Artists should curate shows, not freelancers

There seem to be different interpretations depending on whether art or historical artefact is being displayed, and whether gallery or museum.

As a ‘maker’, my prejudice is against freelance curators.

It is a fashionable idea, but seems another way of diverting funding away from artists.

Of two recent guest-curated shows at the Young Gallery, the artist-led Dusty Feet I thought terrible, and the Double Take pairings by full-time curator Helen Brown seemed a little too simple in its concept.

Pru Maltby’s Plant Project at the Young Gallery is a lot better than either of those, and contains an interesting mixture of work from the gallery archives, loans from other collections, and contemporary work by artists well-known to us locally.

The Young Gallery’s aim to show art from its archives in new contexts is building up a head of steam, and this themed show is the best example of the idea yet.

The origin of the exhibition is a sketchbook of plant studies by Robin Tanner, a Wiltshire artist who died in 1988.

They are pale and modest drawings made with hard, sharp pencils, but reveal quite clearly an artist observing natural forms in a meticulous manner.

These almost forensic studies are an interesting base from which to branch out, but I did find it difficult to see this organism as a whole.

There are two types of exhibits, those that follow the spirit of Robin Tanner’s close observation, and those that use the subject matter as more of a cipher: a means to an end.

To the former belong Julia Atkinson’s drawings, Peter Randall-Page’s and Keith Rand’s sculptures, and in part to Pru Maltby’s own paintings and Henny Burnett’s installation representing the handkerchief tree.

The latter includes excellent paintings by John Piper and John Bellany, but both seem to me about paint and though they depict flowers, they offer no insights.

There are two pieces by Gary Hume, one by Stephen Tennant and a Mat Collishaw, all stylish, but all self-referential.

Elizabeth Frink is represented too, and though she may enjoy favoured status here in Salisbury, I have to declare her bronze a ghastly brown lump, reminiscent of a mouldy potato.

Maltby is a skilled calligrapher and has employed this skill in an interesting collaboration with the potter Julie Ayton.

The potter has created some innovative forms which Maltby has inscribed with calligraphy and other scored marks.

The accompanying text states that these forms are based on something called a ‘douche bucket’.

Go along and see for yourself if you want to find out more.

Until April 11.

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