist specialising in painting and drawing

For more information visit www.easterly.org.uk.