East Devon artists hold arts collection in Sidmouth

SIDMOUTH’S Kennaway House has been home this week to The Rural Arts Collective, a collection of work by five artists from East Devon.

Their first time displaying as a group at the festival, Lee Godfree explained their aim has been to bring rural art “to a less sterile environment.”

With previous experience at festivals as individuals, they have found a group exhibition to be a much more liberating process, allowing for a wider range of work to be presented.

Lee said: “We are all fine art trained. A lot of modern art is lens based, so this has been a great opportunity to display more traditional painted work.”

With the intention of becoming a travelling exhibition, and bringing their work to other similar events, it has been a great example of how art can be presented in a way that dispenses with preconceptions, replacing rigid tradition with a welcoming environment and affordable prices.

The opportunity is also there to meet the artists and discuss their work before the exhibition closes on Friday.

Benefitting from this year’s good weather and a prime location, the artists feel that it has been a great success, and look forward to future opportunities to break the mould, especially with Lee’s Devon Open Studio in Ottery St. Mary.

Lee would like to thank Kennaway House for its support.