Join us to celebrate the launch of Ray's Sheds, a new publication by photographer and Kestle Barton Associate Artist Jem Southam, bringing together more than four decades of engagement with the work of sculptor Ray Exworth. The afternoon will include a talk in the studio, drinks in the garden, and the opportunity to view Sarah Gillespie's exhibition Birded and Eyed (20 June - 6 September) in the gallery.
Jem first visited the studios of sculptor Ray Exworth in 1983. That visit began a friendship with Ray and his wife Susie, and a photographic engagement that has continued for more than four decades. Following Ray's death in 2015, Jem returned to make a more extensive photographic record of the extraordinary sheds where Ray had worked in relative seclusion for almost fifty years.
Ray's Sheds is the culmination of that long relationship. Combining Jem's photographs with fifteen short texts, the book offers a rare insight into the remarkable spaces where Ray Exworth created his vast and intricate sculptures from plaster, wood, metal, textiles, paper and found objects. Much of this work is unlikely ever to leave the sheds, making the book an exceptional opportunity to encounter an artist whose work has remained largely unseen.
Kestle Barton has been closely connected with this story for many years, presenting exhibitions of Ray Exworth's work and Jem Southam's photographs in 2011 and 2016, followed by Naomi Frears' moving film Ray and Susie in 2021. We hope you will join us for this special book launch event.
The afternoon will include drinks in the garden and a talk in the studio. All are welcome.