2 April to 25 June 2022
The Humberston Fitties is a historic area of holiday cottages and dwellings just west of Cleethorpes promenade in Northern Lincolnshire. Declared a conservation area in 1996, the area has been in use as a holiday resort since the 1920s. There are over 320 chalets and the organic development of the site on the former salt-marsh area along the Humber Estuary, has led to a wide variety of distinctive buildings built on small adjacent plots, from ramshackle shacks to traditional holiday chalets and architect designed modern constructions.
This exhibition is a collaboration between painter Judith Tucker and poet Harriet Tarlo, taking the ‘Fitties’ and its communities as subject. The exhibition documents both this unique location, and work which took place with the residents and guests through a series of creative workshops. The result is a series of stunning figurative paintings, accompanied by evocative poetry, inspired by this unique location.
The exhibition responds to a part of North East Lincolnshire’s coast that might be considered the epitome of a landscape in which the human and non-human are interconnected and entwined. It is a place that invites questions about what is natural, and what is unnatural. ‘Fitties’ originally means saltmarshes.
This exhibition is supported by The National Lottery through funding from Arts Council England.
About the artists:
Judith Tucker (artist) and Harriet Tarlo (poet) have worked extensively on art/poetry collaborations exploring threatened natural/cultural landscapes. Their joint artists’ books are published by Wild Pansy Press. Tarlo’s Gathering Grounds (Shearsman Press) collects the longer poems. Their collaborative work have been included in many exhibitions including
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- Where We Live, Millennium Galleries, Sheffield 2022
- Beyond Other Horizons: Contemporary paintings made in Britain and Romania, Iasi Palace of Culture, Iasi Romania 2020
- Low Lying: painting and poetry from the saltmarsh, Westminster Reference Library, London 2019
- Radical Landscapes The Plough Arts Centre, Devon 2019
- Trespass! Sheffield Institute of Arts Gallery 2018
- Outfalls selected for First Biennial Sino-British Contemporary Art Exhibition in Yantai Art Museum and Yantai City Art Museum, China 2018
- More in Common, APT Gallery, London 2018
- Neverends: art, text and music in place at Muriel Barker Gallery, Fishing Heritage Centre, Grimsby 2017.
Linked Events:
Conversation Café with Harriet Tarlo and Judith Tucker (Online Event)
3 June 7-8pm FREE
Join poet Harriet Tarlo and artist Judith Tucker online from the comfort of your home for conversation about their recent project and exhibition ‘Hideaway: painting and poetry from the saltmarsh’. Visit our ArtTickets page to book your place and receive your link to join the Conversation Cafe.
Hideaway: Talk, Art and poetry workshop
26 May 1-4pm FREE
Come and join artist, Judith Tucker and poet, Harriet Tarlo on a free creative talk/workshop. You will have a chance to hear about their recent Hideaway project and to experiment yourself with poetry, art or both. All materials provided. Advance booking essential through ArtTickets.
Images:
(top) Judith Tucker, Night Fitties: a full day out for next to nothing, oil on linen, 120 x 160 cm, 2022
(middle) Judith Tucker, Dark marsh: silvered out oil on linen, 120 x 160 cm, 2021 is on loan from the collection of Nicholas Bull and Michelle Harrison.
(bottom) Harriet Tarlo talking to environmental experts at Humberston Fitties Beach
