Review: Ilkley Art Club exhibition at the Clarke Foley Centre. Runs until January

by Graeme Wilson

IT is always an intriguing experience to review the Ilkley Art Club’s Annual Exhibition at the Clark Foley Centre and I am pleased to see that the club is maintaining high standards amongst its members. Denise Ledgerwood and Anita Rowell stand out for their work in mixed-media; the latter, in particular, displays a delicate and subtle sensibility with her small scale work. Likewise, Sheila Maddrell, whose two ‘Woman in a Garden’ pieces could almost be an illustration of Paul Klee’s idea that to draw is "to take a line for a walk”. Her linear profiles seem to emerge effortlessly from a tangle of background lines

As always, Barbara Davy exhibits three consistently high quality pastels in which very slightly different facets of her artistic personality shine through: the woodland scene titled ‘Enchanted’ is particularly interesting. What appears to be a configuration of trees and undergrowth in cool blues and greens provides a framework for a glowing sky, or is it fire?

Another good pastellist is Janice Thomson, who uses a landscape palette of greens and earths over a vivid red ground to vibrant effect. Those who prefer

maritime or coastal subject matter are Andrew Wade, who displays sound observational skills and a keen eye for the dockyard scene; and Lesley Gore,

whose painting of yachts is very competent but at the same time cries out for a little more abstraction rather than illustration. Virtually the only

abstract presence in the exhibition is Roy Anderson who uses bold colour on a ‘dancing’ grid and just about manages to get away with it. Once again, I would have to mention Paul Klee as an exemplary master of colour and grids for Roy to look at and learn from.

Tricia Hardy and Hazel Christy have also made delightful contributions to this exhibition. But talking of delight brings me to the work of David Walker, whose amusing and utterly charming work is a joy to behold, though not without a tinge of sadness and pathos. The disposition of heads and limbs has been finely judged and on just the right scale.

These three sculptures are in mixed media (probably papier mache) then painted over with a sure sense of colour. Well done David, and to all the members of the club for putting on such a stimulating and varied show.