Gill Hedley is a writer, an independent curator and a consultant on contemporary visual arts. This is an archive of projects, exhibitions, events and news she has been involved with. These stories are re-used elsewhere on the site as notes. Divided by year - please use the menu below:
Both the winning and commended entries were a delight in
completely different ways. The jurors were very impressed by the winner.
It is both learned and engaging – which can be difficult to pull off in a scholarly work of history.
The author has left no stone unturned, opening up old letters and giving readers
a real flavour of the period, from the vicissitudes of daily life to banter between architects.
We learn huge amounts in every chapter, and the reader has the sense the author has visited
every archive and building, but hasn't got bogged down in detail.
The writing retains an appealing pace and lightness of tone.
more ...
Hedley's references and interest in the contemporary relevance of the 18th century work are great; she has a keen understanding of how people might want to interpret the buildings today. The book also has a clever structure, with impressions of Flitcroft's personal attributes at the beginning and end framing a nicely organized presentation of his work in the middle. And it is a handsome object, beautifully laid out and illustrated, making it very accessible. To deliver something like this is a serious challenge, and she's done it brilliantly.
You will need
Adobe Acrobat to view PDF documents.