“Simon Lewty & The Nereids” is a collaboration between The Lettering Arts Trust and Art First. The exhibition features major works by Simon Lewty, and is accompanied by individual depictions of the mythical Nereids created by 26 artists represented by the Lettering Arts Trust.
Simon Lewty’s mastery of the calligraphic, the palimpsest, graffiti and scripts of many kinds, is matched by his generation of poetic content. His hand-written texts combine with figurative imagery to create a dream like reality. In recent years, a group of drawings have emerged, inspired by his love of Greek mythology.
The Nereids, in particular, captured Lewty’s imagination. They are known as the fifty benign sea goddesses which symbolised everything that is beautiful and kind about the sea.
Psamathe by Simon Lewty – acrylic and red ink on tissue
The Nereids – Galatea to Nesaie – by Simon Lewty
Presented below the Lewty collection is a series of smaller art works created by lettering artists depicting individual Nereids rendered in different media – stone carving, calligraphy, letterpress, etching and woven textiles. Some of the foremost names in the lettering arts are contributing work to this show. They include Alan Kitching, Annet Stirling, Charlotte Howarth, Peter Furlonger and Sue Hufton – to name but a few.
Limnorei – Nereid of the salt marshes, by Louise Tiplady (carving in stone)
Amphitrite – Nereid queen of the seas, by Mark Noad – painted plaster mounted on board
The Nereids, interpreted by the lettering artists each measure 30 x 30 mm. They will be displayed below the Lewty works to emulate a classical freize.
Kymothoe – Nereid of the running waves, by Alan Kitching (letterpress)
Thoe – Nereid of swift voyage or moving waves, by Jane Raven – letter cutting in stone
Sometimes Lewty coats tissue paper in white gesso onto which he applies softly inked lettering. The engaging but illegible lettering he uses in some of his work is known as tachygraphy, or Shelton’s shorthand – used in the 17th Century by civil servants, in particular by Samuel Pepys for his diaries, and mastered by Lewty over a period of years. These elegant mysterious marks serve as a secret language, in this case – ‘a kind of wordless sea-language’ which he developed in 2019 as an evocation of the voices of the Nereids, ‘who may cry in the murmurs of the waves’.
Simon Lewty & The Nereids runs from late May to 4th July 2021.
On Thursday 24 June at 6.30pm, Charles Freeman – cultural historian and author – will give a talk: ‘The Greek mind – passing on tradition in the ancient world’ exploring how ideas were communicated. Tickets £10. Details available online at www.letteringartstrust.org.uk
The Lettering Arts Centre, Snape Maltings, Snape, Suffolk IP17 1SP