South Stoke Idyll is latest exhibition from Zimmer Stewart

James Stewart, who runs the gallery, is offering “an exhibition of contemporary art inspired by the unique location in a barn in a small farming hamlet nestling in the South Downs National Park, alongside the river Arun.”

It comprises paintings by Matt Bodimeade and Nick Bodimeade, with an abstract installation by Emma Hurst,

The private view on Thursday, May 23 (6-8pm) will have a brief introduction by Matt and Nick Bodimeade. Art and Agriculture on Friday, May 24 (6.30-9pm) will be a talk by Ryan Haydon and Adam Stead with a panel discussion including artists Matt Bodimeade, Nick Bodimeade and Emma Hurst, led by James Stewart – a ticketed event benefiting the Sussex Snowdrop Trust. Also coming up, on Sunday, May 26 is an event around the barn. Bring a picnic, enjoy the exhibition, also a chance to find out more about the farm. Sussex Snowdrop Trust will provide tea and cakes from 3-5pm.

James said: “A view from any window or indeed of a painting will be the same for each person, but they each perceive or take away a different meanings or interpretations depending on their own individual experiences and knowledge.”

Diana Levantine, chairman of the Sussex Snowdrop Trust, said: “We are delighted to be collaborating with the Zimmer Stewart Gallery on this exciting exhibition to help us raise vital funds and awareness about the support we give to local families that are caring for a child with a life threatening or terminal illness. As an art lover myself, I can appreciate that the art on display matches the stunning location of South Stoke.”

James added: “Both Matt and Nick Bodimeade have a strong connection to South Stoke, having spent their formative years working on the farm. They studied fine art in Sussex, live and have their studios within the Downs, Matt near Arundel and Nick near Lewes. Their work reflects and represents their view of the landscape around them, which most often is the agricultural land around them, land that has over centuries been shaped by man and the need to provide food.

“In most of Matt Bodimeade’s paintings there’s central motif: a wall, a track, a river or a railway. It is no coincidence that this division is often scythe- or sickle-shaped and seems to slice the landscape apart; the fields and woods suggest work, movement and energy, shaped like plough blades, discs or saw teeth on either side of the central divide.

“The artist invites you to stroll through the landscapes, stopping beside the flint wall or looking down a track to the river, enjoying the arrangement of colour and form, light and shade, rhythm and texture and deep, vertiginous perspectives. Composition is important.”