Jennie Sharman-Cox and Simon Monk

Jennie Sharman-Cox and Simon Monk are two artists living and working in the Southend area. Their outlook and activities are quite distinct, the former working predominantly in three dimensions while the latter produces paintings and drawings.

Despite these differences there are areas of common ground, the meticulously crafted nature of their work being the most clear. Both invent worlds for the viewer to enter and inhabit, Jennie through the use of immersive box constructions and Simon through trompe l’oeil illusion.

Jennie and Simon are both Southend natives and perhaps something of the culture of the British seaside resort in which they grew up, with its novelties and amusements, remains present in their work.

For this exhibition both artists are presenting a body of new and recent work as well as selections from their archives. To mark the occasion of the show Jennie and Simon have each produced a new piece responding to the the Beecroft Gallery building and its history as a library.

There will be a Meet the Artist event at the gallery on Saturday 11 March.