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Sir Michael Craig-Martin’s Present Sense opens at the Gallery at Windsor, Vero Beach, Fla.

In the small city of Vero Beach, Fla., nestled between the Indian River and the Atlantic Ocean and tucked behind bright white fences, sits Windsor. Located on a former grapefruit plantation, it’s the private residential community masterminded by W. Galen and Hilary Weston back in 1989 as a holiday spot with an emphasis on culture. Here, delightful soft-hued houses run along narrow tree-lined streets with names such as Wittington Avenue (the Weston family holding company) and Frayne Drive (Hilary Weston’s maiden name). The links-style golf course was designed by Robert Trent Jones Jr. and the tennis courts by Stan Smith. There’s also a beach club, a Léon Krier-designed town hall and a polo field. Every inch of the 425-acre property has been considered.

It’s the Gallery at Windsor though that best sets this idyllic community apart from others. Since its founding nearly 20 years ago, the space has seen the work of major artists, including Jasper Johns (part of a collaboration with Whitechapel Gallery in London), Ed Ruscha and Canadian Tony Scherman, hang on its walls. Grayson Perry’s show last year (and attendance at the opening soirée as female alter ego Claire) kicked off a three-year curatorial partnership between the Gallery at Windsor and the Royal Academy of Art, London with a gender-bending bang. Recently, Present Sense, an exhibition of Sir Michael Craig-Martin’s work opened, marking the second installment of the RA partnership. The show features more than 35 works, including prints, paintings and, for the first time in Windsor history, outdoor sculptures, which dot – or in the case of the massive work Garden Fork (magenta), 2017 installed in-front of the gallery, puncture – the manicured grounds. Wheelbarrow (red), 2013, is fittingly installed near the edge of a body of water, framing the adjacent equestrian centre.

Inside the gallery, artist Craig-Martin, who’s also regarded as an educator and mentor (specifically to a group that included Damien Hirst and Julian Opie), is showing a collection of his recognizable line drawings and paintings, which explore the basic principles of visual language (think watch, shoe, light bulb) in his hallmark flashes of vibrant colour. “I would never draw an object that you can’t name. I would never do an object where you had to speculate or think “What is that called, or what is it?” I think I’m losing you if that happens,” Craig-Martin said to Tim Marlow, artistic director of the Royal Academy of Arts, during a postopening conversation. “That’s why my idea of colour is that if it doesn’t have a name, then I don’t use it,” he added.

The celebrations on Jan. 26 culminated with a dinner thrown by the Westons at the Weston Guest House in Craig-Martin’s honour. Dotting the room were works from the Westons’ own collection, including an Alex Katz (he showed at the gallery in 2008-2009) and a couple of Christo and Jeanne-Claudes (39 preparatory works were shown in 2002). Around the tables of eight sat a selection of Windsor members (local lingo for residents) including my seatmate Danna Swarovski, of the Swarovski crystal family, as well as outside art collectors such as Ellen Hanson, who sat to my right. Nearby was Christopher Le Brun, president of the Royal Academy, who had his own Gallery at Windsor show in 2017 and is credited with conceiving this latest curatorial partnership. Others out included Dr. Nicholas Cullinan, director of the National Portrait Gallery; Lady Alison Myners, who chairs the Royal Academy Development Trust; and architect Chris Wilkinson and his wife, Diana. The works on display are for sale through Alan Cristea Gallery, in addition to Gagosian gallery, with Windsor’s share of the selling price being directed to the Windsor Charitable Foundation, which supports arts education among other local causes. The exhibition runs though the end of April, and can be viewed by non-members by appointment.

  • Jessica Craig-Martin.Nolan Bryant/The Globe and Mail

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