Dogs, Dogs, Dogs.

Exhibition: 14 March – 19 April

Gallagher & Turner are pleased to present Dogs, Dogs, Dogs., a group show of 15 intergenerational artists from around the UK. Working across painting, print, photography, wood engraving and sculpture each artist highlights our canine friends unique place in culture, companionship and creativity.

Integral to the exhibition are the series of small prints by Thomas Bewick. These works, printed from Bewick’s original woodblocks by Graham Williams of Florin Press, although diminutive in size are hugely influential on the course of printmaking and art history. Bewick, who was born at Cherryburn and who lived and worked in the North East his entire life, is widely considered to be the founder of wood engraving – a technique of cutting across the end grain of wood, allowing for considerably greater detail and intricacy in designs. Bewick was also a keen naturalist, and many of the pieces on show are taken from blocks made for his seminal publication A General History of Quadrupeds, first published in 1790 and the most comprehensive illustrated survey of animals and nature of its day.

Adopting a similar approach are the works of Helen Fay. Fay, who works from her studio in Northumberland, studies the beauty dignity and character of animals and their role in domestic and family life. Through her careful study, and technical skill she produces stunning etchings that capture both the animals’ formal beauty and character.

Other works in the exhibition are more celebratory, depicting the fun and humour that dogs bring to daily life. Bianco Perry, a self-confessed dog obsessive, creates joyful banners and prints depicting the entertaining and surreal moments of a life lived with dogs. Alex Sickling’s friendly ceramic pooches are adorned with comic oversized ears, and paired with petite faces and snouts. Similarly, Ray Richardson’s paintings and prints operate as a loving tribute to the beloved Bull Terrier companions he has known over many years, whilst Oliver Hoffmeister’s intimate paintings point to the blissful contentment of canine company.

Despite their domestication (honed over thousands of years of training and breeding to be man’s best friend), dogs are from wild extraction. The works of Deborah Snell, Jonny Hannah and Lucien Anderson highlight dogs animalistic stock. In Tim Southall’s etchings and prints, dogs roam free; running wild in forests, leaping over rivers and howling into the night – all without a human presence in site.

Tulani Hlalo’s textiles shine a light on quite how far human’s relationships with dogs has come. For years she has been interested in the pursuit of competitive dog grooming. Highly staged tournaments allow groomers to showcase their creative abilities, turning dogs (often poodles) into sculpted works of art. Groomers are judged on their ambition and creativity, and use colour dyes and dramatic cuts to turn the animals into strange decorative creations. The work on show, Winner, 2008, depicts the winning effort from that year – a garish Sesame Street creation.

From Bewick’s early depictions of dogs, Hlalo’s rugs sit at the other end of the spectrum – depicting our ultra modern fascination with them. A fascination that has run for millennia, and will do for many more.