Visual Arts February (1).qxp_Layout 1 19/01/2022 17:18 Page 2
Visual Arts
Portrait Artist Of The Year Compton Verney, Warwickshire, Sat 19 February - Sun 5 June
Fans of Sky Arts’ long-running television series, Portrait Artist Of The Year, will surely want to check out this new exhibition. Curated by one of the programme’s guest judges, Kathleen Soriano, the display features a selection of artwork produced across the years by professional and amateur painters who’ve taken part in the series. As well as providing a showcase for more than 120 portraits, the exhibition also highlights the many and varied approaches taken by the artists to the programme’s broad range of celebrity sitters, included among whom have been Kim Cattrell, Stanley Tucci, Rick Wakeman, Melvyn Bragg and Graham Norton.
The British Art Show 9 Wolverhampton Art Gallery, until Sat 10 April Taking place every five years, The British Art Show (BAS) encourages artists to reflect upon and respond to issues of identity, while also bringing matters concerning social, racial and environmental justice to the forefront of public consciousness. For BAS9, 34 selected artists have responded to three main themes: Healing, Care & Reparative History; Tactics For
Maryam Wahid: Zaibunnisa Midlands Arts Centre (MAC), Sat 5 Feb - Mon 18 April
Birmingham-raised artist Maryam Wahid here presents a new work telling the story of her mother as a young woman who moved to England in the 1980s. The exhibition also documents Maryam’s first-ever visit to her motherland of Pakistan. “I called the project Zaibunnisa because that was my mother’s name before she emigrated to the UK,” explains Maryam. “The exhibition reflects on what my alternate life would have looked like if my grandfather hadn’t emigrated to Britain.”
Togetherness; and Imagining New Futures. Wolverhampton’s rich and varied community provides the narrative, with artists exploring identities based around class, ethnicity, gender and sexuality. The artists also investigate the way in which the city’s cultural history has been shaped by the post-war arrival of Commonwealth migrants.
The Wonderful World of the Ladybird Book Artists Shrewsbury Museum & Art Gallery, Sat 19 February - Sun 5 June
Curated by Shropshire-born Helen Day, this colourful and nostalgic exhibition pays homage to the group of talented artists who drew the hugely popular Ladybird books in the mid-20th century. By tracing the interconnected work of the illustrators, the display recounts the Ladybird story during the publishing company’s ‘golden years’ - the period from 1940 to 1975. “I started collecting the books to share with my son,” explains Helen, “but the more of them I acquired, the more I realised what fascinating 20th-century time capsules they were. The exhibition will provide a real trip down memory lane for visitors.”
Beyond Representation: Re-defining Perception in the Twentieth Century The Barber Institute, Birmingham, until Sunday 22 May
Drawings, prints and sculpture from the Barber collection are featured in this thought-provoking new exhibition, which reflects the ways in which 20th-century artists constructed new perceptions of the world. Technological and scientific advancements, political revolutions and the devastating socioeconomic consequences of two world wars brought about intense and often turbulent changes that called into question the purpose of art. Indeed, it was a century in which many artists concluded that traditional illusionistic representation was a wholly inadequate way to express the modern experience. Artists whose work features in the exhibition include Christopher Nevinson, Kurt Schwitters, Max Beckman, Max Ernst, Naum Gabo and Tess Jaray.
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