Haworth Gallery

Busman747 · 24-01-2005, 00:48

Today I managed to find the time to visit the Haworth Gallery to view the works by Peter Blake, the man responsible for the cover of the Beatles "Sgt. Pepper" album. I was quite excited by the prospect but found his work to be a total load of c***!!!

Art is essentially a personal thing, I do not consider stained bed sheets nor piles of bricks to be artistic in any sense of the word....and what I viewed today was in my opinion, not worthy of marks in a G.C.E. exam.

The thumbnails below (in order) are:
1) His finished work on the Album cover,
2) His original sketch
3) P.C. Errors made with the original idea (in "words"see attached files below)
4) His exhibit called "Sumo"
5) His exhibit called "zebra"

He did not "paint" or "draw" these, he merely cut out (badly) pictures from books and framed them.........

What do you think??

Busman747 · 24-01-2005, 01:01

In contrast, tucked round a corner and out of the limelight, there was work by a lady (can't recall her name) that impressed me greatly with her 3D work with sequins!

chav1 · 24-01-2005, 01:13

sory for going slightly off topic here but i recently visited haworth art gallery one weekend hoping to take my kids to do some brass rubbing like i used to do when i was younger there

unfortunatly they only pull them out of storage during the week which sucks because i only see my kids weekends

not the most exciting thing i know but it should be a break from sitting google eyed at the xbox

you would think they would have them out at weekends as more people are able to visit then and would also make little extra cash for the gallery

ime betting hyndburn council is responsible somewhere along the line lol

WillowTheWhisp · 24-01-2005, 07:52

Personally I thought the amateur things done by the kids, which were put up alongside Peter Blake's "work", showed a lot more artistic merit - and I agree with you chav1 about the brass rubbings. Surely more children in general would benefit from them being available at the weekend. My girls have done them in the past.

janet · 24-01-2005, 12:30

Like the sequin stuff, busman.The other is rubbish.

black_flights · 24-01-2005, 16:14

I had never been to howarth art gallery until a couple of moths back, and i was thoroughly dissappointed. There was nothing out they said we put it in storage because it was out of season. If you want a decent musuem that has art work in it go to Townley hall it has some great stuff.

mthead · 24-01-2005, 19:13

i agree art apeals to different people with different tastes.what i like somebody else will hate.thats the main appeal of it.if everybody was the same we wouldnt be having this discusion

Gobsmacked · 25-01-2005, 08:32

Thanks Busman. I shall see the Sgt. Pepper album cover in a whole new light from now on. In my younger days I was naive enough to believe that this was the tip of some greater artistic iceberg the depths of which I may not have been able to comprehend. Now I see that it is merely one of his better efforts at cut and paste.

Pity you didn't photograph some of the children's work to compare alongside.

Acrylic-bob · 25-01-2005, 08:39

Neither HBC nor Accrington Borough Council, which preceded it, have had much time for Howarth Art Gallery. I have the suspicion that if it wasn't for the collection of Tiffay Glass the house would have gone the way of Arden Hall and Rhyddings Hall long ago. This is a great pity. Norman Potter did his best during his time as Curator but struggling against council indifference and lack of funding meant that it was an uphill battle all the way.

The performance of the current curator, Jennifer Rennie, inspires little confidence. She appears to be content to let Mid Pennine Arts make all the decisions, as do HBC. Once again the people of Hyndburn are shortchanged because the council are incapable of exercising any kind of imagination. If the constant cry is "we cannot afford it", why then are they not constantly petitioning the National Lottery to help out?

Haworth Art Gallery, and it's contents, belong to the people of Accrington. It was given to us by the Haworth's to be an imperishable resource to provide recreation and to improve the quality of our lives. Accrington Borough Council, and their successors HBC, were given the task of managing it and enriching it on our behalf. But, as with so many such responsibilities, the Arts and culture are the first things to go when cash is required to fund projects that are considered politically expedient.

Perhaps the proposals contained in the "Ambition Lancashire" plan will make a difference, now that HBC is constrained to consider the need to increase tourism in the borough. But, as has been observed in many other threads, if they can manage to evade their responsibilities for thirty years there seems little hope that they will begin to take them seriously again any time soon. And whatever improvement is seen will be cosmetic at best.

garinda · 02-03-2005, 17:49

I think it's great, and we're lucky too have it. Much nicer than anything Blackburn has!
l do think some of the exhibitions are awful. Community art is good, & it's the right place to show it, but they had old peoples memory collages from Salford not Hynburn.
I also think the Tiffany glass collection was much easier to appreciate in the old dark room, rather than the new expensive displays, which are terribly lit.
The cafes nice, much better than the old tea machine, & the people that work there are lovely.

Doug · 02-03-2005, 17:51

Do you know I've never been, Not ever. something I'll have to do soon I think.

garinda · 02-03-2005, 17:56

Go you might hate it, but we're all paying for it!
They have a fantastic collection of paintings, but only show a few, and don't rotate them enough in my opinion.
It has great veiws over the hills, now they've had the sense to cut back the shrubs.

Doug · 02-03-2005, 18:07

I don't mind Art; I certainly love heritage and antiques and I’m sure I’d love it when I do get there.

garinda · 02-03-2005, 18:16

l'm sure you'll like it then, it's an imposing house full of amazing details.
They had an exhibtion on Jon Anderson last year which was really popular, people came from all over the country.
It's closed in the mornings, & l think a couple of days in the week, but is open from noon, Sat. & Sun.
AND ITS FREE.

Doug · 02-03-2005, 18:33

Thanks for that garinda. I'll make the effort.