It was perturbing to learn that Andrea Brewer had been hit badly by illness recently and her hopes of working on many new pieces of ceramic for her show with Bruce Garside in July and August were in jeopardy. However, the ever-generous Ian Marlow showed great flexibility in allowing us to extend his current beautiful exhibition of steel and glass sculpture throughout the summer, although we lose the splendid ‘Nautilus’ to its new home. We can look forward to seeing Andrea’s work later and you now have a longer opportunity to enjoy or buy Ian’s sculpture for your own gardens.
Early sculpture? Last week brought mid-summer’s day and images of druids gathering before dawn at Stonehenge performing their religious rituals, citing prayers, dancing and feasting on one of the most important days of their year. Stonehenge is possibly the most celebrated and well-known monuments of the neolithic world which is visited by more than a million tourists every year and an example of Megalithic art. Located on Salisbury Plain, the vertical sarsen standing stones stand up to 9m high and weigh around 25 tons, many topped by horizontal lintel rings. Dating back some 5,000 years, it is one of the earliest pieces of stone sculpture in the UK. In 1986 together with Avebury, it was one of the very first sites in the UK to be inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List. Stonehenge is also one of the 7 Ancient Wonders of the World, and the most architecturally sophisticated, prehistoric stone circle on earth.
The Turrill may not be able to compete in scale but the line of craftsmanship and creation is being carried straight through to us in 21st Century Oxford.
