Penwith Gallery: Tom Leaper, Jason Lilley, Sophie Fraser, El Matador Del Muerte, Jethro Jackson, Kleiner Shames

This exhibition runs until the 28th March 2026

In the Lanyon Gallery there was an exhibition by six artists which included sculpture and pictures that explore the landscapes of Penwith.

Tom Leaper is a sculptor and his pieces have very strong forms.  I like the geometrical aspects of much of his work.  Convergence Point was a hung piece of shiny stainless steel with many pointy angles and was my favourite of his pieces.  I also enjoyed the more sinuous forms and there was a lovely tall thin sculpture with two arms I didn't get the name of.

Jason Lilley's pieces were more abstract with Below the Stones, Bosporthennis and Above the Coffin Path.  I think Above the Coffin Path was my favourite as the ferns really appealed to me.

Sophie Fraser is well represented in the gallery as a whole at the moment and her paintings in this exhibition were just as lovely.  St Michael's Mount through a veil of trees, before the storm as both beautiful and touching.  Sun Trees was also lovely.

El Matador Del Muerte is a quirky sculpture who makes fun pieces from discarded materials.  I particularly enjoyed his animals with a group of three including a bull and Red Rum being the ones that drew me the most this time.  The little figure holding some flowers was also very cute!

Jethro Jackson's pieces were striking and vibrant.  Ethereal Homestead featured a ghostly owl sat on a tree stump with a very lonely looking building in the background.  He also had a piece featuring Peregrine Falcons, that was just as lovely.

Jethro Jackson Convergence is stunning but I am not completely sure what I am looking at.  It's a landscape with animals and I could spend a lot of time looking at it!  Stolen Light was also beautiful.  I do struggle sometimes with more subjective pieces.  It's just not how my brain works.  I often feel like I need a little bit of explanation.

The show also included sculptures by Kleiner Shames and his work feels very graphic in the way it explores shape and form.  It's interesting because I look at his sculptures and they feel very much inspired by Hepworth but looking at his prints and paintings online his work feels more graffiti inspired, but you can clearly see the connection between all his work.

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