Tuesday, 28 March 2023

2-4-6-8 Never Too Late

Jen Orpin and another sold painting

Talk about cutting it fine; Jen Orpin's 'The Journey Continues' exhibition in Manchester had been showing all month and I'd promised myself I'd get up there before she cleaned her brushes one last time and took her paintings* off the wall. 

More beautiful bridges

And so on Sunday just gone (the last day) the Medds descended on the Saul Hay Fine Art Gallery. I'd contacted Jen a couple of days before and she said she'd be there from 10.30am. When we walked through the door just before 11am we were the first people in so had a fantastic personalised viewing by Jen herself and really got an insight into her fabulous paintings. (The car journeys from Jen's home in Manchester to visit her dying father in Kent in 2015 were measured out and defined by the motorway bridges she passed. So much so that she would begin to photograph and later paint many of them. With no cars. And no people. 'They would only get in the way of the bridges' she told me.) 

A grand day out in Manchester

Saul Hay Fine Art Gallery; dwarfed by the Beetham Tower

Axis Tower, Manchester M1 (walking back to the car park)



* Most of them with little red dots denoting their sold status 


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10 comments:

  1. Khayem29 March 2023 at 06:14

    I've not heard of Jen Orpin or seen her work before, so I followed the link to her website for a longer browse. How wonderful to see the exhibition, with a personalised viewing to boot. A big thank you for sharing, John.

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    1. John Medd29 March 2023 at 21:30

      It was a great exhibition, K. I'm so glad we made the effort.

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  2. Swiss Adam29 March 2023 at 19:42

    This comment has been removed by the author.

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  3. Swiss Adam29 March 2023 at 19:43

    Great stuff John, love the paintings and your photos too.

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    1. John Medd29 March 2023 at 21:32

      Thanks, Adam. Shame you couldn't make it. Coffee/beer next time I'm in Mcr for sure...

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    2. Swiss Adam30 March 2023 at 17:38

      Absolutely

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  4. The Swede29 March 2023 at 20:59

    I was unfamiliar with Jen Orpin as well, but the work and the sad context of those trips to visit her dying Father are moving and fascinating.
    Good to get a team shot of The Medd Squad too!

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    1. John Medd29 March 2023 at 21:34

      You'd have loved it, TS.

      Yes, we don't get many team photos these days, but James obliged with the ubiquitous selfie.

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  5. C30 March 2023 at 10:08

    Wonderrful paintings - and your photos too. Brilliant that you got a little private view at the start! Motorway bridges are usually the underdogs of the bridge world, aren't they? - and yet Jen has elevated them (no pun intended) into something else, something very significant. Really made me think.

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    1. John Medd1 April 2023 at 08:22

      Jen told me she's been shortlisted to exhibit this summer at the Royal Academy; I think we should all go...

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