Truro museum show puts self-taught artists next to Alfred Wallis

A dog built from old wellington boots. A cat that vanished into a private collection for more than three decades. Tiny figures dressed in gum nuts and snail shells. This autumn, Cornwall Museum and Art Gallery in Truro is putting all of it in the same room as an Alfred Wallis harbour scene, and calling the whole thing one show.

An exhibition that answers to no category

Art Any Way is a collaboration between the museum, the national charity Outside In, which supports artists who face significant barriers to the art world, and Shallal, the Cornwall-based arts organisation that champions equity in creativity. The show brings together artists who blur traditional boundaries and defy categorisation, alongside pieces from the museum’s own collection, some dating back to the Renaissance, and works from the Schools Art Collection, which is owned by Cornwall Council and cared for by the museum.

Museum Co-Director Bryony Robins said the art exhibition offers “an eclectic range of artists who all offer us fresh and exhilarating approaches.” She added: “The thing that unites them is their compulsion to create by any means, resulting in an exhibition full of intriguing stories of human ingenuity as well as exuberant art.”

The museum’s own collection joins the show

Works held by the museum appearing in Art Any Way include paintings by Alfred Wallis, Bryan Pearce, John Emmanuel and Tony O’Malley.

📷Kemp, David; The Hound of Geevor (cannus stannus geevoritii); Royal Institution of Cornwall; http://www.artuk.org/artworks/the-hound-of-geevor-cannus-stannus-geevoritii-268274

A dog built from wellington boots

Also in the show is The Hound of Geevor (cannus stannus geevoritii), a dog-shaped figure made from rubber boots discovered in Geevor tin mine by the artist David Kemp, who died earlier this year.

A cat that disappeared for 34 years

The exhibition also features work by the artist Terry Shaul, held in a private collection. Terry’s work was the subject of a hit exhibition last year, when paintings by this previously undiscovered artist went on display for the first time in 34 years.

Miniature paintings on chewing gum

Molly Breton, Director of Outside In, called the partnership an exciting opportunity. “We know that our art world is poorer when we exclude certain aspects of creativity from our shared history and experience of art making,” she said. “Yet self-taught and non-traditional artists continue to face significant barriers to getting their work recognised. That is why we’re thrilled to be partnering with Cornwall Museum and Art Gallery, to bring works from Outside In’s collection to new audiences.”

Artists from Outside In’s collection featured in the show include Ben Wilson, best known for his miniature paintings on discarded pieces of chewing gum.

Drawings in stitch, heads carved from bread

Also from the Outside In collection is Aradne, who creates “drawings in stitch” inspired by a childhood spent in Africa, and the Jewish émigré artist Friedrich Nagler, whose small-scale sculptural heads are carved from bone, metal, plastic and even bread.

📷Credit: Pete Jones

Figures a few centimetres tall

Elsewhere in the show, Joanna Simpson’s Gum Nut Folk stand only a few centimetres high, tiny figures dressed in gum nuts and shells.

A charity turning 40

Jo Willis, Shallal’s Founder and Director, said the collaboration marks a milestone year for the organisation. “Shallal is going to be 40 in 2027, and continues to grow and diversify,” Jo said. “The collaboration with Cornwall Museum and Art Gallery for Art Any Way is a good example. It’s great to see our artists thriving in the studio, learning transferable skills, and on the way forging lifelong friendships through the joy of creativity and spontaneous sharing.”

Where and when to see it

More information is available on the Cornwall Museum and Art Gallery website. An Annual Pass costs £10, while members and under-18s go free.

Events are planned to run alongside the show, including a celebration featuring a performance by Shallal artists on Saturday 10 October, and a weekend of talks and activities in November.

Somewhere in the mix, tucked among the gum nuts and the chewing gum and the wellington-boot dog, is a small carved head made from a scrap of bread. That one alone is worth the walk into Truro.

📷Alan Davie: Parrots Eye No:2 Photography by Simon Cook 01736 360041