More than a fair exchange at Penzance

OPENING with a talk by freelance writer and curator, Clive Phillpot, director of the library at the Museum of Modern Art in New York for 17 years, the second in the project space programme, Exchange of Ideas, at The Exchange, Penzance, could hardly have enjoyed a more stimulating start.

The brainchild of artist Gareth Edwards and art librarian Liz Le Grice, it should prove to be the perfect venue for an exchange of ideas.

A project which sprang from Gareth seeing artists coming away from the art collection loaded with books to help them with their work, it prompted him to want to make transparent the working processes of the numerous artists working in Cornwall whose primary source is not direct observation of the figure or landscape, but instead, tertiary information such as photographs, books and magazines.

An opportunity to highlight how many artists use these resources and to celebrate the value of the 6,000 or so books that make up the art collection, he says: "Working with Liz Le Grice has been a pleasure. Her enthusiasm and intelligence has been tremendous, as is her knowledge of the art section of the library without which the project wouldn't have worked. Indeed, as the project has developed it has become in some way a clarion call to highlight the brilliance of the local resource." Liz Le Grice said: "It's the collection itself which fascinates me. It often seems to have a life of its own. I can cast my eye over a shelf of books and recognise which artists requested or suggested them for stock. "This makes the shelves come alive for me, but it's a difficult thing to describe as it's quite an abstract concept. It's been a great privilege to have the funding to create this collection with the help of artists throughout Cornwall.

"I work to some extent in isolation so when this idea was put forward I embraced it".

It will be fascinating to see what effect such public exposure will have on her and the Cornwall Libraries collection.

Admission is free, and Exchange of Ideas is at The Exchange until December 12. It is worth noting that, as part of the project, there is a series of weekly exhibits and talks by six Cornwall artists. Each week a different one will present art works and related material, and also give an informal lunchtime talk each Wednesday at 12.30pm.

Work will also be on display in Penzance Library.