The Penwith Society and the London Group combine for the second part of their exchange

Sep 18, 2018


The London Group headed west to the historic and contemporary art colony of St Ives, Cornwall, to stage an exhibition of its members’ work at the Penwith Gallery, home of the Penwith Society of Artists. Both groups are recognised as two of the most prestigious and longest-established artists’ collectives and have collaborated with two major exhibitions in London and St Ives.

One of the London Group’s aims is to ‘advance public awareness of contemporary visual art’ — an objective it consistently achieves with regular shows in London, throughout the UK and worldwide. Most appropriately this chimes with the Penwith Society’s objective of the ‘furtherance of the arts in Cornwall’ as defined in its constitution.

This unique alliance culminates during the St Ives September Festival with the London Group at St Ives showing in the Penwith’s New Gallery running in conjunction with the Penwith Society regular exhibition in the Main Gallery. These exhibitions provide opportunity to witness the diverse energies of the current Penwith Society and London Group members within the iconic exhibition space and appreciate the significant contribution to British Art the two collectives have made over the years.

Susan Haire, current London Group President commented, “We are full of anticipation for our exhibition in the beautiful Penwith Gallery which has had years of planning; nowhere could be more fitting for a London Group regional exhibition… bringing a show to St Ives that demonstrates the breadth and diversity that we as a group celebrate enthusiastically. The LG is proud that the Penwith Society’s illustrious founder-member and benefactor Barbara Hepworth was also a London Group member.”

The London Group’s exhibition runs until the 29th September with the Penwith Society’s exhibition continuing through to the 3rd November.