Shedding light on North as art moves South

A stone's throw from the Royal Academy in Mayfair, the heart of London's fashionable West End, lies Cork Street.

In this famous and most genteel of London streets, a revolution is happening.

Ever since Colin Welland famously told an Oscars audience that "the British are coming", similar announcements have been made more quietly. But it would appear that a group of artists can declare confidently to the London art world that the Tykes are coming.

This month sees two exhibitions at a London gallery, with the work on show exclusively that of Northern artists.

Elemental North brings together the work of 12 artists from Yorkshire and the North East and the gallery is also running an exhibition of work by Staithes artist Len Tabner alongside.

Messum's has not only given over its two Cork Street galleries to artists from the North – it has rented a third for the exhibitions.

Kristian Day, of Messum's, says he hopes it will be instrumental in shifting the focus on to Northern artists in an art world which is deeply London-centric.

"It is a very significant exhibition for Northern artists, that I hope will lead to a reappraisal of artists from the region and their work by galleries and collectors here in London," he says.

Messum's is famous for having played an instrumental part in developing the reputation of artists from the St Ives and South West area and also from the British east coast during its 40-year history.

When the gallery chooses to focus on a particular school of artists, the prices invariably go skyward. It expects to follow the trend with this latest exhibition.

Camilla Purdon, also of Messum's, says: "The gallery has been around since the Sixties and has really pioneered a lot of exhibitions like this. David Messum, our chairman, has been on a bit of a pilgrimage to the North, meeting artists and galleries, to bring together this very strong exhibition."

Elemental North features the work of a dozen artists, from Saltburn-based Margaret Sheilds to Cumbria's Percy Kelly. It also includes Yorkshire-based artists Pam Poskitt, William Tillyer, Peter Hicks, Peter Brook, Lilian Colbourn, and Peter Sarginson. Many of the North East artists also have connections to Yorkshire, such as Joe Cole, who trained in Scarborough and Karen Wallbank, who lives in Cumbria, but was born and grew up in Leeds.

Kristian Day grew up in Bilton, near Hull, before going on to study art history in London and returning North to teach at Hull University. He quit academia and has worked with Messum's for the past eight years. As a Yorkshireman in London, he is acutely aware of the gravitational pull of the capital on the art world.

He says: "You do spend quite a bit of time fighting against the stereotype that Northerners don't all wear flat caps and keep pigeons in the back yard. Although it was highly amusing when the Elemental North exhibition was being pulled together and we saw that one of the star paintings was going to be one that featured a man in a flat cap tending his pigeons.

"I really do think this is quite a significant and important exhibition for the North, not just because it gives an opportunity for the work to be seen of some really great artists from the region who have until now been relatively undiscovered. But I think it will also cause a reassessment of the work coming out of the North.

"Down here I bang the drum loud and clear for the North, but there are many people who just don't consider the art coming out of the North."

Len Tabner has the honour of being selected for his own solo exhibition.

He is based on one of the county's highest points, on a cliff above Staithes, and his work is deeply connected to the landscape around him.

"I respond to what is around me and this is the land and the sea. I respond to the environment, so that means getting out in to it," he says.

He says: "I have a lot of respect for the artists who are showing in Elemental North."

So will a much wider audience in the future, if everything goes to plan.

Elemental North and Len Tabner can be seen at Messum's, Cork Street, London, to Feb 6.

Exhibition highlights

William Tillyer: Born in Middlesborough in 1938 he studied under Joe Cole at the Middlesborough College of Art. He moved to Westwood Farm in North Yorkshire in 1987, where he still works from.

Peter Hicks: Works from a studio perched above the village of Danby in the Esk Valley. Born in Osgodby, East Yorkshire, Hicks has lived and worked most of his life in North Yorkshire. The work on show at the Messum's exhibition reflects a move towards a more minimal form of expression for the painter.

Pam Poskitt: Born on a farm near Scarborough, Poskitt

left school at 15 and was encouraged to go to Scarborough Art School by her mother. Her chief influence was expressionist Edvard Munch. From 1951 to 1956, she taught at art school in Scarborough and has shown widely. Above is her work Rich Earth.