Brian Clarke - Stained Glass Exhibition

This was my first visit to Damien Hirst’s gallery and it was to see Brian Clarke’s stained glass exhibition called A Great Light. The Newport Street gallery is in Vauxhall and is an amazing building. That was my first impression on entering. The tall rooms are bright and flooded with light from above and from the sides.

The first room you enter is the one containing the largest piece titled Ardath. It’s 42 square metres of hand blown glass and the colours have a beautiful intensity. The glass is lit from behind by two windows. The design is described by the gallery as flowering meadow motifs. It definitely has the Wow! factor.

Ardath, a huge stained glass piece of art by Brian Clarke. On show at the Newport Street Gallery in London

Section of Brian Clarke’s stained glass artwork titled Ardath, lit from behind by two windows. On show at the Newport Street Gallery.

The next room is even taller than the first and stretches over two floors. The huge work titled Stroud Ossuary is made up of 21 large panels. The best feature of this room is that when you move on to the upper galleries you can see the top of this artwork from a mezzanine level in this room.

The Stroud Ossuary is a 21 panel piece of stained glass art by Brian Clarke. On show in his solo exhibition at the Newport Street Gallery in London.

Each of the panels is extremely detailed and I learned a new term which is Ben Day dots. The brochure reads “Each skull is etched, stained and fired with Ben Day dots, openly declaring the contemporaneity of the work.” If, like me, you’re new to the term, look it up and there’s lots of great information online.

Detail from the Stroud Ossuary stained glass artwork by Brian Day, on show at the Newport Street Gallery, London.

In the same room, set back against the wall, is a more traditional looking piece based on English heraldry. Following this exhibition, this work will go on permanent show at the HENI Gallery in Soho.

HENI the Eighth (2023) stained glass panel by Brian Clarke. On show at the Newport Street Gallery.

I’ve included a photo of the piece in place so that you can see the scale from floor to ceiling and also one taken symmetrically to see more of the detail.

Looking carefully at this one I could see there were also Ben Day dots in the detail, which gave a contradictory pop art look to it when viewed close up.

Close up of the artwork HENI the Eighth (2023) stained glass panel by Brian Clarke. On show at the Newport Street Gallery.

The next gallery was very dark and nothing was really calling out to me so I’ve realised that I passed through that one without taking any photos.

Moving upstairs, the rooms are once again flooded with light from a huge glazed roof. This gallery was very, very different in style with images of people for the first time. Titled the Study for Caryatids (2002), they’re all of young men on the beach. At first glance they look like conventional images but they’re on glass so of course that’s very different.

Two of the Studies for Caryatids by stained glass artist Brian Clarke, on show at the Newport Street Gallery.

Reading the brochure I found that they’ve each been made of 3 glass panels fused together. When you look closely, you can see that each of the three panels is made up entirely of one colour of dot. In the one pictured below, the dots are yellow, blue and black. It seemed unbelievable and like a kind of magic when you looked at them from a distance but close up, you can see how it’s done. Having said that, seeing how it’s been done and trying to figure out the techniques required to produce that are two very different things and it still seems like magic!

Close up detail of one of the panels from the Studies for Caryatids by stained glass artist Brian Clarke, on show at the Newport Street Gallery.

Moving on and the next room was filled with folding screens. Each one entirely different from the others, showing a wide ranging creativity. My thought was how amazing it would be to have one of these in your home, to be able to watch the different light filtering through it and seeing the differences as the seasons change.

A variety of stained glass screens on show at the Newport Street Gallery. Part of an exhibition by artist Brian Clarke.

On the left is a stained glass screen in purple, titled The Illusion of Logic (2017) on show at the Newport Street Gallery. Part of an exhibition by artist Brian Clarke.

A close up detail of a stained glass screen in purple, titled The Illusion of Logic (2017) on show at the Newport Street Gallery. Part of an exhibition by artist Brian Clarke.

The building is a huge part of the experience here I would say. It was extremely pleasant to be there, looking at beautiful art. The exhibition lived up to it’s name of A Great Light. I would definitely come back here for future exhibitions.

On the practical side, the gallery has a mailing list, so I’ve signed up for that. This exhibition was free to enter - amazing value for money! You were give a small brochure to accompany the exhibition and it was concise, logical, informative and good to look at it. Practically perfect in every way! The gallery is normally open every day except Mondays. It’s in an interesting part of London, one I’m not familiar with. It doesn’t appear to have a cafe or any eating facilities, they’re not mentioned on the website and I didn’t go out by the exit, so I can’t say if there was anything there. Since I really enjoyed the exhibition I walked back through when I reached the end so that I could see everything from the opposite viewpoint.

The exhibition lasts until 24 September 2023.

The large black area on the photo of the building below is a huge screen apparently. A passer by who lives in the area was telling me about it. He wasn’t sure if it had been turned on yet. When it’s lit, it’ll be seen from the overhead train lines opposite so it’s sure to be an eyecatcher and a big talking point.

The exterior of the Newport Street Gallery in Newport Street, London

And finally, I couldn’t finish up without mentioning the two beautiful staircases running at each end of the gallery.

Part of a staircase in the Newport Street Gallery in Newport Street, London

I hope you enjoyed this quick run through of this wonderful exhibition.

I’m an architectural photographer based in London. To contact me about this blog or anything else, use the contact form on my website LorenBrand.com.