Hatton Gallery, Newcastle Upon Tyne. Until 13 January 2024 – Free Entry
The Connecting Form Exhibition showcases a retrospective of Matt Rugg’s (1935-2020) work, it has been open for a few weeks within the Hatton Gallery, which is at Newcastle University. It’s not a gallery I visit often as I tend to forget it’s there. This exhibition piqued my interest as it appeared to be different from most showcased locally and contained sculptures made from metal instead of wood; stone, or found items which are more commonly employed by artists.
Entering the exhibition, I was asked not to photograph individual items for copyright reasons, but instead to take more general photographs, this actually worked pretty well as the four pictures I have taken do show off the display much better than a few more focused pictures would have been able. There is plenty of information around the gallery, and the gallery assistant was extremely informative too, showing me the display of Rugg’s tools and explaining what some of the more enigmatic-looking ones were for.
Rugg first exhibited his work in 1965, after which he kept it relatively private; the next major exhibition being in 2011. That the current exhibition in 2023-4 is taking place at Newcastle University seems fitting as he had an association with the university during the 1950s and 60s. The exhibition takes up all four galleries and is one of the most impressive arrays of metal-based abstract sculpture which I have seen.
Some of the artworks he has produced appear to be completely abstract, pieces joined at strange angles and odd elements of design giving life to a form that appears both odd and pleasing to the eye simultaneously. Some works had more information than others detailing why they were created and what they were intended to evoke in the viewer. Some of the freestanding sculptures look like musical instruments, while others appear to take the form of a receptacle with plants coming out of the top. This struck me as a lovely, homely touch.
This is the space within the gallery which intrigued me the most. The sculptural elements hanging from the ceiling look random from one angle and semi-humanoid from others. At times, the space feels as though it is filled with overall dancing people. The walls of this space are also hung with a plethora of other mainly wire-based sculptures and sketches, the space feels organic, like the different pieces may form part of a cohesive whole as opposed to being a collection brought together, especially for display within the gallery.
This retrospective exhibition which showcases work from across Rugg’s career, is weighted heavily towards the latter end of his time as an Artist. The majority of the works included were created after 2011. The exhibition is nice, it feels thoughtfully brought together as a major showcase of his work. As abstract isn’t a kind of art that I really appreciate, I did find this exhibition challenging to engage with on a personal level. I would highly recommend a visit to this exhibition before it ends in January 2024.
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