Jerwood Gallery relaunching as 'Hastings Contemporary', Summer 2019

Seven years after opening on the historic Stade on the seafront in Hastings, the Director and Trustees of Jerwood Gallery announce that the gallery will become Hastings Contemporary - a new, independent modern and contemporary art gallery.

Since opening in 2012, the gallery has built an acclaimed exhibition programme and has been a cornerstone of the cultural renaissance of Hastings, welcoming over 300,000 visitors.

 Hastings Contemporary will have a refreshed curatorial direction under Jerwood Gallery’s founding Director, Liz Gilmore, and its expanded programme will explore all forms of modern and contemporary art, as well as continuing to champion the medium of painting, for which it has built a strong reputation.

The programme when the gallery re-opens on 6 July will feature new works by the contemporary international painter, Tal R, alongside the acclaimed British painter, Roy Oxlade, and works by Oxlade’s tutor David Bomberg. All these artists are credited with influencing generations of painters. As part of the relaunch, Artist Patron Sir Quentin Blake will present a series of new drawings. 

Hastings Contemporary will reflect the town’s independent spirit, drawing on the rich artistic heritage of Hastings and the South East and engaging with the town’s growing creative community. It will take over the space previously given over to the exhibition of the Jerwood Collection, creating additional space for exhibitions and new opportunities to explore connections between history and the present.

Liz Gilmore, Director, said: “Hastings Contemporary will bring dynamic, museum-quality art to Hastings. We want to encourage new ways of looking - contrasting historic works with today’s artists, showing works in a range of media, and celebrating both national and international practitioners. Our programme will take advantage of the entire building, and we are thrilled at the prospect of inviting ever wider audiences to come and experience art by the sea. We are delighted to have secured a generous donation in support of the opening of Hastings Contemporary. The support of Jerwood Foundation and Hastings Borough Council and more recently, Arts Council England, has enabled a remarkable institution to come to life over the last seven years, in a beautiful setting, and we’re all excited about its future.”

Sir Quentin Blake, Artist Patron of Hastings Contemporary said: “I could never have imagined, many years ago when I bought my ancient house in Hastings, that one day there would be an art gallery a few minutes’ walk away at the end of the street; brilliantly contemporary, but at the same time harmonising with its unique site on The Stade. Nor that
 it would have such a perceptive and skilled director as Liz Gilmore. Her ambitions for the gallery and her enterprising programme of exhibitions has given a new attraction and interest to Hastings and those who live there; and, more personally, she has inspired me to set about a new range of exploratory work (pictured above) that I might otherwise never have embarked on.”

For more details about the gallery's plans and opening times, visit http://www.jerwoodgallery.org/