Human, All Too Human

‘HUMAN, ALL TOO HUMAN’ – AN EXHIBITION OF WORKS BY ROBERT LENKIEWICZ

The Royal William Yard in Plymouth will be hosting a major exhibition of works by Robert Lenkiewicz (1941-2002) between 3 – 28 June. The show will mark the ten-year anniversary of his death, and will explore the artist’s life-long interest in the ideas of German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche, whose book ‘Human, All Too Human’ gives the exhibition its title.

In recent years, growing recognition from a national audience, with increasing international interest in Europe and America, has established Lenkiewicz as a serious and increasingly relevant 20th century British painter.  Sponsored by The Somerville Gallery, the exhibition will take advantage of two vacant units in the Mills Bakery building at Plymouth’s historic Royal William Yard, which is pioneering the Stonehouse and Millbay regeneration project with cultural events, and where visitors will also find a selection of thriving restaurants and cafes.

Francis Mallett, current Chair of The Lenkiewicz Foundation which has organised the exhibition, comments: “Lenkiewicz will always be remembered in Plymouth as he documented the life of the city and its people for so many years.  He was a genuine outsider and radical, who cared less about the opinion of the art critic than that of the man-in-the-street. His art is generous in its ability to communicate with ordinary people, who are little interested in the more fashionable world of contemporary art; it is democratic and humane but never sentimental. His paintings of the homeless and under-privileged in particular strike a very powerful chord in today’s difficult economic times. The Foundation believes the qualities of Robert Lenkiewicz’s work will become increasingly clear to a wider audience both here and further afield. Following the success of exhibitions in recent years at Bristol’s Royal West of England Academy, London’s Ben Uri Jewish Museum of Art and Torre Abbey in Torquay, this show will be an opportunity (the first since Plymouth Museum in 2009) for the people of Plymouth to see the work locally before it moves on to the first international exhibition, planned for Berlin early next year.”

The exhibition will run from 3rd June at The Royal William Yard (Mills Bakery Building) and will continue until 28th June 2012. Open daily 10.30 am to 7.30pm.

A series of programmed events will accompany the show, with an introduction to the exhibition, lectures, guided tours and artists’ talks already scheduled. Dates and times will soon be available on the website and promotional posters.

Sunday 24 June 2.00–4.00pm
A talk and painting demonstration by artist Louise Courtnell: 'A tonal approach to painting'.
An opportunity to observe Lenkiewicz's tonal method of painting demonstrated and explained by one of his most accomplished former pupils.