Thirty Talos artists feature in virtual exhibition

Richard Atkinson Willes introduces the launch of the Talos Art Gallery Virtual Open Exhibition

This summer, the Talos Art Gallery was due to open to the public, allowing visitors to see beautiful bronze pieces in the rolling green hills of Wiltshire.

Little did foundry and gallery owner, Richard Atkinson-Willes, realise when he began renovating the old dairy sheds in the former Broads Green Farm that the worst hurdle would not be the rain that would run down the yard and pool in the gallery, or the swifts that made the rafters their summer residence, but…well you know what 2020 had to offer.

Nonetheless, lockdown, physical distancing and even the illegalities of open galleries would not stop the launch of the Talos Art Gallery.

Instead, it went online.

On 25th July, some of the thirty artists who cast at Talos Art Foundry – including Judy Boyt, Desmond Fountain, Piers Mason, Robert Hunt and Matt Duke, from across England and France – gathered on Zoom to celebrate their pieces curated on the Talos Art Gallery website.

At the launch and in the artist’s portfolios behind the pieces are some wonderful stories, like the decorated war hero – a dog – who Amy Goodman sculpted after his death. Or the great respect former jockey William Newton had for his subject, Lester Piggott. Or Nicola Godden’s fascination with Icarus and the formidable artist wife of another subject, Sir Peter Scott. Many of these stories are also in the artist’s portfolios linked to by the exhibited pieces.

Now it’s been done, making an exhibition digital now seems far from the backup option, and the intention is for every exhibition to be simultaneously online. Nothing beats seeing those impressive bronze pieces in the gleaming waxed patina, but having a committed digital presence means geographical distance is no barrier to enjoying the work or attending a private view or launch. And, for the lucky ones who do attend in person, there’s lots more to enjoy later, or to help decide which sculpture would look best in the home, garden or workplace…