ET25.7 Faire is the Heaven

Curator Martin Gayford talks about Gillian Ayres and the new exhibition, and fifth-year medic James Bibey discusses his favourite piece of music.

Cover image copyright Keith Eyeons.

Interview with James Bibey recorded April 2025.

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Martin Gayford has written prolifically about art and jazz, contributing regularly to the Daily Telegraph and to many art magazines and exhibition catalogues. He was art critic of the Spectator 1994-2002 and subsequently of the Sunday Telegraph before becoming chief art critic for Bloomberg News until 2013. He can be found on Instagram @gayfordmartin.

What can be done with painting: Gillian Ayres in the ‘70s at the Heong Gallery at Downing College, Cambridge, reveals an overlooked period in the career of a major British painter. Gillian Ayres (1930–2018) played a key role in the development of post-war British abstract art, and is celebrated for her bold colours and expressive, gestural forms. She believed that her art was, above all, “about what can be done with painting”.

https://dow.cam.ac.uk/creative-arts/heong-gallery/what-can-be-done-painting-gillian-ayres-70s

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from Friday 6 June, Heong Gallery: Gillian Ayres Exhibition

Sunday 8 June, 6-7pm, Chapel: Choral Evensong

Monday 9 June, 5-5.30pm, Chapel: Take-a-Break Choir

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Saturday 7 June, 6pm, St Mary-at-Finchley Church, London, N3 1TR: 'Voyages', a guitar and recorder recital featuring Downing alumnus Declan Hickey. Free entry.