Plymouth latest

Vanessa Billy | 'End of Days' |  2013 | Vase, mud, water and used light bulbs

As Exeter watches its art infrastructure wither, Plymouth's galleries are thriving. Last Thursday was an excellent crossover point between five outstanding shows.

Conversations Across Art and Mathematics at Peninsula Arts (9-28 May) was of particular interest to me after my work last year with the Oxford Mathematical Institute. Devised and curated by Barry Phipps, it included work by painter Mark Francis and architect George L. Legendre, alongside a film by Plymouth artist Heidi Morstang. A highlight for me was a wall-size print-out of Legendre's book Pasta by Design and I also enjoyed eavesdropping on mathematicians' thinking processes via Mortstang's film. But I was definitely left on the outside looking in.

good things come... at The Gallery at Plymouth College of Art (25 April - 4 June) curated by Kevin Hunt and Hannah Jones featured (mostly) small works by Agnes Calf, Alex Frost, Clive Murphy, Eric Bainbridge, Hayley Tompkins, Jack Lavender, Jo Addison, Kevin Hunt, Leo Fitzmaurice, Oliver Tirre, Peter Amoore, Richard Wentworth, Ryan Gander, Ruth Proctor, Sean Edwards, Susan Collis and Vanessa Billy.  I found this collection of work very exciting, but couldn't quite get a handle on the underlying concept: that the size of an object and our attention upon it might be intrinsically linked to time.  Sadly I had to skip the companion show at KARST F*** Newton (28 April to 28 May).

Quick look in on on Holly Davey's Here Is Where We Came From at Plymouth City Museum & Art Gallery (7 May - 3 September) then on to Kelly Best's All Walls Are Interrupted at Plymouth Arts Centre (15 April - 11 June). I was particularly taken with a site-responsive wall drawing based on the building's slate roof (more geometry). It gave me a way back in to Best's paintings, which I've previously found hard to figure.