A Trip to Hastings Contemporary

On a sunny Sunday morning, I strolled along Hastings promenade to the Hastings Contemporary. I sat on the cafe roof terrace soaking in the last of the summer rays with a coffee before looking at what exhibitions they had on. When I visited they had three exhibitions; Quentin Blake: Birthday Biro Bic, Seafaring, and Lakwena Maciver: Jump. The exhibitions were an intriguing mix of art, from the multimedia abstract large-scale work of Lakwena Maciver to the expressive biro portraits of Quentin Blake and Seafaring which brought together works of art from the last century focused on life at sea.

Quentin Blake: Birthday Biro and Bic!

Within the gallery there was an intimate wall of Blake's energetic biro drawings. I love the subtle hints of red and the energy of the portraits.

Seafaring

Within this exhibition there were over fifty works exploring life at sea and the contradictions of the beauty and danger, drama and serenity of the sea. Pictured above is one of Cecily Brown's Lost at Sea oil paintings which, through her gestural brushwork and application of paint she captures the energy of the sea.

Lakwena Maciver: Jump

This was an exhibition of Lakwena Maciver's Jump Paintings, which are abstract portraits of basketball players that stemmed from the Black Lives Matter movement. I think the use of the basketball court as a platform and space for creation and inspiration is brilliant and the interactivity of the basketball court on the floor with the vibrant colour was really innovative and references the physicality of the sport. The colour of these works mimics the vibrancy and energy of the game and is a pertinent and joyful celebration of black power.