The In Between Gallery Show

Lucy Atherton, Linda Brill, Jane Burgess, Shelley Burgoyne, Barry De More, Jacquie Denby, Alison Dunn, Valerie Emmerson, Paul Finn, Jennifer Guest, Martin Hearne, Abbas Holcroft, Mike Holcroft, Rosemary Holcroft, Barry Midgley, Rob Miller, Robert Newton, Lisa Naylor, Sara Philpott, Liz Salter, Stuart Royse, Margaret Shields, Malcolm Taylor, David Thomas, Dominic Vince, Elizabeth White, David Wiseman, Alison Woods  

Showcasing the breadth of individual talents represented at Water Street Gallery, this “in-between” exhibition invites us to discover the hidden and sometimes surprising connections between these artists’ works. 

The exhibition features works by almost 30 artists, all of them currently represented by Water Street Gallery, alongside works by the gallery’s founders. As a significant number of them live and work in or near the gallery’s home in Calderdale, the rugged landscape of Lancashire and Yorkshire is an inevitable recurring theme. 

It appears verdant and green in the lively gouaches of Paul Finn, revealing its more dour aspect in the thick, sleet grey impasto of Barry De More’s works. Many of the paintings seem to invite us in, to step amongst the woodland trees, or to follow the cobbled path up Rake Hill. The local landmarks of Bridestones and Stoodley Pike can be spotted in the panoramic photographs of Abbas Holcroft and find an echo in Ramsbottom’s Peel Tower in Elizabeth Whites’s painting. 

We are also invited to look closely, or even beneath the surface. Shelley Burgoyne’s work Magdalene layers etchings of microscopic creatures that live in the canals of Venice over decorative embossed patterns, offering a very different view of nature. The exquisite still life of Linda Brill evoke the secret life of objects.  

While acting as an eclectic showcase of the gallery’s roster, the exhibition also highlights what unites the works: a focus on masterly technique, offering an overview of the gallery’s ethos and vision between thematic exhibitions.