Once
upon a time,
before the town of Portsmouth was founded, this coastline was made
up of creeks, low-lying marsh and water. Over the centuries the coastline
has altered, but the town's position here on the south coast, its
proximity to the open sea, coupled with control of the harbour and
its entrance, have secured Portsmouth's place in history as one of
the world's great anchoranges and a rendevouz for British shipping
in times of war for over 800 years.
Object of the month: 08/03
August’s object is a mixed media painting titled "Under
the Outlet" c.1971-2 by Timothy Sainsbury (b.1935) featured
in our interactive exhibition ‘Senses’. The painting
uses many materials, including oil paint, polythene, wood and chicken
wire.
The artist was born in 1935 in Monmouthshire but moved to southern England. In 1965 he was Artist in Residence at Sussex University. He exhibited work widely in south eastern England, including in Portsmouth and Southampton, he was Head of Art at Weston Park Comprehensive School in Southampton when he made this work. At that time his paintings and constructions showed natural forms, particularly fish and birds in circumstances of stress. The stress he saw was caused by humans, including the contamination of the creatures' environment by oil, chemicals and rubbish. In works of this period humans are shown symbolically by their damaging and polluting artefacts such as the chicken wire in this work.
Museum accession number 300/1981
Past Months
Object of the month: 02/03, 10/03, 09/03, 08/03, 07/03, 06/03
