Main gallery

Mike Edwards - Looking back at 85

29 September to 21 October 2023
An exhibition of recent sculptures and drawings, prints and paintings of the past sixty years

Edwards states: “My wife and I belong to the ‘in-between’ group of artists (born between 1928 and 1945) with one foot in the exciting pre- and post-WWII flurry of art endeavour, even if only linked to this group in the late fifties and the other foot in the massive and exciting post-war period of technological advancement.

I am grateful that this ‘looking back’ has given me the opportunity to sort and document our time as ‘in-betweeners’, more commonly known as the ‘Silent Generation’ ’’.
 
Edwards has met and/or worked with many artists who spanned the era from pre-WWII to just before the burst of technology in the 70’s. These of course are the South Africans, Claerhout, Westbrook, Van der Reis, Battiss, Villa and Bettie Cilliers-Barnard. In Britain, the sculptor Henry Moore, and the Belgians, Frans Minnaert and Rik Hoydonx.  All of them created with such verve, enthusiasm and dedication. 
 
This exhibition; Displayed on the walls are drawings, prints, (linos, etchings, silkscreens) and paintings, illustrating Mike’s ‘art’ journey spanning a period of more than sixty years.  Displayed standing on the floor are examples of his major creative focus and first love, that of sculpture; these now almost exclusively in the medium of wood.  Some were created over the past year and are highlighted by the impressive ‘Pallinghurst Honoured’ work of over two meters in height. They all echo his concerns for the sustainability of wood but also speak of our African life of intolerance, regeneration and beauty.

The creative process is never ‘finished’ and with several older works he has taken the creative process forward, giving them a heightened visuality.  Artists are traditionally never completely satisfied (never know when to stop!) and seldom have this opportunity to carry the process forward. This exhibition has afforded him the opportunity to change and carry the creative excitement forward.
 
The exhibition reflects a brief insight into the life and times of Mike Edwards.