HUMAN
21–29 November
Tuesday–Saturday 11 am–4 pm | Sunday 11 am–3 pm (closed Monday)
Bringing together contemporary artists and celebrated artists of the past, the exhibition explores humanity and identity through a diverse collection of artworks, each reflecting different perspectives and individual styles.
The exhibition features works by Henri Matisse, Gustav Klimt, Peter Messer, Jeremy Cunningham, Harriet Hildick-Smith, Michael Cooper NEAC, Suzanne Hennegrave, Francesca Duffield, Jane Palmer, Peter Bushell, Pippa Burley, Jax Martin-Betts and Neeta Pedersen.
Most artworks are available to purchase, while others are on loan from private collections.
Henri Matisse
Founded in 1926 by Christian Zervos, at 14 rue du Dragon in the heart of Saint-Germain-des-Prés in Paris, Cahiers d’Art was one of the most esteemed publishing houses of the 20th Century. The Cahiers d’Art Revue was entirely unique when it was first published: a review of contemporary art defined by its combination of striking typography and layout, abundant photography, and juxtaposition of ancient and modern art. Between the 1920s and mid – 1970s, Cahiers d’Art published ninety-seven issues of the Revue and more than fifty books on fine art and architecture, as well as the thirty-three volume catalogue raisonné of Pablo Picasso. Matisse was featured in the very first issue of the revue in 1926, contributing five lithographs to an article by Zervos. He was the subject of a special issue in 1931, and again in 1936. This piece is taken from the legendary 1936 edition that focused on Matisse’s then recent ink drawings.
Unsigned as published (printed signature)
Lithograph on thin wove paper
Sheet: 25.5 x 32 cm
Edition of unkown size
Published by Cahiers d’Art, Paris.
Private Collection
Gustav Klimt
Only one folio set of prints was produced during Klimt’s lifetime. Das Werk Gustav Klimts featured fifty of the artist’s most important paintings and painstakingly reproduced them as collotypes. They were published by subscription in an edition of 300 between 1908 and 1914. The year after Klimt’s death, a second folio – Fünfundzwanzig Handzeichnungen – was published in an edition of 500. Very early on, collotype prints became the go-to medium for capturing the beauty and subtlety of Klimt’s drawings.
In 1922, the folio 50 Handzeichnungen was published in Vienna. Once again, the collotype printing process was used to create prints of fifty drawings that Klimt had produced between 1904 and 1918. These drawings were made available for reproduction by various private collectors of Klimt’s work. Only 375 impressions of each image were made. This example is from edition number 138.
Collotype
Sheet: 27 x 21 cm
Edition of 375
Published by Thyrsos Verlag, Leipzig and Vienna.
Peter Messer
'My paintings are mostly on a domestic scale, resolutely figurative and, by implication, narrative. I paint in the historic medium of egg tempera which I prepare in the studio using egg yolk and raw pigment.
The work is frequently set in, around or parallel with my home town of Lewes. Whilst the settings are often recognizable, the implied narratives and tensions create an idiosyncratic world that sometimes unsettles and occasionally amuses.
The paintings themselves often contain arrested moments in which ghosts, voices and unexpected creatures are confronted or sensed, all pinned down within a luminous deadpan egg tempera technique.
I hope that these are intent and watchful paintings which, for all their quiet ‘realism’, imply that the unseen exists and has properties.'
Jeremy Cunningham
Bass guitarist and album cover artist with rock band, Levellers. He attended art school from 1982-1987, a two year foundation course at Reigate School of Art and then a three year degree at Brighton Art College.Outside of the band he is a student of early medieval history and religion, especially that of Ireland, and an exhibiting painter.His most recent exhibition was at Anterios Art Foundation, Norwich, in February 2024, which also included a live painting demo.
"I always find it difficult writing statements about my art because it’s a totally unintellectual, visceral experience. I’m basically a diarist in paint. It’s all about the search for that existential truth; getting closer…
I don’t try to make any sense of it, I just want to honour the idea. I see myself working in the same continuum as Mesolithic cave painters, medieval manuscript masters and modern street artists."
Michael Cooper NEAC
Mike lived in Lewes and worked at the Star Brewery for much of his life. Alongside his wife, Pat, and a close-knit group of like-minded artists and makers, he helped shape the creative community around the building.
Throughout his career, Mike developed a formidable range of skills, from picture restoration to painting commercial works to earn a living. With an innate and highly sophisticated eye for colour, his entirely self-taught methods and working processes evolved organically, eventually leading him to develop a distinctive artistic style. His talent and dedication earned him membership of the prestigious New English Art Club (NEAC).
Mike continued painting until his death at the age of 82 in the summer of 2025.
