Numbers - new Bonhoga exhibition opens this weekend

20 January – 3 March 2013. Public opening: 19 January 11am – 1pm

The new programme of exhibitions for 2013 at Bonhoga begins this Saturday with the preview of Numbers, a group show by Veer North, from 11am – 1pm. Everyone is welcome.

Veer North is the most northerly group of visual artists in the UK. Set up in 2003, it is a professional association providing a supportive network in Shetland for visual artists of all disciplines, while encouraging debate and developing opportunities both within Shetland and beyond. They have established links with artists and organisations throughout Northern Europe, Faroe and Iceland and have exhibited widely.

Taking numbers as a focus for this exhibition, thirteen members of the group have created work in a wide range of media. Artists as varied in their styles as Ruth Brownlee, Howard Towll, Roxane Permar and Janette Kerr have generated a fascinating cohesion to the mixture of work through the theme.

Lois Walpole’s clutch bag is made from a large print Shetland Telephone directory, stitched with telephone wire and fastened with a number key from an old laptop. Peter Davis and June Redman have both used numbers to limit their palette in their paintings while in marked contrast, the installation by Roxane Permar and Susan Timmins uses the ‘four minute warning’ as the starting point for their exploration of the deserted operations block at former RAF Saxa Vord, part of NATO’s Early Warning Radar System during the Cold War.

With so many different styles and interpretations on display the exhibition is as much a brilliant display of work by Shetland’s artistic community as it is an intriguing meditation on a theme.

The café opens for business on Sunday 20^th January with its winter menu of soups, snacks, cakes and scones, alongside an exhibition of small watercolours by Linda Newington and craft from across the UK. All artwork, both in the lower and main gallery, is for sale and there is a huge range of work in all price ranges available. The gallery and shop will also re-open for business on Sunday with normal opening hours.

Angela Smith, Duty Manager at Bonhoga said: “It may seem like we are in the depths of winter darkness but Bonhoga is waking up to the new year with a colourful and diverse array of events, exhibitions and treats. We look forward to welcoming everyone.”