52°11’56″N 3°05’34″W
by Charlie Hurcombe
24th May – 5th July 2025
at RidgeBank Contemporary Art Space, Kington
Gallery open Wednesday – Saturday 12-17:00pm
RidgeBank Contemporary Art Space in Kington, North Herefordshire, presents a compelling new exhibition titled 52°11’56″N 3°05’34″W, showcasing recent works by UK-based artist Charlie Hurcombe. The show brings together sculpture, photography, postcard collages, assemblages, and video in a multi-disciplinary response to the rich and atmospheric landscape of Hergest Ridge — the high ground that winds along the shifting line between England and Wales.
The title, referencing a precise set of coordinates, invites visitors to contemplate both the physical and conceptual importance of place. Hergest Ridge, with its panoramic views, ancient trackways, and mythic associations, provides a backdrop not just for the artworks but also for the ideas they explore — from the layered histories embedded in the land to the porous nature of borders and memory.
Hurcombe’s practice often engages with notions of location, displacement, and constructed meaning. In this exhibition, the artist juxtaposes found materials with crafted elements to evoke the tensions between the natural and the fabricated, the personal and the universal. His postcard collages and assemblages capture fleeting impressions and textures of the ridge, while his sculptural forms echo the contours and weathered surfaces of the surrounding terrain.
The inclusion of video and photography offers yet another lens on the landscape — one that is intimate, disorienting, and abstracted. These works shift the viewer’s attention between close-up detail and wide-open horizon, challenging any singular perspective of the borderland.
52°11’56″N 3°05’34″W invites viewers to consider not just where they are, but how they come to know a place: through maps and memories, objects and images, presence and absence.
The exhibition runs from 24th May to 5th July at RidgeBank Contemporary Art Space, and is free to the public.