The Art Gallery of Northumberland is pleased to showcase a sculptural work from the Gallery’s permanent collection during the Northumberland Festival of the Arts.
Traverses by David Partridge is a striking example of his signature use of nails to create texture, dynamic surfaces that evoke the natural world. Its intricate patterns and reflective qualities invite viewers to explore the interplay between light, shadow, and form, capturing the essence of Partridge’s innovative approach to sculpture.
For many years, Traverses had pride of place in the AGN’s Gallery Shop, where visitors were invited to drop pennies down into the top of the piece and watch them cascade through the sculpture. It’s one of a number of “naillies” the artist created, beginning with his first experiments in 1958. While some are moderately sized pieces like Traverses, others are monumental in scale. Metropolis, from 1977, greets people at the entrance of Toronto’s city hall with con-centric circles made up of 100,000 nails.
The American-born Partridge spent part of his childhood in Britain before moving to Canada in 1936. Her served in the Royal Air Force during the Second World War, then returned to Canada to teach, taking time to study at the Art Students League in New York, the Slade in London, and Atelier 17 in Paris through the 1950s. His early study of paleontology and geography at the University of Toronto led to the love of patterns, shapes, and forms apparent in his later work. While Partridge is well regarded and appears in important collections and galleries throughout the worked, including the Art Gallery of Ontario, the Tate in London, and the Museum of Modern Art in New York, many feel he is under appreciated in Canada. Not so in Cobourg, however – Traverses is one of the Gallery’s most beloved pieces.
NFOTA celebrates the creative spirit of Northumberland. As a not-for-profit arts organization, NFOTA brings together actors and artisans, painters and photographers, musicians, singers, writers and poets online and in a grand collaborative showcase over two weeks every other year
For tickets and a list of events click HERE