Andrew Hunt - Porter Brook Art Gallery
Last Saturday saw the opening of the new show by well-known and well-established local artist Andrew Hunt at Hunter's Bar's Porter Brook Gallery.
With this being his second year presenting his work at Porter Brook Art Gallery Hunt has managed to gain a supportive and solid fan base here in Sheffield.
It was a good mix of people that walked through the door and they were all eager and excited to see what he had produced, with many keen to chat with Hunt himself. Visitors had questions about the work and some even asked for advice on how to make it as a successful artist!
The pictures that seemed to generate the most interest - and the ones that Hunt seems the most proud of - were the ‘Lincoln Grave’ (a cornfield in a thunderstorm) and ‘Highlander’ (simply a caravan in a field on a sunny day).These are a move away from his usual figurative art and showed a different side to his work, focusing on the visual aspects of his pictures rather than the narrative. The detail in ‘Lincoln Grave’ in particular shows a quality of detail in the picture that captures a moment rather than a story.
Despite this new path, Hunt's figurative art was still a key focus of the exhibition. I personally enjoy the ambiguity behind these pictures and love the fact that everyone interprets them differently. One example of this was ‘Mother Mary’ (a mother and son sat down hugging). Some people felt great sadness when looking at this picture as it could appear that the pair are in mourning or deeply upset about something, whereas some people (including the person that bought the picture) felt that it was a happy picture and it simply showed the maternal bond between mother and son. Hunt’s ability to create that much emotional impact through one picture is fascinating and clearly shows that he is a true artistic talent.
Porter Brook Art Gallery has done an excellent job in promoting artists like Hunt. In fact, they are doing so well that they are preparing to move location to the Sheffield Music Shop so they can have more room. One of the stand out things that was said to me during my visit was “we’ll always have Andrew’s work in” and I personally can’t wait to see what he produces next!
Review by Megan Howson
View photographs from Andrew's show on the Porter Brook Gallery Facebook Page.
