The Westbury Music & Arts Festival, in conjunction with Westbury Town Council’s Great War working group, will be hosting a unique exhibition at The Laverton Hall, Bratton Road, Westbury, entitled ‘The Everyday Tommy.’
This exhibition brings together a series of First World War commemorative works by artist, Helen Chester. These dramatic portraits depict those who went to war and those who were deeply affected by the war. What makes this exhibition of such interest is that all the men and women featured in this series of works are from the town of Westbury and it stands as a microcosm of the events that affected communities throughout the United Kingdom and Europe.
Helen’s portraits are of ordinary men and women. She grew up with her own family memories from old photographs and pictures. Helen realised that whilst the more wealthy had easy access to portraiture, the average working class family generally had little more by which to remember their loved ones than a few sepia or black and white photographs. It is from these small mementos that she creates a powerful oil painting portrait of the individual.
In a corner of each work, Helen meticulously gilds and paints the individual’s military insignia. Around the portrait ghost vignettes, she depicts aspects of the subject’s life – whether it be flying a biplane, working artillery, de-trenching at the Somme or references to their lives following the war, such as working on the railways, as a firefighter or the devastating effects of shellshock.
Civilians are not ignored, as Helen’s portrait of her great-grandmother shows. Florence Kerley was left to bring up her one-year-old child (Helen’s grandfather) when her husband, Herbert, was killed during the retreat from Mons shortly after the start of war in August 1914.
This free exhibition is part of the ‘Westbury Remembers the Great War’ project, made possible thanks to money raised by National Lottery players through a £9,500 grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF), as well as money raised by Westbury Town Council and Wiltshire Council via the Westbury Area Board.
The ‘Everyday Tommy’ exhibition will be running from Saturday 26th September to 1st October (closed Sunday 27th) at The Laverton, Bratton Road, Westbury BA13 3EN. For further information please visit www.westburytowncouncil.gov.uk www.wmafestival.co.uk or www.helenchesterarts.co.uk
