Hm, the Tate Gallery, St. Ives, Cornwall and, verily, the Barbara Hepworth Museum. True tourist magnets but how much of St. Ives do they represent? As some of you may be aware, St. Ives has a tradition of being infested by arty types of various ilks. A few of them, such as Barbara Hepworth, Bernard Leach, Alfred Wallis, Ben Nicholson, were moderately talented.

And, of course, there are the legendary Sloop Sketcher himself, Hyman Segal, and the beer-drinking, rolly-smoking, clay-slinging, Sloop Meat Draw Mystery Prize-winning, pottery guru, Trevor Corser.

Unfortunately, these few successful individuals seem to have created a precedent in the minds of the more feeble-witted wannabe 'artists' who appear to have concluded that this means that coming to St. Ives will somehow imbue them with the same god-like talents of a Segal or a Corser.

WRONG!

So, if there any of you still out there contemplating a tour of duty in St. Ives please be aware that there is nothing as UNORIGINAL in St. Ives as being an 'original artist'. Moreover, the resident 'original artists' will almost certainly take you round the back of Smeaton's Pier and give you a good shoeing for trying to muscle in on their pitch!

Be warned there are far more 'original artists' in St. Ives than there are gullible tourists to buy their tat so competition is fierce, furious and possibly fatal.

Meanwhile, here are some randomly-selected links. I have no idea what they are about, whether they are any good or what, if any, practical purpose they serve.

In other word, they have been picked on the basis that they possess the three defining criteria of modern art!

http://www.artefact.co.uk/g-wcc.htm

http://www.cornwall-calling.co.uk/culture/tate_gallery__st_ives_cornwall.htm

Oh, one other point of interest. One of the more significant works of St. Ives artists is actually outside, rather than inside, the Tate. Almost immediately next to the Tate is Barnoon Cemetery, in which you will find the grave of Alfred Wallis.

Take Me To The Tate

Take Me To The Hepworth

Show Me How To Get From The Tate To The Hepworth

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