Royal College of Art students offer St Leonards exhibition

The exhibition will run from August 27- September 1, 10am-5pm, Saturday to Monday at the BAKIIBAK Gallery, Offerfair Business Park, Maunsell Road, St Leonards, TN38 9HL.

It will feature the work of Jess Beige, Ed Compson, Francesca Mollett, Trine Struwe, Kiki Wang and Silke Weißbach.

The students are calling the show /ˈstʌtə(r)/ - because their course “broke, paused and stuttered due to a global pandemic.”

They added: “While we have been offered a show as a way to showcase our work, the need for community, communication and intimacy through building physical objects and exhibitions has never been more pressing. The show, using the stutter as a metaphor, will act as both a personal and collaborative reflection on our practices, as well as consider the rupture that has taken place in our education, perception and the materials that surround us.”

Ben Lees, who runs the gallery, said: “I have started a little gallery space connected to my studio down here in St Leonards and have my first not for profit contemporary art exhibition starting at the end of August by this year's MA RCA painting graduates, It's going to be a great start to our programme.

“With other shows in the making we hope to bring a little something different and edgy to Hasting in the form of performance, sound, installation and many other aspects of contemporary art.

“Our work is hopefully going to bring something to the community in the long term by hosting workshops, artist talks, life-drawing sessions, combining art and science among other ideas to get people involved and inspired.

“One project we are particularly excited about and hope to host is with Lophelia, a sound art/music collaborative looking at the climate and environment. We would be adding another layer to their work by inviting visual artists to respond. We are particularly interested in creating a link to the sciences through immersive art experiences.”

The exhibition is open to visit and will follow COVID guidelines.