Pembroke JCR Art Fund Hosts 'A WORLD AWAY' Exhibition

From 4th to 19th November, the Pembroke JCR Art Fund Gallery hosted an exhibition of artwork titled ‘A WORLD AWAY’. Inviting you to “experience worlds real and imagined”, A WORLD AWAY featured pieces from a father and daughter, Gabriella and Julian Bailey, with links to Dorset and Oxford – places which have shaped the literary universe of many writers and artists including Thomas Hardy. Several of the pieces on display included well-known characters such as the eponymous protagonists of Tess of the d’Urbervilles and Jude the Obscure. On 11th November, we visited the gallery to speak with Gabriella and curator Myroslava Hartmond about the exhibition.

Candy-coloured paints and exuberant texture dominate much of the collection, excepting only the drypoint works across the easternmost wall of the gallery, which Myro describes as part of Gabriella’s more “medievalist mood”. That literary influence permeates even these becomes apparent as Gabriella points out the small “medievalist” piece dedicated to Chaucer’s The Legend of Good Women, with a few lines from the poem itself etched underneath. Just as she credits her time as an English undergraduate at New College (matric. 2019) for this particular piece, the influence of hours spent studying illuminated manuscripts and stained glass is visible throughout many of these drypoint or “medievalist” works.

A WORLD AWAY was Gabriella’s first exhibition, and to share this with her father Julian offered visitors a unique and fascinating insight into both the root and departures from the root of her style. Placing her work in direct contrast with her father’s art reflects what she describes as “convergences and divergences” between the pair as artists. From him, she says, she inherits a “love of glowing colour” and “boldness of line”, similarities which allow for a seamless joint exhibition, and yet the differences between the two artists are clear even without the assistance of the names under each work. While Julian’s pieces tend to be bold, brightly colourful and richly textured, Gabriella’s seem to take a more delicate approach, with – though still bright – softer shades and textures of paint, or drypoint, with which she primarily relies on lines rather than texture and rich colour.

It was not, however, Oxonian curator Myroslava Hartmond’s first exhibition with Pembroke; ‘De Profundis’, held in Michaelmas last year, was also one of her curations. She describes Pembroke’s “purpose-built, state-of-the-art gallery” which opened in 2015 as “one of Oxford’s best-kept secrets”, a statement with which JCR Art Fund Co-Chair Anna Mayer (2021, Theology and Religion) seems to agree, as she discussed the role of the Fund and Gallery with us.

“We like to make a priority of supporting young, early-career artists,” Anna commented, mentioning the Art Fund’s Emery Prize (named after Anthony Emery, the founder of the Fund), which is awarded to a Ruskin School of Art BFA or MFA finalist, “and thus aims to support emerging artistic talent within the Oxford University community.” The Gallery’s exhibition in Hilary term will be showcasing 2023 Emery Prize winner, Will Lowry, whose talent, Anna remarks, lies in his “striking, gothic style and mesmerising use of sound, light and installation”.

“Our commitment to supporting the student community, however, extends beyond just hosting exhibitions and events,” Anna shared. “We also provide hardship and travel grants to Pembroke undergraduates, aiming to further enrich their student experience.” She describes the Fund as a “really foundational and fundamental force in the undergraduate community at Pembroke,” citing how students in 1947 (when the Art Fund was first founded) agreed to have one pound each term added to their battels in order to financially support the purchase of works for the collection. As a result, Anna says, “we aim to give back as much as we can to the JCR to thank them for facilitating the Fund's establishment!”, adding that she and her co-chair Cecilia Lombardi (2022, Theology and Religion) “have found it so hugely rewarding to be a part of an organisation that is so informed by its context, its history and its surroundings.” 

The JCR Art Fund Gallery will reopen in Hilary 2024 with the 2023 Emery Prize Exhibition featuring work from artist Will Lowry, followed by a landmark exhibition, ‘LAND, SEA, SKY: Paul Nash in Oxford’ in May 2024. They are currently fundraising for the latter exhibition, which will explore the life and work of Nash in the year of the centenary of the Surrealist Manifesto, shed light on the Oxfordshire locations that inspired his work, and celebrate the Oxonian women who supported him. The link to the donation portal is here.

Any enquiries about the Art Fund may be directed to jcr.artfund@pmb.ox.ac.uk. For more information view their website here.