Culturalee visited the British Seaside town of Margate, which once inspired Romantic painter JMW Turner, and where Dame Tracey Emin recently opened an art school.
Six Culturalee picks include; Ed Clark and Lynda Benglis at Turner Contemporary, Tracey Emin Artist Residency Graduate exhibition, Vanessa Raw at Carl Freedman Gallery, Margo in Margate, the Crab Museum and the George and Heart.
Tracey Emin’s eponymous Foundation provides professional studio spaces and exhibition opportunities for contemporary artists from Margate and further afield. TKE Studios and TEARS (Tracey Emin Artist Residency) are housed within The Old Margate Bath House and seamen’s morgue, which was purchased and renovated by Emin following a conversation with Carl Freedman and Robert Diament in November 2021.
‘T.E.A.R.S The Final Show’ at TKE Studios is open Saturdays and Sundays from 12pm-5pm until 1stSeptember, 2024. traceyeminfoundation.com
Vanessa Raw’s solo exhibition ‘On Earth We Weren’t Meant to Stay’at Carl Freedman is a sumptuous celebration of sapphic desire, and a welcome reinterpretation of the male gaze that puts women in the frame from a woman’s perspective. Echoes of Picasso’s ‘Demoiselles d’Avignon’ are combined with expressionist animal motifs evoking Der Blaue Reiter, and given a contemporary twist by Raw.
Vanessa Raw ‘On Earth We Weren’t Meant to Stay’ is at Carl Freedman gallery until 7th September, 2024: carlfreedman.com/exhibitions/2024/vanessa-raw
Turner Contemporary was founded in 2011 on the site of an old boarding house on the harbour where JMW Turner once stayed during his visits to the coastal town to paint. Turner Contemporary presents a world-class exhibition programme in a David Chipperfield-designed building and offers free entry.
Currently at Turner Contemporary is a retrospective of American artist Ed Clark including paintings and works on paper from the 1940s to 2000s, as well as three new bronze sculptures by Lynda Benglis on display in the Sunley Gallery.
Lynda Benglis: Recent Sculptures is at Turner Contemporary until 15th September, 2024.
Ed Clark is at Turner Contemporary until 1st September, 2024. turnercontemporary.org
A little gem of a gallery not to be missed is Margo in Margate, an independent space founded in February 2014 by Irish artist Margo Mc Daid, AKA Margo in Margate. Margo’s Pop Art style draws inspiration from Margate’s youth culture and a period living in New York City.
Margo in Margate margoinmargate.com
A quirky addition to the museum and gallery scene in Margate is the Crab Museum, where visitors can discover the secrets of these remarkable animals, from the forgotten story of the giant Margate crab to what the extinct Sooty Crayfish has in common with fidget spinners.
https://www.crabmuseum.org/visit
Although the George and Heart isn’t a gallery or museum, this delightful and atmospheric pub and restaurant in Margate’s Old Town deserves a place in Margate’s ‘Six Culturalee Picks’. Housed in an 18th Century grade II listed building, eclectic interior design and artworks by contemporary artists including Hayden Kays and its location halfway between the Tracey Emin Artist Residency and Carl Freedman Gallery, make it a perfect pit stop for art lovers and foodies. There are also some hotel rooms upstairs.
