ABOUT US: C&C present contemporary and applied art in East Anglia

Contemporary and Country (C&C) present contemporary and applied art by artists and makers from East Anglia.

C&C's pop-up exhibitions frequently forego the art gallery setting, opting for architecturally stimulating, non-gallery spaces that encourage visitors to engage with art. The artists and makers C&C work with live and work in the towns and villages throughout the east of England. They celebrate their surroundings, bring about a closer understanding of the countryside, and encourage a greater consideration for nature, as its conservation and appreciation becomes ever more prescient to our time.

C&C display original work in group and solo exhibitions in architecturally stimulating settings

East Anglia has become a region where creative practitioners have access to more generous workshop and studio space than in the cities. The accumulation of talent to particular locations has attracted others from the metropolitan centres that traditionally have been the wellspring of creative production. While there has been an upturn in creative activity among rural communities, there are still relatively few spaces to show the results of their labour.

The dearth of suitable gallery space is one of several issues that concern artists and makers in more marginal locations. Resistance to audience engagement, lack of facilities for particular production methods can also be factors. These issues while not restricted to the East Anglian region are common for those working creatively in a rural economy in other regions throughout the UK.

C&C address the scarcity of viable display space by finding unusual buildings, both gallery and non-gallery settings to hold pop-up group and solo exhibitions. These feature original work configured around themes or a shared methodology, that attract an audience from rural communities, as well as visitors from London, Cambridge, Nottingham and Leicester. C&C's exhibition programme appeals to an informed, art savvy audience, driving attention toward contributing creatives, brokering sales and facilitating a greater understanding of the work on display.

Why is the east of England a seedbed for creatives?

The east of England is one of several regional locations that have benefitted from incoming creative producers in recent years. The region's economy is more diverse and resilient as a result. And while fragmented by distance, the east of England does have a handful of publicly funded museums and galleries based in several city centres within the region. Firstsite and the Minories in the centre of Colchester, and The Sainsbury Centre on the UEA campus, Norwich, have programmes that include national exhibitions and occasionally display work by artists with a connection to the region. These publicly funded organisations have worked hard to maintain their national profile. However, their funding streams are dependent upon measureable outcomes and artistic practice with an educational remit, which disproportionately suits a certain type of work, that is not necessarily representative of the creative work made within the region.

Many of the commercial galleries that promote artists and makers within the eastern counties, particularly along the coast cater to the tourist market. They restrict themselves to the conventions expected by their clientele. Which is why C&C have taken a different approach working across disciplines, displaying original work in unusual exhibition spaces not always associated with art.

Hand in hand with this approach C&C have been encouraging a dedicated audience for art and craft, raising the expectations of a larger audience by moving around the region, without being teathered to a single location. C&C use conventional marketing techniques and social media profiles to gain attention for exhibitions that individual artists can rarely muster, so they do get the work seen. C&C's projects are tailored to the way artists and makers operate today, providing a curated context to show their work to its best advantage connecting with a broad and diverse audience.

You may have already visited a C&C pop-up!

C&C's exhibitions have been held at Stapleford Granary, Cambridge, The Crypt Gallery, Norwich, The Fermoy Gallery and Shakespeare Barn at St. George's Guildhall, King's Lynn, Houghton Hall Stables, in West Norfolk, at BallroomArts, Aldeburgh, on the Suffolk coast, The Granary (Jarrolds), in Norwich, and at Creake Abbey near Burnham Market on the North Norfolk coast. For each of these installations the work was chosen to suit the circumstances of the built environment of each venue. Whether that was a purpose built art gallery, the top floor loft-space in a converted warehouse store, or an ancient chalk and flint barn.

C&C's exhibitions at the Stables Houghton Hall took place between 2017 and 2023. These were large group exhibitions featuring between 30 to 45 artists and makers with an East Anglian connection that were predicated upon a common theme. They were configured to support the solo exhibitions by acclaimed international artists: Richard Long, Henry Moore, Damien Hirst, Anish Kapoor, Tony Cragg, Ernst Gamperl, John Virtue, and Sean Scully.