MA Illustration Falmouth

Falmouth Illustration MA. Sept 2018

This show is now the only surviving MA show at Woodlane as sadly the Contemporary Art, the

Environmental art and the Craft MAs have gone, victims of Tory austerity ?

There were about two dozen artists in 3 studios.

At first I though it looked a bit tame, small scale and quiet colours, but I needed time to adjust and

then found the show varied and absorbing.

Wonderfully generously a free catalogue was provided and everyone had postcards to collect with

their contact details. There were also books to buy but sadly no refreshments or cafe area.

A few people were there taking a great interest. I always feel the college should make a lot more of

the MA show to help the artists and should have the show still up for the new students to see who

are embarking on courses. There were several of the students there available to chat and those I

asked thought it was a good course. It is the refuge of artists that can draw and want to in these

postmodern times.

Unusually there was someone who actually drew Falmouth docks and local beaches with great flair

and fluency.

Georgie Bennett

I liked the way one illustrator, Judith Ohamizo Jurado,  invited us to sit at her desk and examine many small books that took

us into her life including pictures about her mother's death.

Then I was entertained by a political foray using sound, song and charicature to lampoon the way

Jeremy Corbyn has been presented but in an affectionate way.

Kat Johnson

I liked the wooden movable plant forms that knocked together gently.

Sarah Hougham-Slade

There were attractive stories, especially one with an urban and a country fox by Anita Stuart Andrews

There was reference by Valerie Dalton to painful experience of child abuse.

There was something using video about sea swimming.

There was work about the present bombardment of images versus quiet looking at a physical

book.

AND I was delighted to find a booklet of manifesto statements.

So well worth a visit and I left enriched by meeting a number of artists through their works. 

In the past I have heard some tutors at Falmouth disparage illustration, indeed 'illustration' is used as a

term of abuse for people's art on occasion, but why? 

The illustration MA shows us artists finding

their own individual expression in a variety of ways and the fact that they can all draw and can

make a living in the world of books etc is fine with me.

As Danya Todd puts it,

'Explode! Art is not a numbing agent, be volcanic'.