March 2011

Collector's Cabinet

at the Crescent

By Paul Harron

The Dickon Hall Gallery at the Crescent Arts Centre was transformed during February into an elegant salon filled to the brim with paintings, drawings, prints, antique furniture and fine carpets and fabrics in a show called 'Collector's Cabinet'. It was indeed like walking into the contents of a collector's grand tour, although one with contemporary work included bringing it fully into the present day. Dickon Hall had worked in conjunction with Parvis and Meriel Sigaroundinia to present the range of works, Dickon explaining that with the show the gallery was displaying things in a different way.

Meriel Sigaroudinia hoped that the works would appeal to connoisseurs at all levels. She recalled over thirty years of advising collectors in Northern Ireland. The show included many little jewels of rarity and quality - two Degas etchings, drawings by Bonnard, a Robert Bevan drawing and an etching by David Hockney. There were Irish artists well represented, too: F.E. McWilliam, May Guinness, John Luke and Colin Middleton among others.

Tina Butterworth, Rosemary Chesney, Helena Chesney-Hill and Donald and Inez Blakely also admired the contemporary Irish art on display: works by Colin Davidson, Mark Shields and Colin Watson. Brendan Jamison also had work on display. The artist has just been part of the Young British Sculptors exhibition at Sotheby's in London and he showed his sugar cube sculpture of Helen's Tower to Dr Henry McKee.

HELEN'S TOWER (SMALL) [2011] by Brendan Jamison, carved sugar cubes, dimensions in display case: 31 x 20.5 x 20.5 cms

White Christmas at Naughton Gallery, Queen's University Belfast

By Ian Hill

FIREPLACE (2009) Brendan Jamison, carved sugar cubes,

37 x 46 x 12 cms