SALISBURY.- New Art Centre opened an exhibition in the Artists House of collages, painting and sculpture by Neil Gall. This body of work is Gall’s first show at the New Art Centre and presents a dialogue between his collages based on The Studio magazine and his collage inspired cut-out paintings.

Gall was first given copies of The Studio by his secondary-school art teacher, which has inspired him to make an ongoing series of collages, using the original magazine covers and adding his own interventions with drawings and texts. Together they offer a fascinating window onto the very different art world of the 1940s, 50s and 60s. The works encompass figuration and abstraction, painting and sculpture, colour and black and white, combining drawing, collage and montage, with layering techniques revealed through piercings Gall cuts into the publication, the holes in the covers representing a portal through which we can reimagine the art and artists of an earlier time.

Founded in 1893 by Charles Holme, The Studio was international in scope and combined reviews, articles and practical advice to artists. The last issue of The Studio was published in 1964, after which it became Studio International. When Peter Townsend became Editor in 1966, he did much to ensure the publication reflected new developments in the art world but with a bias towards British artists. This popular and influential journal coincided with the founding of the New Art Centre in London in 1958, and many of the artists with whom the gallery first worked, appear in editorial and on the covers including Hepworth and Moore of course, as well as Robert Adams, Kenneth Armitage, Reg Butler, F.E. McWilliam, Ceri Richards and Ian Stephenson amongst others. Robyn Denny also features; hence Gall’s work is the perfect partner to our exhibition of Robyn Denny’s paintings.

Neil Gall (b. 1967) studied at Gray’s School of Art, Aberdeen and at the Slade, London. He has had many solo exhibitions in the UK and Germany, most recently at the Henry Moore Institute, Leeds and at the Metropolitan Arts Centre, Belfast. His work has been included in numerous group exhibitions including The Morgan Library and Museum, New York; Zabludowicz Collection, London; City Gallery Prague; Denver Art Museum and Pier Arts Centre, Stromness amongst many others.