Get lost in a ‘pleasure garden’ of artwork by Anne Ryan

The first major UK exhibition of contemporary Irish artist Anne Ryan leads Hastings Contemporary’s 2020 programme.
Anne Ryan, 5 women in the woods and one swimming, 2019Anne Ryan, 5 women in the woods and one swimming, 2019
Anne Ryan, 5 women in the woods and one swimming, 2019

Earthly Delites is at the gallery from Saturday, January 18, to March 29.

A spokesperson said: “Ryan is creating a new installation occupying the entirety of Hasting Contemporary’s main ground floor gallery space. Taking inspiration from Hieronymous Bosch’s Garden Of Earthly Delights, Ryan has curated a ‘pleasure garden’ of work assembled from throughout her career that will invite visitors to wander around and get lost in her work, subtly insinuating ourselves directly into her paintings.

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“Ryan is renowned for her ‘cutouts’ – highly coloured, constructed paintings made from card, collage, canvas, ceramic and metal that focus on figures engaged in a variety of physical activities – dancing, posing, swimming, frolicking in the woods, even cutting loose in a mosh pit – inspired as much by nightclubs and cinema as by classical figurative painting and sculpture.”

Anne Ryan, Disco Legs, 2018Anne Ryan, Disco Legs, 2018
Anne Ryan, Disco Legs, 2018

Anne Ryan said: “I love the freedom they give me. Suddenly you’re not tied to the four walls of a canvas. It’s almost like not painting. I say to my students: stop painting and then let’s paint.”

Hastings Contemporary also offers a retrospective of rarely seen work by Edward Burra, Graham Sutherland and Stanley Spencer (The Age of Turmoil).

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Anne Ryan, Mosh pit, 2019Anne Ryan, Mosh pit, 2019
Anne Ryan, Mosh pit, 2019

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