Things to do on a Jubilee

I've  spent a wet Jubilee cataloguing the many small paintings and work on paper that have been sold during, and after, the Byzantium and Beyond exhibition (two examples above). These sales have mainly been dealt with by Julian and Jackie of the See gallery, here in Rossendale, and I'm very grateful to them as otherwise these sales would never have happened - with me completely engaged in the 'Angus' theatre production. 

It looks as if the sales of these paintings will more than cover the cost of mounting the exhibition in London. This is something I never expected, and although the three members of the Trust took a calculated gamble that the cost of the show would be worth it in terms of enhancing Dave's reputation as a painter, we were also aware that the cost would be significant, and eat into our reserves of money. The catalogue alone cost us more than £8000 to produce - and these costs were only kept as low as they were by Margaret Mytton's super-human effort working on the publication and the hang. 

But it now looks as if we will end up financially pretty much where we started - and of course we've gained tremendous publicity and have a wonderful catalogue to show for it too. 

Finally, another good slot for Derek Smith's film Dave Pearson : To Byzantium on the Community Channel - Friday 9th June at 20.00.

'To Byzantium' online

You can now watch the whole of Derek Smith's film about Dave Pearson free on-line. Go to :

http://communitychannel.mediatrust.org/video/-8E5Ne2wei8/

This is available through The Community Channel. Their own description of the film is:

Artist Dave Pearson lived in Rossendale for forty years but few people would know about the extraordinary world he created in their midst. When he died, Dave Pearson’s friends and family opened up his studio and discovered his life’s work: twenty thousand drawings, prints and paintings. Pearson had shunned publicity and had sold very little work, the building around him was disintegrating.

This film is about the efforts of a small group of dedicated people to rescue the work of Britain’s best, least known painter and present it to a new audience. The film explores what made Pearson so special as an artist but most importantly it documents the epic task involved in bringing Pearson’s work back to life and in restoring his once derelict working space. The studio is now ready to become a focus for art in Rossendale Valley and beyond. Pearson, an unknown artist, is now poised and ready to enter the pantheon of British art.

A week is a long time

This has been an eventful week for the Trust.

First, Chris Pearson told me on Thursday that our solicitor telephoned to say that Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs have closed the files on our case about the Death Duty on Dave's estate. This had been hanging over us for well over a year and, although I felt sure that we had done everything correctly, it meant all our financial transactions had a deeply worrying shadow hanging over them. Chris, in particular, had been very affected - unable to get work done on the house where he and Dave had lived because of the fear of a potentially enormous tax bill. 

Another interesting development was a three way discussion between Sergei Reviakin, Edward Lucie-Smith and Margaret Mytton comparing some of Dave's work from the 1990s with Andre Masson and Pavel Filonov. Edward had started this off on his visit commenting how some of the works we showed him reminded him of Masson.... 

Animals - Pavel Filonov

Interior - Dave Pearson

Tower - Andre Masson

Rock Pool - Dave Pearson

Finally last night To Byzantium was shown on the Community Channel at 10pm. Apparently it's being shown again tomorrow (Sunday) at 1.30 pm and Wednesday 16th at 10.00pm. 

A lot to be grateful for. 

Come and visit

The Open Studios weekend in Rossendale starts in less than an hours time. All the main studios in the Rossendale Valley open their doors from 10.30 until 5.00 pm today and tomorrow. A great opportunity to see some excellent art and some really fascinating studio spaces.

Dave Pearson's studio at 54 Manchester Road in Haslingden (BB4 5TE) is no exception. Last night all the artists did a road trip around one another's studios. Above we see a group watching To Byzantium, the new film about Dave which will be on screen throughout this weekend, and also Julian and Jackie of the See Gallery who have helped the Trust curate the exhibit. 

Off to the launch of 'To Byzantium' - and afterwards

I'm just about to set off to Manchester's Cornerhouse cinema for the launch of Derek Smith's film about Dave Pearson, the film commissioned by the Trust and the result of over a years filming and editing. I've already seen the film, of course, but am really looking forward to seeing it on the big screen. Some screen grabs from the film below... 

Four in the afternoon, and it's over. What a lovely morning; more than a 100 people at the Cornerhouse screening and all seemingly unanimous in the feeling that Derek's film is a tremendous achievement. It combines an informative approach to the story of Dave's life, with a heartfelt and ultimately very emotional story of his final years, while at the same time giving plenty of exposure to Dave's wonderful work. Derek described it, tellingly, as "a film about friendship".


Lots of the audience hadn't met one another for years, so there was also a great feeling of stories being told, reminiscences shared, and the simple pleasure of old friends meeting up. The group were family, neighbours, friends, ex-colleagues, college people, buyers of Dave's work, and ex-students, with many falling into more than one category. 


Margaret and Derek gave a short introduction; I captured some of it on film, and afterwards we all retired across the road to the Palace Hotel to swap more stories, plan futures, and eat pastries.

Julian has his work cut out.

Julian (of the See Gallery) and I spent a few hours in Dave's old studio yesterday making some decisions on what new pieces to display for next weekend's Open Studio event. 

Of course most of the studio is crammed with thousands of paintings and drawings and isn't a showing space in the normal sense of the word. But we do have one downstairs room, and an upper landing/corridor that provide something like gallery conditions. 

We decided that we should give the whole place a makeover since, broadly, the same paintings have been given prominence since we restored the building at the end of 2009. Only when a piece has been sold have I added a new painting to the display areas. Julian has also had several of the works on paper mounted and framed - these were mainly done by Dave in his last years. They look really wonderful and most have never been seen before.

There's an added urgency as the writer and critic Edward Lucie-Smith is travelling up from London tomorrow (in order to be present at Sunday's launch of the To Byzantium film) and he'll take a trip out to Haslingden for his first look at Dave's work in the flesh. So it makes sense to have the hanging finished, or as close to being finished as is possible, by the end of the day. Julian has his work cut out.

Preparations

Screen grab from 'To Byzantium' - moving work from Globe Arts Studios

1,000 clear wrapped copies of the DVD 'To Byzantium' have arrived from the duplication plant. They are piled up in the See Gallery, waiting for distribution - which will start immediately after the launch at the Cornerhouse in two weeks time. They look great.

Invites have been sent out and people are beginning to call in to reserve their seats. Margaret Mytton is helping Julian in chasing people up for their RSVPs. Further, Derek Smith, the director of the film, has shown it to Alex Kann, at the Community Channel, and he has said that they are keen to show it as part of an upcoming arts season.

Mental Note: The Trust urgently needs to prepare itself for these events. We need to decide how we'll respond to all sorts of possible enquiries once the film has been released, and as it begins to be seen more widely. 

A DVD design

The artwork for TO BYZANTIUM is now complete - which includes a cover (above), a booklet insert and an inlay label for the DVD. I've also designed an invitation to be sent out to people for the launch event at the Cornerhouse, Manchester on the 4th September. Everything will go off to the print company on Tuesday.

There are only 158 seats in Cinema 2, so we're having to ask everyone who receives an invite to phone or email in order to reserve their seats. 

It looks as if, from an email we've received from the film maker, Derek Smith, that an exhibition of Dave's work has now been agreed for BERMONDSEY PROJECT SPACE - for September 2012; almost exactly a year after the launch of the film.