What's On
Keep up to date with the events that are happening throughout the year in Ripon and the surrounding area. We welcome you to add your own event to the Ripon Internet diary.
Events still to take place in September:
There are no events scheduled for this date
Outdoor Spinning Classes
Tuesday 21 April to Thursday 01 January
Unique and unusual outdoor spinning classes held at Intrim Health and Fitness. Non members welcome. Beginners, intermediate and advanced classes. Contact Phill, Claire, Lucy or Linzi for further information.
Ed Kluz - 'Romantic Ruins Today' Art Exhibition at Hornseys' - the gallery
Thursday 12 August to Sunday 12 September
ROMANTIC RUINS TODAY
“The modern buildings that you see
Are often most alarming,
But I am sure that you’ll agree
A ruin can be charming.”
Modern buildings have become even more alarming since 1954, when Lord Brockhurst and Dulcie first flirted these lines in Sandy Wilson’s The Boy Friend, yet ruins never lose their ability to enchant.
However handsome a building was in life, in death, after it has been abandoned to the elements, it takes on a new wild magnificence as bricks and mortar become shrouded in rampant vegetation. The afterlife of architecture, having embraced this surrealistic transformation, is endlessly fascinating. Unoccupied and unfit for human habitation, many buildings become more alive than ever before. Literally in many cases as they are running alive with birds and beasts, and may even be thought to move when the wind whistles in the wisteria. Buildings become blurred at the edges, with no longer any clear boundaries between the man made structure and its surroundings. It is an organic process that ultimately causes a building to become subsumed into the very landscape it once dominated.
Whereas inland the principal culprit is ivy, at the coast it is the sea, whose endless encrustation of barnacles and billowing seaweed fashion even the most mundane wreckage into startling submarine monsters at low water. Indeed for many, the earliest encounter of the concept of ruination and architectural impermanence must surely be on the beach, where the vital pleasure of building a sand castle is immeasurably exceeded by its destruction and the thrill of witnessing one’s creation collapse with the incoming tide.
Inevitably ‘pleasing decay’ is eventually overwhelmed by irretrievable dereliction and total collapse, though surely the pleasure of ruins is infinitely preferable to the dreaded alternative of enslavement to the heritage trade and the indignity of its erupting pox of visitor centres - two words guaranteed to make the blood run cold. Ruins ought to be left alone to rest in peace as a testament to the transitory nature of our existence.
Mr. Kluz has a romantic sensibility and an accomplished aptitude for architectural draughtsmanship. His peregrinations take him 'mid pleasure gardens and palaces, but he is no mere purveyor of the picturesque for its own sake. He possesses a keen sense of place and an enviable ability to capture its spirit. For this exhibition he has chosen not to pursue that well-trodden path leading to the ruins that Cromwell knocked about a bit, and has instead turned his attention to those of a more recent vintage. For, although he has his eye fondly focussed on the past, his feet are firmly in the present.
Horatio Blood
The reputation of Ed Kluz as an artist and designer continues to grow at an increasing rate. Since ‘Wunderkammer’ in 2009, and his move to London, he has received important commissions from the Victoria & Albert Museum, Faber & Faber, Newby Hall and Random House. These achievements, though impressive, are merely the building blocks of this remarkable young man’s career, with the keystones being his landmark solo exhibitions across the country and beyond. I believe that his work across numerous artistic fields will continue to surprise and delight the ever-increasing number of his followers.
Daniel Hornsey
The private view will be held on Thursday 12th August from 6.30pm. PLEASE CONTACT US ON +44 (0) 1765 602878 FOR MORE DETAILS OR E-MAIL: info@hornseys.com
The Great North Art Show
Friday 27 August to Saturday 18 September
Over 200 paintings and other artworks by some 35 professional artists will be displayed in the stunning surroundings of Ripon Cathedral. There will be an art trail across Ripon with paintings, photography and contemporary sculpture at 14 venues in the city. The exhibition is open from 10.00 to 16.30 daily and admission is free. There will be a preview starting at 17.00 on 26 August; tickets cost £10 at the Cathedral door to include wine and canapes.
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