The eagle-eyed might have noticed the number 30½ appear on a doorway on the former Barclays Bank on the High Street.
On 3 July the mystery was explained: the Kate MacGarry gallery in Shoreditch, East London, has a pop-up exhibition, The Air of Ideas, a rotating group of gallery artists, installed across two ground-floor rooms of the 18th century house including Francis Upritchard, Marcus Coates, Rio Kobayashi, Renee So and Patricia Treib.
The exhibition features work by local artists. “My gallery is based in East London but I live near Rye so decided to bring a pop-up exhibition of artists I represent here this summer,” says Kate. “I have put a special emphasis on artists that live and work nearby including Lisa Milroy, her studio is in Lydd-on-Sea, Mark Corfield Moore in Hastings and special guests Fiona Banner who has a studio in Rye, and John Banting who lived in Rye in 1950s.
“I plan to rotate works and will send updates on Instagram throughout the run. We are open Fridays and Saturdays 12 – 4pm until the end of August.”
The exhibition is titled The Air of Ideas – a quote by Edith Wharton (a friend of Lamb House resident Henry James) from her 1920 novel, The Age of Innocence, “The air of ideas is the only air worth breathing.”
Open Friday and Saturday, 12 noon – 4pm or by appointment at mail@katemacgarry.com
Image Credits: With thanks to Frith Street Gallery and John Swarbrooke Fine Art , Angus Mill .