REVIEW: Gathered Around the Sun

By Alison Norwood, volunteer arts reviewer

This small but beautifully formed exhibition at the Towner gallery showcases several different styles of painting and comes together coherently to explore how domesticity and wildness are entangled.

The similar tones and feel of the various works reflect the amount of thought behind the two-year collaboration between Towner and a group of artists under 30 years old, all of whom have ties to Sussex.

A mix of existing works from the Towner Collection is curated alongside a new painting by Sophie Barber (b.1996), wrapping up links between past and present.

The Barber piece, Meet Me There, Where the Sun Goes Down and the Moon Comes Up (2025), on loan to the Towner, is a vibrant, glorious red sun, pulsing towards the viewer out of a dark background.

There is nothing but a sun here, crafted with thick brushstrokes and spouting dynamic, uneven rays. Red and black merge behind it, finishing at the title of the painting underneath.

All of this feels real, painted onto a non-precious, unstretched canvas, with visible footprints behind the lettering.

Next to this large piece is a tiny painting by Clemence Dane (1888–1965), View of Midhurst, West Sussex (1950), above, with its own pulsating red sun. Scale means nothing though; the view is equally evocative and full of movement in the sky.

The centre space in the ground-floor gallery, above, is dominated by Guard (2024) by Jodie Carey (b.1981).

Formed of unnaturally tall plant sculptures, rendered grey by plaster, the effect is like a disembodied wood that can be walked through. Stand in the right place and Barber’s red sun forms a wonderful interior landscape.

These stringy plants are echoed in Blue Flowers (1994) by Roy Oxlade (1929–2014), above. The flowers here are on long stalks, just a small part of a bigger, expressively splashy still life.

I was impressed by this exhibition, which treads the line between bringing old and new together, while being coherent and showing variations of styles of art for differing tastes.

While I was there, a gathering of small children eagerly replicated the sun painting on their colouring pads perhaps inspiring a new generation.

Do visit and experience this range of sensations and works for yourself.

:: The exhibition has been curated by Towner Collection & Acquisition Committee members: Connie Ashford, Flavia Cahn, Serena Cobbinah, Ben Coleman, Maddie Lock, Luka Shaxson, Elva Webb and Sophie Wright.

It runs until 8 March and admission is free.

:: Alison Norwood, currently setting up an editorial services business, was previously a professional academic publisher. She has also worked in print and design and writes novels in her spare time. Alison has always studied art history and is a volunteer arts reviewer for Eastbourne Reporter.