A breath of Fresh Air - 22 years and going strong

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Veronica Davies visits the now well-established ‘Fresh Air’ exhibition, celebrating its eleventh successful event

In a week when the Met Office scientists were meeting to discuss what on earth is happening to the British weather, it was a bonus to have a lovely sunny June morning for a visit to the Gloucestershire village of Quenington, near Cirencester, where the biennial outdoor sculpture exhibition ‘Fresh Air’ is held in the gardens of the Old Rectory.  This is the eleventh exhibition, demonstrating the dedication and commitment of Lucy Abel Smith, the Quenington Sculpture Trust, and everyone else concerned in hosting this event over the last 22 years.  All parts of the beautiful and extensive gardens, including lawns, trees, flower beds, and pools are used as a site for some 150 separate works of sculpture. A millrace hints at the earlier history and uses of the site. 

A short introduction to this history in the catalogue also makes clear the role of a number of dedicated and capable gardeners in shaping the grounds which form the inspiration for the making and display of sculpture for this exhibition.

The sculptures themselves range visually from the traditionally figurative to abstract and conceptual. There are also a wide range of media, extending to a sound installation located in a stunning copper beech tree, with the only constraint on the artists’ inventiveness being the need for their work to withstand the elements in its outdoor setting.  So the visitor will find sculptures made in traditional materials such as bronze ( Dido Crosby’s Ravens), stone (Giles MacDonald’s letter carving) or wood (Alison Crowther’s oak Carved Cubes) located next to modern media of many kinds.  A brief selection of these includes Taz Lovejoy’s installation Metamorphosis, hanging from the branches of a tree and made from brightly coloured silicone cup-cake cases,  Natalia Dias’ haunting Thorn Tree, 500 porcelain thorns of different sizes attached to the trunk and branches of another tree, and Lucy Strachan’s soaring God Rod in the middle of the lawn. 

The light and colour of the garden also lend themselves to the use of glass as a medium. Among a number of striking works were Matt Durran’s recycled glass birds, Migration, Jaque Pavlosky’s rather different take on recycling, Floating Spires, which brings together a collection of coloured glass ornaments, bottles and drinking glasses, Jackson Fawkes’ Planes of Motion and Bliss Hill’s Kindred Spirit.

Bliss Hill was also a recipient of one of a number of apprenticeships and bursaries associated with the exhibition: other educational initiatives meant that a number of students from Stroud College of Art and Design and Hereford College of Art had been invited to exhibit their work.  It was pleasing to see a number of these student works with ‘sold’ stickers on them, an indication that a new generation of sculptors is emerging who should ensure that the quality of work available will be maintained for the next 22 years.   If Cassone readers are unable to make it to this year’s exhibition, it is well worth putting a note in the 2015 diary to ensure you don’t miss the next one.