When I visited the Manor House Gallery and Museum in Ilkley in order to get a preliminary idea of the space that would be available for my exhibition, it didn’t appear to be all that large.* Since that first impression my estimation of the space that will be at my disposal, and the possible number of my pictures I could put into it, has oscillated wildly.
I went through my record books identifying the pictures I thought probably matched the theme of the show (About time). Then I was sent a very useful diagram of the wall-space, by the curator. It seems that I will have getting on for 30 linear metres of wall to play with. At the moment I’m caught in a kind of see-saw motion of optimism-pessimism. On the whole I’m coming down on the side of believing that I will have to leave out some of the pictures I originally hoped to include. There are, however, moments of wild optimism when I convince myself that there will be acres of space.
Consequently I have decided that the only course available to me is to get some sheets of old wall-paper and draw a scale model of the display panels. Then I’ll need to cut scale models of the pictures and try fitting them into the space available. It seems a lengthy and tedious process, but I can’t think of an alternative that is likely to be effective. Otherwise I’m going to turn up at the gallery in six weeks’ time with a car-full (or two!) of pictures, and find myself engaged in the classic English pastime of “fitting a quart into a pint pot” …. or if I get the call wrong, finding myself with a load of wall-space wondering what to hang on it. Wish me luck!
- The exhibition will run from 15 to 25 April.