Tony Cragg and Hilary Weston.Nolan Bryant/The Globe and Mail
Tony Cragg: Sculptures and Works on Paper opens at Windsor, Feb. 25, Florida
Opening recently in Florida was a new exhibition, Tony Cragg: Sculptures and Works on Paper. Sir Tony, though a foremost figure of the British art scene, has worked from his studio in Wuppertal, Germany, since the late 1970s. There he’s produced an oeuvre in bronze, steel and glass, undulating forms which rather beautifully draw connections between the human and material worlds. The site for this latest show is the Gallery at Windsor, an independent art space founded in 2002 on the grounds of Windsor, the private residential community in Vero Beach founded by Galen and Hilary Weston. Through the end of May, a selection of Cragg’s bronze, steel and glass sculptures, as well as a remarkable assortment of works on paper (many from Sir Tony’s personal collection) are being presented. The show, which is open to the public by appointment, extends to the outdoors too. Near to the gallery, a large-scale fibreglass sculpture, Castor and Pollux, 2015, is perched on a patch of manicured lawn. The evening of Feb. 25 saw an opening reception, attended by Windsor community members and international art world regulars including Dame Julia Peyton-Jones, senior global director at Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac, who was formerly co-director of London’s Serpentine Gallery, Thaddaeus Ropac Salzburg’s executive director Dr. Arne Ehmann, collectors Christine and Andrew Hall, who founded Hall Art Foundation, former AGO director Matthew Teitelbaum, who now serves as director of Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, Brady Roberts, executive director and CEO of the Vero Beach Museum of Art and Brett Sherlock, an international consultant for Chritsie’s. Following the reception, all invited guests made their way to a big white tent, where Tony Cragg took part in discussion with the curator Jon Wood, who was responsible for the exhibition and assembling the catalogue published to coincide with the show. Later, a smaller group of guests piled into their golf carts (the preferred mode of transport at Windsor) and whizzed over to the newly revamped Beach Club for a swish dinner held by Hilary Weston on the veranda. Much consideration was given to every detail from food and wine to flowers, lighting and, of course, seating, with couples chicly split between tables and arrangements made to spark new connections. To my left was Megan Porter, philanthropist and wife of the just retired CEO of Scotiabank, Brian Porter, who was seated at a table nearby. At the table too was Jon Rubinstein, who was key to the development of Apple’s iMac and iPod and now serves on Amazon’s board of directors, and his wife, software whiz Karen Richardson was also there. Elsewhere in the room; Charles Baillie, former CEO of TD Bank Financial Group, and his wife Marilyn; Robert Foster, CEO of Capital Canada Ltd. and his wife, arts champion Julia; Bonnie Brooks former president of the Hudson’s Bay Company, now a director and member of the executive committee of Chico’s Fas Inc.; journalist Eric Margolis; and author Rudyard Griffiths.
Bonnie Brooks, Robert and Julia Foster.Nolan Bryant/The Globe and Mail
Charles Baillie and Matthew Teitelbaum.Nolan Bryant/The Globe and Mail
Rudyard Griffiths.Nolan Bryant/The Globe and Mail
Megan Porter.Nolan Bryant/The Globe and Mail
Dame Julia Peyton-Jones.Nolan Bryant/The Globe and Mail
Cocktails before dinner.Nolan Bryant/The Globe and Mail