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. Some live elsewhere, while maintaining a connection with the landscape of the East Anglian region. 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 and appreciation becomes ever more prescient to our time.

C&C display original work in group and solo exhibitions in unusual 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 'homegrown' talent to particular locations has attracted others from metropolitan centres, notably London, that 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 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 development, lack of facilities for production methods can also be factors in making 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 the eastern counties are a rich resource for creatives

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 few publicly funded galleries and museums that have programmes of quality. 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 displayed work by artists andnmakers from the eastern region they are in.

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 limited and so audiences remain small. Snape Maltings fairs better, they host regular exhibitions by Suffolk artists and it has held regular open call exhibitions of East Anglian artists that are well supported. But, the venue was established by the composer Benjamin Britten, and is reknowned internationally for it's annual Music Festival. Its visual art activities while of a high quality, are secondary to its outstanding concert programme.

Gainsborough House in Sudbury, Suffolk, has an RIBA award-winning new gallery, and a corresponding new programme, which will include 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 local and regional audiences. And yet, despite their success, their funding streams have been actually been reduced over the last decade, and what little funding there is, has been dependent upon measureable outcomes and art with an educational remit. This disproportionately suits certain types of work. Not necessarily representative of the creative work made within the area.

Private sector galleries and how C&C operate differently from these

Many of the commercial galleries that promote artists and makers within the eastern counties, particularly along the North Norfolk coast and Suffolk coast, cater to the tourist market. While they are commercially boyant, the downside of this is the relative dominance of the tourist market actually deters more decerning art collectors those new to starting a collection are put off by the limited range of work: depictions of beach huts, seagulls, and coastal landscapes. And while there are a handful of more reputable galleries, these are restricted to locations like Holt in North Norfolk or Aldeburgh on the Suffolk coast, where prices are at a premium, excluding many buyers.

To make up for these weaknesses in the arts infrastructure in the east, and provide a better platform for artists and makers based in East Anglia C&C have been encouraging of a dedicated audience and younger collectors who are more attuned to enjoying art and handmade objects. By doing this they hope to raise audience expectations, moving around the region, getting better quality work seen, without being teathered to a single location.

C&C achieve this by using conventional marketing techniques and social media profiles to gain attention for exhibitions that individual artists cannot achieve. This approach and their wealth of experience in marketing ensure the work gets 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 on display or online.

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