Visual Arts

Visual Arts previews from around the region

Miss Clara And The Celebrity Beast In Art

The Barber Institute, Birmingham, until Sun 27 February

The latest in the Barber’s ongoing series of masterpiece-in-focus displays revolves around an 18th-century rhinoceros known as Miss Clara. Brought to mainland Europe in 1741 - and the first rhino to be sighted there since 1579 Clara was presented to kings, queens, courtiers and commoners at destinations across the continent. She died in London in 1758. This fascinating exhibition is built around a small bronze sculpture of Miss Clara (one of the most popular art works in the Barber’s collection) and also features a selection of other pieces in bronze and marble. The display examines the emergence of menageries and zoos, as well as considering the capturing of animals such as Clara within the context of colonialism and empire.

Rana Begum: Dappled Light

Mead Gallery, Warwick Arts Centre, Thurs 13 January - Sun 13 March

“My work is a little like life,” says Bangladesh-born artist Rana Begum. “You don’t have full control over the balance of chaos and calm, and the art I produce reflects this. It has a dual experience - its strong colour and form gives it a loud aspect, but if it’s a good piece it can also provide a moment of calmness and a reflective experience.” Elected as a Royal Academician last year, Rana is known for her geometric abstraction and uses her vibrant paintings, sculptures and installations to explore the perception of light and colour. This latest exhibition features a series of new, large-scale works which respond specifically to the Mead Gallery’s architecture, investigating the shifting perceptual effects of light as it interacts with her work and the gallery space.

Turner Prize 2021

Herbert Art Gallery & Museum, Coventry, until Wed 12 January

Part of Coventry’s ongoing UK City of Culture celebrations, the Turner Prize exhibition continues to show at the Herbert until the middle of the month. The show marks the first time a Turner Prize jury has selected a shortlist consisting entirely of artist collectives. The exhibition is showcasing pieces by the five nominees, all of whom work closely and continuously with communities across the UK to inspire social change through art. The winner of the 2021 competition is Array Collective, who took the prize for producing hopeful and dynamic artwork which addresses urgent social and political issues affecting Northern Ireland. Admission to the Turner Prize is free. Tickets can be booked by visiting coventry2021.co.uk

Atmosphere

The Potteries Museum & Art Gallery, Stoke-on-Trent, until Sun 27 February

On the eve of its 90th birthday, and with its stated aim being ‘to show the best in art that the county can produce’, the Society of Staffordshire Artists is still going strong - as this new exhibition of work by its current members ably illustrates. The display brings together a collection of uniquely personal and subjective interpretations of mood, emotion and effects. The artworks have been produced by both amateur and professional artists.

Visual Arts

Skyscape

Worcester City Art Gallery, Sat 29 January Sat 26 March

An exhibition exploring the sky and its representations in art, Skyscape features works by, among others, Rembrandt, Albrecht Durer, Samuel Palmer, John Ruskin and Paul Nash. The exhibition has been inspired by a famous statement made by Constable: ‘It will be difficult to name a class of landscape in which the sky is not the key note, the standard of scale and the chief organ of sentiment’.

Keith Piper: Jet-Black Futures

The New Art Gallery, Walsall, Fri 14 January - Sun 24 April

Raised in Birmingham and having studied in Coventry and Nottingham, it can justifiably be said that Keith Piper is an artist ‘made in the Midlands’. So it’s fitting indeed that his latest major solo exhibition is going on display at one of the region’s most popular and well-respected galleries. Exploring ‘issues of “race”, speculative futurism and technology in the age of anxiety’, Jet-Black Futures is an ongoing project encompassing a number of existing and proposed works. The New Art Gallery presentation includes the brand-new Search Of Four Horses. An epic fourscreen video installation, the piece is based around an exploration of the story of The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. The work also seeks to investigate contemporary hopes, fears and anxieties for the future. Keith’s 1991 installation, Surveillance: Tagging The Other - a work acquired for the gallery last year - also features in the show.