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 throughout the east of England. Some maintain a connection with East Anglia working with the landscape, while living elsewhere. They celebrate the coast and our rural surroundings, bringing about a closer understanding of the countryside, encouraging a greater consideration for nature, as its conservation becomes ever more prescient to our time.

C&C display original work in group and solo exhibitions that show the depth of creative talent in the eastern counties

Creative practitioners have access to more generous workshop and studio space in East Anglia than in the cities. The accumulation of the region's 'homegrown' talent to particular locations has attracted others from metropolitan centres, notably London, that historically have been the wellspring of creative production. While this upturn in creative activity among rural communities represents a welcome development, there are still relatively few spaces within the area to show the results of their labour.

The dearth of suitable display space is one of several issues that concern artists and makers in more marginal locations. Audience development, lack of facilities for production methods can also make it difficult to succeed in the relative isolation of the countryside. Creatives have to be resourceful and self-reliant. These issues while not restricted to the East Anglian region are common for those working creatively in rural locations in 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 local audiences 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.

Public sector galleries and museums in Norfolk, Suffolk and Essex are a rich resource for creatives based there, however they are restricted in what they can do

The east of England is one of several regional locations that have benefitted from incoming creative producers in recent years, and while fragmented by distance, there are a handful of publicly funded galleries and museums that have contemporary programmes. 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 have regularly displayed contemporary work by artists and makers from the eastern region.

In recent years Snape Maltings, near Aldeburgh on the Suffolk coast and the Castle Museum and Gallery in Norwich have also hosted contemporary exhibitions. The Castle Museum is in the process of completing a renovation that will include new public spaces to display its historic collections. However, its capacity for putting on contemporary shows will remain as it has been for now. Snape Maltings fairs better, they host regular exhibitions by Suffolk artists and the Maltings has held regular open call exhibitions of East Anglian artists that are well supported. The venue was established by the composer Benjamin Britten and singer Peter Pears, and is reknowned internationally for it's annual Music Festival. While their visual art activities are well-established and responsive to local audiences, they are complimentary to its outstanding concert programme.

Gainsborough House in Sudbury, Suffolk, has a RIBA award-winning new gallery, and a corresponding exciting new programme, which includes more contemporary displays along side its historic exhibitions.

All these publicly funded organisations have worked hard to maintain their profiles and encourage engagement with their audiences. And yet, despite their success, their funding streams have been dramatically reduced over the last decade. What little funding there is, has been dependent upon achieving measureable outcomes and programming exhibitions with an educational remit. This disproportionately suits certain types of work. Not necessarily representative of the creative work made within the area.

Commercial galleries cater to a seasonal market - C&C operate outside these limits by moving around the region and encouraging engagement from new audiences

Many of the commercial galleries that promote artists and makers within the eastern counties, particularly along the North Norfolk and Suffolk coast, embrace the tourist market. While this makes commercial sense, it means their exhibition season is relatively short and restricted to the summer, with perhaps a bit of a 'selling show' before Christmas. The relative dominance of the transitory tourist market actually seems to deter more decerning art collectors. And those who are new to starting a collection are put off by the limited range of work they see available. There are a handful of galleries, that run more interesting programmes. But these are restricted to 'honey-pot' locations like Holt in North Norfolk or Woodbridge and Aldeburgh on the Suffolk coast, where prices are at a premium. These galleries do an admirable job. Unfortunately their high running costs for operating a 'showroom' raises the price point of the work they sell. This in turn influences the type of work they show, and they do not encourage buyers with smaller budgets.

To make up for these missing components in an otherwise patchy arts infrastructure, and to provide a more reliable platform for artists and makers based in East Anglia, C&C have been encouraging of a dedicated audience and younger collectors who want to live with original new art and handmade objects. By doing this they hope to raise audience expectations, moving around the region, showing the better quality work produced in the region and to display it to its best advantage without being teathered to a single location.

To enable better reach C&C use conventional marketing techniques and social media profiles to gain attention for exhibitions. Through this approach C&C's projects can be sequenced and tailored to the way artists and makers operate today, providing a curated context to show their work, connecting with a broad and diverse audience through real life displays or online.

You may have already visited a C&C pop-up exhibition without realising it...

C&C's pop-up 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 beachside art gallery, the top floor loft-space in a converted warehouse store, or an ancient chalk and flint barn, visitors are attracted by the experience and then stay for the art.

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.