Art by the sea: exhibitions in Margate

Sea, space, creative communities, light, pleasure – these are some of the reasons that artists have come to Margate for generations. For JMW Turner, breathtaking skies and lover and landlady Sophia Booth provided ample reason to visit. Today, behold a Vanessa Raw painting and you are likely to be swept into a whirl of sensory euphoria as her nude female figures, in states of arousal and sexual play, cavort in lush landscapes rendered in velvety soft paint strokes. "Sometimes the paint just seems to take hold," says Raw of her process and her large-scale canvases that pulsate with life and endorphins. 

Raw is a happy tenant at Tracey Emin's TKE Studios complex, where artists work and support one another; all pay nominal rent. Emin, who has long been a champion of the town where she grew up, nominated Raw as an emerging talent for contemporary art gallerist Carl Freedman's "Artist to Artist" showcase at Frieze London last October. "I like Vanessa's work because it's free and liberating. When I first saw her work, I was shocked. I found the subject matter intense but I found the paintings incredibly beautiful," commented Emin.

Skip forward into summer 2024 and Raw is now being given her first solo show at Freedman's Margate gallery (from 30 June) and a further show at the Rubell Museum in Miami in December. The 39-year-old artist is hitting her stride, one of those rare talents around which people flock, alert to something new, powerful, in their midst. "I have never experienced this with an unknown artist," says Freedman, who moved his namesake gallery from Shoreditch to Margate in 2019. "Across the board, people were impacted and felt this sense of energy. Conversation was not on the specifics of sexual encounters, but on her incredible technique," he says. 

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Raw, who studied a BA in Fine Art at Loughborough University, is working non-stop in the lead-up to the show, entitled" On Earth We Were Not Meant to Stay", and senses she is on a good path. Before applying to join TKE Studios, she was working from a small flat in Ramsgate. "Two years ago, I went through a bout of depression, which I've struggled with on and off, and I started painting women in landscapes touching on dreams and the otherworldly. A quote by American art critic Jerry Saltz – if you don't feel vulnerable making a work, it's not worth it – really struck me," says Raw of her gear shift. Behind her sensorial works is an urge to create safe worlds for the depiction of women's pleasure, historically seen through the male gaze. "I would describe myself as pansexual – gender does not matter, it is about connection," says Raw, who evokes bonds between women and between humans and landscapes. 

Prior to dedicating herself to art full-time, Raw joined Team GB at the Beijing Olympics to compete in the triathlon. Injury curtailed that dream, then her athletic career, but the experience is core to her work. "There are elements, memories of landscapes I have run through, and I still do run but for fun, and it's a way of grounding myself... it's how I feel in the moment. I try to transform that onto the canvas," she says. 

Being in a small town means there are eyes on her work and a buoyant creative community. Freedman bought his space here ignited by the idea of reframing how he and his family lived and worked. "There was a kernel of activity in Margate and that has continued to grow, with more galleries and influxes of people attracted to this progressive community, sensitive to the place they have arrived at and keen to support local ventures," says Freedman, who fundraises for causes with artist prints created through his press, Counter Editions. He regularly receives 150 visitors to his 10,000-squarefoot space on a Saturday. "The pace is slower, meaning more engagement. In the Georgian era, people came here for what we now call 'wellbeing'. The town has had peaks and troughs and there are many layers – and, yes, a Margate magic," he smiles. Guaranteed to be bubbling up mid-summer. carlfreedman.com

What else to see

Liminal Gallery

Moving from the blue-chip London art scene to Margate, Louise Fitzjohn opened Liminal in 2022 with a focus on emerging and under-represented artists. Nest by Thomas Langley is now showcasing the artist's rhythmic compositions that explore temporary structures in impasto applications. liminal-gallery.com

Turner Contemporary 

Inspired by the life and work of JMW Turner, who once worked from a boarding house in the same spot, the gallery opened in 2011 in a glass and steel building by David Chipperfield. Pioneering New Orleans artist Ed Clark is the subject of the monograph summer show, with works from the 1940s to the 2000s highlighting his ‘big sweep’ canvases. turnercontemporary.org

Well Projects

George Harding after their associate programme at Margate's Open School East, Well Projects sprung up in the Northdown Road area in 2019, a forerunner in the latest chapter of art and music activity. The area is a magnet, with 243 Luz and Roland Ross also establishing spaces there. wellprojects.xyz

A version of this article appears in The Blend, distributed with The Week magazine.