ROYAL ACADEMY OF ART Summer Show 2015

Perhaps the magic of this painting is that it suggests a story, yet it is the opposite of a story. Words in a book move patiently in line and come to an end. You close the book. Here you can look as and when and where you like. Silence, mystery and space. Nothing is straight forward.

You cross the road which runs along the bottom of the painting and find a narrow lane winding up and away out of sight. It's lined with cottages which look onto greenery, a copse and a field. It could be anywhere. On the right is a small boy in blue, standing in the shade, safely on the pavement. Why is he so still?

But centre right is the ghost house.The door faces us, a door that's closed. The house is dreaming of the past that is still present, still dominating that corner, grander than the cottages perhaps, weighed down with bricks and mortar. Perhaps it's listening to the chatter inside.

This witty and gracious picture is tickling our dreams about houses we have known. Memories ease themselves into our consciousness. A street corner in Hammersmith with mown grass, a park seat and a small electricity sub station, was once a three storey end-of-terrace house. Now the spot lives on in the memories of old men who think back affectionately to the years they enjoyed the bomb-site-cum-play-ground. We once moved into a house on a corner which won architectural awards in the 70s. It was demolished last year:it was so shoddily built it was unsafe. It has now shrunk to a life on shelves of architects' plans and blueprints, press cuttings about the Award, sheaves of litigation, and the sounds of the families and neighbours who once moved and lived and had their being there.

© Yvonne Craig Inskip

LEWES LIVE LITERATURE Book Talk 2007

The title comes from the fact that most of the paintings in the book are based on things seen or imagined on the short walk between the artist's home and studio in the centre of the town. They combine an intense, almost surreal, sense of place with a forensic eye for the telling detail.

"I am sensitive to layers of narrative and experience, and because I have been in or around Lewes, on and off, since my schooldays, many of my personal layers have accumulated here.

… I am aware that I move around the place, often, in a state of almost hallucinatory immersion. It is possible, like William Blake, to stare at a knot of wood until one becomes frightened of it. There are shadows, strange patches of luminosity, weird flints in the walls and gesticulating trees which, equally, can revert to familiarity when the light or the wind changes. The things one thinks one sees can outnumber those which may really be there.”

© Peter Messer

ARTEMIS ARTS Summer 2016

Artemis Arts marked the end of the Gallery with an exhibition ‘Industry and Arts - A Story of Lewes’ on June 24-July 3rd 2016 11-5pm. Christine and Wenda will be exhibiting photos, film, recordings and artefacts about the important Phoenix Ironworks founded in 1832 by Mr Every. Some of it was from their original Lewes Phoenix project which began in 2008 but they are hoping to collect more information during the course of the exhibition and invite anyone who worked at the Phoenix or East Sussex Engineering to come along and share their stories.

Artemis Arts have shown work by contemporary artists such as Lewes' own Peter Messer in a variety of settings and have provided many opportunities for local children, students and the community to experience and be challenged by the work of the wide range of artists who have used the Foundry Gallery. The first exhibition ‘Dialectic’ was opened by the famous Lewesian Nobel Prize winner Sir Harry Kroto who has agreed to exhibit some paintings for our last show! Work by some of the artists who have taken part since 2006 will also be exhibited together with films by Mick Hawksworth and a performance of the Phoenix Cantata composed by Helen Glavin and sung by the Everyman Ensemble and the Paddock Singers.

THE FINE ART COMPANY

The Fine Art Company Company fulfills orders for prints of Peter Messer's original painitngs. The Fine Art Company's Messer prints are produced on 225gsm archival quality fine art paper in a hand signed and numbered limited edition run of 100.

The Fine Art Company offers a unique, carefully selected collection of Limited Edition Prints. Perfect as a gift or addition to your home or office wall, these beautiful fine art prints are produced to the highest quality (mostly by the artist themselves in their studio) and are individually hand signed and numbered by the artist. Once an edition has sold out, no further copies are issued making them highly collectible and sought after.

KEIZER FRAMES Spring 2016

Keizer Frames offers a comprehensive picture framing service for all types of art. We specialise in contemporary framing for artists and galleries but welcome any type of enquiry. As well as providing hand-finished frames, we stock an extensive range of mouldings to suit any project and budget.

The Keizer Frames Gallery exhibits a wide range of original art with a changing programme of shows throughout the year. Peter Messer's "Unconsidered Trifles", an exhibition of smaller tempura paintings devoted to disjointed, inconsequential subject matter, was there in early 2016.

PADDOCK STUDIOS

Paddock Studios are housed in lovely old timbered buildings with a beautiful garden behind. The fully equipped studios are close to the centre of Lewes, hidden in a back lane below the castle. We run classes for adults at affordable prices – mornings, afternoons, and evenings 5 days a week, plus daytime workshops at weekends and summer schools during July to September. Subjects include drawing and painting (in all media), clay modelling, print making and mosaics.

There are also untutored groups for more experienced members, some using models for life or portraiture. Members are entitled to exhibit and sell work at our annual exhibitions and attend our inspiring lectures, which are also open to members of the public. Studios are also let to and used daily by artists creating a lively and social artistic community. Local artist Peter Messer has his studio here.

MILLINERY WORKS ANNUAL EXHIBITION OF CONTEMPORARY BRITISH ART Summer 2007

The Millinery Works is a London-based antique dealer with 6,000 square feet of period Arts & Crafts furniture and art supplying a worldwide customer base.

Some of Peter Messer's work will be displayed at the Millinery Works Summer Group Show, 10th July - 28th August 2016.

The Millinery Works Gallery,
87 Southgate Road, Islington
London, N1 3JS UK

THE HOP GALLERY Autumn 2016

Peter Messer

Exhibition celebration and meet the artist: Friday 30 September, 6.30pm–8.30pm
Exhibition: Saturday 1 to Wednesday 12 October
Open: Tuesday to Saturday 11am–4.30pm / Sunday 12noon–4.30pm / Closed Monday

Peter’s paintings are mostly on a domestic scale, resolutely figurative and, by implication, narrative. He uses the historic medium of egg tempera which he prepares in the studio using egg yolk and raw pigment. The resulting paintings tend to be intense and meticulous, with a compellingly flat, arrested quality.

Peter has been busy painting new works for this show – a delight in the making.

Here's an illustrated talk called 'Elsewhere and Otherwise' that Peter gave about his paintings during his exhibition at The Hop Gallery, Lewes, UK, in 2014. Watch it - it's magical.

Every month LoveLewes produces a free downloadable podcast that takes a look at the forthcoming month’s events in Lewes. You can listen or download it from the LoveLewes website – and you can also get it delivered to your PC or smartphone automatically: via Apple iTunes: Search on iTunes for lovelewes.com, or via Stitcher.com: Download the iOS app or download the Android app, or via RSS: add LoveLewes to your feedreader software.

In 2016 Peter Messer will be interviewed in a LoveLewes podcast.