Art - Dialectic at Old Market St Garage

I meet Christine Hall and Wenda Bradley outside the large warehouse in North Street which until recently was used as the premises for Market Lane Garage and was earlier a part of the Phoenix ironworks. The two women, both art educators, have formed a new company, Artemis, and are busy fine-tuning their first project, Dialectic, which will take place in the site over the next three weeks as part of the Artwave Festival. “The space is an integral part of the project,” says Christine. “Throughout the three weeks two artists will be exhibiting here, C. Morey de Morand and Julie Wood.” Morey de Morand’s work has already been hung around the walls: large colourful tableaux, some of which were inspired by Lewes in general, and the industrial site in particular. Her work is hard to describe. Abstract, certainly, and very linear. Colours often clash: orange against sky blue; red against green. Lots of blocks, and bands, and stripes, and barcode type emblems. Some of the older work has textiles hanging on painted canvases. The whitewashed factory walls really set the works off; it’s strangely exciting seeing art in such an industrial setting.

Local artist Julie Wood is known for her influential ceramics but here is showing photographs based on structure and patterns in nature taken from the area surrounding the site. “She is fascinated with fractals, and chaos theory,” says Wenda, showing me a colourful abstract-looking image. “Her large prints are sensitive and look fantastic”.

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