The Road to Abstraction; the Chris Ingram collection at The Lightbox, Woking.

We had a trip out to Woking and I certainly enjoyed watching some local lads doing Parkour over the flower beds on the High Street;

But we were there to pay a visit to 'The Lightbox' to see the new exhibition of artworks from The Chris Ingram Collection.

There were some real treats - here's a few of my highlights.

This is one of Barbara Hepworth's famous series of drawings of surgeons and nurses at work in the early days of the NHS.

Celebrating free treatment for all, based on need rather than ability to pay, Hepworth spent long periods in operating theatres, drawing people working in life or death situations.

The drawings concentrate on faces and hands;

There is also a small but spectacular example of her abstract sculpture, which I love.

'Colour and strings';

There's a couple of Ben Nicholson's, her friend and collaborator and a few Terry Frosts, another fellow resident of the artists colony in St. Ives.

This is typical of his later years, large expanses of colour;

There are a series of Eduardo Paolozzi collages from the 1940's;

There are some nice 'realist' paintings, I liked Edward Burra's "Seamen Ashore";

I can't help but post this George Large painting of workers at Smithfield market in the 1990's, not so very long after I worked in the meat trade;

Out of the series, Robyn preferred 'Cleaning St. Pauls', stonemasons balancing high above London on the scaffolding around the cathedral;

I have to show you this Bridget Reilly - you would normally expect to see the abstract optical illusion paintings that she is famous for.

This is much more imtimate;

All of these pictures and others can be seen for the next couple of months and form part of the Chris Ingrams Collection - a local communications businessman who has made his collection available to the gallery. All the exhibitions can be accessed for the £5 pass that lasts for a year - I'm hoping to return in a few months time for a different selection that will follow on after this one.

Meanwhile here's a mobile from the stairwell;

And this is a 'Harris', you can create your own sculpture from these shapes. I had to have a go and mine probably lasted for about half a day, until some else had a go, I hope;

Neil Harris
(a don't stop till you drop production)
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