Windsor Founders, Galen and the Hon. Hilary M. Weston hosted an exclusive weekend to celebrate the opening of Present Sense, an exhibition by renowned British artist Sir Michael Craig-Martin RA at The Gallery at Windsor. Officially launching tomorrow and running until April 25, 2019, the exhibition represents the second artist collaboration in Windsor’s three-year curatorial partnership with the Royal Academy of Arts in London.

The weekend’s guest list comprised noteworthy art world elites, including Royal Academy President, Christopher Le Brun; Royal Academy Artistic Director, Tim Marlow; Director of the National Portrait Gallery, Dr. Nicholas Cullinan; celebrated artist and daughter of Craig-Martin, Jessica Craig-Martin; Managing Director of Christie’s Canada, Brett Sherlock; and Chair of the Royal Academy Development Trust, Lady Alison Myners. Additional high society elites included Windsor Members Danna Swarovski of the famed Swarovksi crystal family and Veronika Piech of the Porsche family.

Following the private view of the exhibition, guests attended a conversation between Craig-Martin and Tim Marlow. The conversation was followed by a celebratory dinner hosted by the Westons at the Weston Guest House. The following day, Craig-Martin hosted a special conversation around his memoir, On Being An Artist, for guests.

The exhibition represents the artist’s most comprehensive in the United States to date, comprised of more than 35 works of paintings, sculptures, and prints, which explore the nature and basic principles of visual language and perception through the use of everyday objects, images, and materials. Craig-Martin’s Bulb (magenta) (2015) sculpture is also on display at the Vero Beach Museum of Art until May 2019. A glimpse of the outdoor sculpture installation can be viewed here.

Present Sense was curated by Hannah Freedberg, Director of Gagosian London. There is a fully illustrated catalogue published by Windsor Press and the Royal Academy, with an essay by contemporary art critic, editor and writer Ben Luke and an interview with Craig-Martin and Tim Marlow.

The Royal Academy of Arts is an independent institution led by eminent artists and architects; its purpose is to promote the creation, enjoyment and appreciation of the visual arts through exhibitions, education and debate. The three-year curatorial collaboration with The Gallery at Windsor began with an exhibition by renowned artist Grayson Perry in 2018 and will continue with a third, to-be-announced artist in 2020.

Dates and Opening Hours

Open to public: January 29 – April 25, 2019

The Gallery at Windsor is open to the public by appointment Tuesday through Thursday between 10am and 4pm. In addition to docent-led tours in The Gallery, Windsor will lead two public sculpture tours on February 18 and March 18, 2019 for those interested in viewing all six sculptures on display in the grounds at Windsor. To schedule an appointment, contact The Gallery at 772 388 4071 or via email to gallery@windsorflorida.com.

Free Admission

There is no admission fee to visit The Gallery.  Exhibition visitors may choose to support The Windsor Charitable Foundation with a suggested donation of $10.  This gift is tax-deductible and is designated to support arts education.

Social Media
Join the discussion about the exhibition online at:
Facebook /royalacademy /windsorflorida
Instagram @royalacademyarts @windsorflorida 
Twitter @royalacademy @windsorflorida

About the Gallery at Windsor, Vero Beach, Florida

Founded in 2002, The Gallery at Windsor is an independent art space at the heart of the Windsor community. The Gallery annually invites curators to respond to the space with museum-quality shows of contemporary art. The Hon. Hilary M. Weston serves as Creative Director for The Gallery.

The Gallery has exhibited works by leading contemporary artists including Christo & Jeanne-Claude, Ed Ruscha, Bruce Weber, Peter Doig, Alex Katz, Per Kirkeby Hon RA and Christopher Le Brun PRA. In April 2011, a three-year collaboration with the Whitechapel Gallery, London realized exhibitions by Beatriz Milhazes, Gert & Uwe Tobias, and American Icon Jasper Johns Hon RA. Most recently, The Gallery presented the first exhibition in a three-year collaboration with the Royal Academy.  Featuring celebrated British artist and Turner Prize winner, Grayson Perry CBE RA, the multi-media exhibition titled Making Meaning opened in January 2018. windsorflorida.com/gallery

About Windsor

Windsor is a private residential sporting club community spanning 425 acres of lush barrier island between the Indian River and the Atlantic Ocean in Vero Beach, Florida. Established in 1989 by Hilary and W. Galen Weston of Toronto, Canada, Windsor was designed by renowned town planners Andrés Duany and Elizabeth Plater-Zyberk in the New Urbanism style of residential living, one that offers public and community spaces framed by timeless architecture and landscape design that celebrates its tropical and unspoiled setting. Windsor is comprised of 350 homesites in various styles including village homes, cottages and country estates, all remarkable for their signature Anglo-Caribbean architecture and gracious living.  Residents enjoy privacy and seclusion combined with the finest amenities, exemplary services and sporting activities.  windsorflorida.com

About the Royal Academy of Arts

The Royal Academy of Arts was founded by a group of artists and architects, under the patronage of King George III, in 1768. It has a unique position in being an independent, privately funded charity led by eminent artists and architects whose purpose is to promote the creation, understanding and appreciation of the visual arts through exhibitions, education and debate. The Royal Academy has launched a new campus as part of the celebrations of its 250th anniversary year. Following a transformative redevelopment, designed by the internationally-acclaimed architect Sir David Chipperfield RA and supported by the National Lottery, the new Royal Academy of Arts reveals more of the elements that make the RA unique – sharing with the public historic treasures from its Collection, the work of its Royal Academicians and the Royal Academy Schools, and its role as a center for learning and debate about art and architecture – alongside its world-class exhibitions program. royalacademy.org.uk 

For further press information and imagery from the weekend, please contact: 

Michael Gartenlaub at The Brandman Agency
michael@brandmanagency.com