Harriet Hildick-Smith
Harriet lives and works in Lewes. She studied at The City and Guilds of London Art School.
Harriet works in oil on hardboard. Her paintings are of a storytelling nature with a focus on the ephemeral. She draws on memories and impressions of childhood and adolescence.
Suzanne Hennegrave
Having painted landscapes for many years I felt moved to create a series of oil-painted portraits that reflect on our vulnerability, and the unseen experiences we carry. The figures and faces are deliberately glitched and fragmented, creating a visual language for sensory overload, and the pressures of an increasingly fast-moving world.
The distortion is not intended to obscure the individual, but to reveal what can exist beneath the surface - the moments when thoughts, emotions, and external pressures become overwhelming.
The paintings are an invitation to pause, listen, and empathise. They aim to create awareness of our inner landscape, reminding us that our feelings are valid and that we are not alone.
They seek to make the invisible visible, and the unheard feel heard.
Peter Bushell
I live in Lewes. I have drawn all my life. My particular interest is drawing and painting the human face and figure. Much of it is done at Paddock Art Studios in Lewes where I run a life painting workshop.
The portrait drawings on show here have been done on Zoom with a live model in real time. During Covid, when working with models in person was restricted, Draw Brighton began weekly online portrait sessions and they have been running them ever since. It’s not quite the same as working with models in person, but I love it and it gives me access to a great variety of models.
Jane Palmer
Jane has worked in higher education, in art libraries, and as a research consultant.
She is now a full time practising artist. Jane won the Artist of the Year award in Brighton's Artists Open Houses in 2019, and has been shortlisted for national awards including Figurative Art Now, Royal Society of British Artists, New English Art Club, The Discerning Eye and the Jacksons Painting Prize. She is a member of the Fiveways Artists Group and Society of Sussex Painters and has exhibited in Brighton, Lewes and London. Her work is held in several private collections.
Jane is a figurative artist and paints expressive portraits, still lifes and landscapes in
oils, but also specialises in sensitive, detailed portrait drawings in charcoal. Jane says:
“I see the relationship between artist and sitter as an exchange which must be sensitive and mutually respectful of boundaries. My predominant aim in completing a portrait is to convey a sense of individuality, presence and inner life; portraits are revelatory”.
Jane has trained with the New School of Art and holds degrees in English and Art
History from Kent and Sussex, including a PhD on medical representation.
Jane welcomes commissions and can work from life or photos.
Francesca Duffield
Francesca Duffield is an artist and writer originally from the Midlands, who has lived and worked in and around Lewes for the last decade.
She has worked as an illustrator and art lecturer, and now creates her own paintings, drawings and prints.
Her work is inspired by imagination and dreams, fairytale and legend, and by ‘outsider’ worlds such as the circus.
Pippa Burley
Pippa Burley is an established figurative sculptor, showing her works widely for over 25 years. Initially working purely from life, Pippa’s work has developed into semi abstracted forms, much influenced by Giacometti and Modigliani. All her work begins life in clay. Some forms she chooses to fire, others she casts, using the time-honoured method of waste moulding and Ciment Fondue casting.
Characteristically evoking the internal reality of her sitters, Pippa has spent decades describing complex emotional landscapes. This has drawn her toward purely imaginative works, responding to universal human themes, creating tender reflections of human strengths, passions and vulnerabilities.
Jax Martin-Betts
‘The Energetic Artist’
Energy is my companion inspiration and helps me find my rhythm.
I draw the female form all the time as part of my practice.
My favourite medium is charcoal which translates to oil paint so well. I explore the journey of ‘the line’ within and without the body.
I enjoy the sensitivity created with pastels too and use dynamic mark making to capture beauty in a moment.
I work initially from a Life Model. I enjoy knowing the character of the person I am drawing and allow this to emerge through my enjoyment of colour and medium. Sometimes the drawings can become quite sculptural.
I continue to take inspiration from my visual journey of the human form.
I exhibit in galleries in Sussex and Cornwall.
Qualifications Chelsea College of Art (BA hons)
Neeta Pedersen
Danish/British/Indian artist Neeta Pedersen’s vision comes from her unusual heritage, her extensive travels and her rich visual imagination. She has studied film at the New York Film Academy and hold a BA (Hons) in Animation from the University of Westminster in London.
She has developed a strong style of her own and has created a substantial body of original work expressing herself in many media including paintings, sculptures, digital art, animation and she uses her designs to produce bag, scarves, cushions and mugs.
Since 2006, Neeta has been working as an artist, illustrator, graphic designer and website builder.
In February 2020 she became the owner and director of the Star Brewery Gallery in Lewes and has curated a wide variety of successful exhibitions by established and up and coming artists.