Port Calls Adam Spain

Adam is Exhibitions Manager at VOLT and a key figure in the Eastboure artscene. VOLT is part of the Devonshire Collective – a network of creative spaces in Seaside, Eastbourne - which has been around for about 5 years. VOLT was set up during lockdown last year as Devonshire Collective’s newly dedicated gallery and project space.

VOLT’s mission is to champion emerging artists and to provide a platform for creative community collaboration. Through their exhibitions and events programme, they aim to create opportunities for people everywhere to engage with experimental and thought-provoking art.

We caught up with Adam to tell us more…

Tell us a bit about your mission at VOLT?

We’ve spent a lot of time revitalising the gallery here at VOLT, turning it into a really smart space where people feel proud to show their work. A lot of effort has also gone in to an initial programme of exciting and diverse exhibitions. It’s really important to us at VOLT that we represent artists from different backgrounds, with different perspectives and who use different media.

Looking ahead, we want to continue engaging with communities both locally and along the coast, to really get people exciting for what we’re doing here. A large part of that will involve expanding on our learning programme and creating more events so that there are always a ton of exciting activities happening alongside our exhibitions! Over the next few years we see VOLT becoming an integral part of what Eastbourne has to offer in terms of art and culture.

What artists have you showcased so far?

We opened with the brilliant Bex Massey whose punchy pop paintings explore the persistence of gender disparity in contemporary culture. Her work layers references to everything from Spiderman to Pandora’s Box and was a great way to kick-start our exhibition programme.

Currently, we have a solo exhibition by London-based painter Olivia Sterling and an installation by Eastbourne Studio Pottery. Olivia’s show delves into Sussex folkloric remedies and uses these for an allegory for prejudice and othering; her paintings are always colourful and energetic on the surface, but use visual metaphors to explore deeper subtexts. ESP’s installation celebrates making and authorship and sees the lower part of the gallery transformed into a functioning pottery studio!

Who’s up next?

In July, we’re super excited to be collaborating with Eastbourne Mencap to showcase a huge body of work they have been making over lockdown. This exhibition will span both floors and contains all manner of media from painting and collage to video and sound installation; everything in the show is inspired by Mencap members’ experience of life in Eastbourne and the history of the town.

After that we have an exhibition from video artist and sculptor Lucy Woodhouse who will be creating an intricate multimedia installation for VOLT, full of bodily plaster and glass forms, abstract video works and colourful light displays. Later in the year we will be working with Jonathan Murphy whose work you can currently see at Port!

How can artists get involved at VOLT?

So we recently had a major open call for artists to submit their work – The Eastbourne Open – which had over a hundred submissions! In September we’ll be announcing the ten artists that will be chosen to exhibit at VOLT as a result. There will be more opportunities like this including further open call exhibitions and the re-commissioning of our façade artwork, which we hope to do every few years.

For artists or groups that have a specific vision for an exhibition at VOLT, the gallery is also available to hire. All you have to do is send us a proposal for your exhibition and we will get back to you about dates and costs – we know how difficult it can be to find an exhibition space so we try to keep hiring the space for exhibitions as affordable as possible.  

Do you focus on East Sussex artists?

At VOLT we think it’s really important that we provide a platform for local and regional talent, which is why we have a number of exhibitions lined up with artists from Eastbourne and the South Coast. Additionally, our first exhibition of 2022 – The Eastbourne Open - which I mentioned earlier, a group exhibition that will show off 10 of the most exciting artists working in Sussex at the moment.

“Equally though, I think it’s really important for VOLT, and Eastbourne’s growing cultural scene, to establish connections with the wider region and create relationships with artists/spaces all over the country.”

What is the Eastbourne art scene like?

There’s a huge appetite for art in Eastbourne, evident from the popularity of Towner and smaller galleries around town, not to mention the hugely positive reaction to VOLT! The number of things to see and do in Eastbourne is amazing with exhibitions, events and public artworks springing up all over the place; it just goes to show how much people are engaging with art and culture. 

Having said that, I think Eastbourne is quite underrated in many ways. Historically, Eastbourne’s art scene doesn’t have the same reputation as for example Brighton’s or Hastings’, but there are a ton of artists living and working in Eastbourne making up a creative community that not many people seem to be aware of. Hopefully VOLT and other things going on around town will bring to light the talent we have on our doorstep.

What are your favourite things about Eastbourne?

Although it’s pretty basic, one of my favourite things about Eastbourne is just how pretty it is. Between Beachy Head, Birling Gap and the Seven Sisters there are so many stunning areas of natural beauty, and with Eastbourne on record as one of the sunniest parts of the country you’ve usually got good weather to visit them!

Another of my favourite things about Eastbourne is how much more spacious it feels that other towns or cities nearby, both literally and in the sense that you don’t feel lost amongst things all trying to happen at once. VOLT has room to breathe in Eastbourne – we’re filling a gap that exists and have the time and space to do our own thing. We might not be able to do that in Brighton or Hastings. There’s a strong sense of community here and that’s really valuable to us and the creative people that are starting to be drawn here from bigger cities.

Lastly it’s got to be Fusciardi’s – the Italian ice cream parlour on Seaside Road – best ice cream I’ve ever had!

What’s your top tip for someone visiting Eastbourne and the surrounds?

Towner have recently collaborated with Mexican artist Mariana Castillo Deball to create a massive public artwork with elements all around town and even on the South Downs. (She has also curated a collections exhibition at the Towner which you should all visit). Entitled ‘Walking through the town I followed a pattern on the pavement that became the magnified silhouette of a woman’s profile’ the work comprises a number of pieces of blue rope painted onto the ground which mark out both a female figure and a walking route around Eastbourne.

Along the walk, Mariana has made sculptures and embedded them in the pavement. The sculptures each relate to objects that were buried with The Frankish Woman, whose ancient remains were discovered in Eastbourne at the Anglo-Saxon cemetery on St Anne’s Hill. 

The trail ends at Whitbread Hollow on the South Downs where a giant hairpin, the most magnificent of the funerary objects, is embedded into the chalk much like the famous Long Man. It’s really amazing to have such an expansive and immersive project embracing local history and landscapes and I encourage people to check it out!  

Thanks Adam for joining us for on Port Calls.

To follow VOLT’s goings-on check out their Instagram.