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A huge painting depicting workers in Newlyn and the plight of the Cornish
fishing industry, is to be displayed in St Peter's Church, Newlyn, during
the port's forthcoming Fish Festival.
The 17-and-a-half foot by seven-and-a-half foot painting on 43 separate
panels placed together, is the work of Mary Rowlands-Pritchard. The mammoth
piece of work is called "St Peter in Chains" and depicts the
tensions between people living and working in a dangerous trade and the
fishing industry itself which is of international ecological concern.
The work shows these conflicting themes clearly and compassionately in
visual terms and received widespread acclaim when it was first exhibited
at the Somerset Arts Week 2002.
The painting is being brought to Newlyn at the invitation of the vicar,
the Rev Robert Strange, and will be set up across the west wall gallery
at St Peter's Church, reaching right across the width of the building.
It can be viewed by the public on the day of the Newlyn Fish Festival,
Monday August 25 and through to September 24, during which children's
workshops based on visual issues raised by the work will be arranged with
local schools.
After the Newlyn show, the painting will be shown at Truro Cathedral
at the invitation of Canon John Halkes, former director of Newlyn Art
Gallery.
The artist, Mary Rowlands-Pritchard, lives between Newlyn and Somerset.
She studied as a mature student at the University of the West of England,
and has exhibited at a number of shows, including the Royal West Academy
Autumn Exhibition and Clifton Arts Summer Exhibition, among others.
article copyright © THE CORNISHMAN
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