Cartwright Hall Exhibitions
Cartwright Hall runs a lively programme of exhibitions, including contemporary exhibitions by local, national and international artists, historical exhibitions, craft and media arts, and a biennial open exhibition. Many exhibitions are enhanced by events, workshops and activities; for details, see Activities and Education Programme pages or contact the Museums Education Team.
Some exhibitions are available for tour; visit our exhibitions on tour page for more information. If you wish to propose an exhibition, or have your own work considered for exhibition, contact the Museums Officer (Exhibitions).
Current and upcoming exhibitions
2 April - 6 September 2010
Art in the Park - Sculpture by Halima Cassell
Lister Park once again hosts large scale works. Look out for ceramic seats, bronze towers, a stone flower and a terracotta spiral fountain. Pakistan – born, Blackburn lass Halima Cassell is regarded as one of the country’s leading young ceramic artists. Her beautiful sculptures combine strong geometric elements with recurrent patterns and architectural principles. These are drawn from a rich South Asian cultural heritage and her interest in African pattern work. ‘Makonde’ will be Cassell’s first large bronze which has been cast specifically for this exhibition and will enter the Fine Art Collection of Bradford Museums and Galleries.
5 June - 5 September 2010
Eternal Radiance - Marble and bronze sculptures
Eternal Radiance is an exhibition showcasing examples of Bradford’s fine collection of early twentieth century marble busts and bronze sculptures, to celebrate the re-opening of Cartwright Hall Art Gallery after recent restoration work. The magnificent semi-circular Sculpture Court, with its glass atrium and Belgian and Sicilian marble flooring provides a period setting for this display. The sculptures date from the early to mid 1900’s when a large number of important commissions and purchases were made by the Gallery from notable local and national British sculptors including Alfred Drury, Alfred Stevens, Ernest Sichel, John Adams Acton and more. Statuettes and works on canvas also appear alongside the sculptures.
9 July – 5 September 2010
Sacrament of Marriage - A Union of Ideas, Cultures and the Body & Mind
We are delighted to present a union of ideas in its exhibition, Sacrament of Marriage. Working in partnership with Alchemy, as well as with the Northern School of Dance, the National Centre for Early Music, National Media Museum and Harewood House, Sacrament, is part of New Worlds: The Many Routes to Yorkshire. The exhibition celebrates the theme of marriages and alliances between people, cultures, art forms and the body & mind, using contemporary and historical works of art from the rich Bradford collections.
The movement of South Asian and other communities to Bradford forged a “marriage” of cultures within the collections. Frank Johnson, who famously tutored David Hockney, captures Bradford’s changing identity in paintings that also “marry” Bradford past and present, conveying both celebration and a sense of loss. Artists like Gillies Jones, Alnoor Mitha, Priscilla Morgan, Kalim Afzal, Nik Stanbury, Roger Barnes and Bharti Parmar show the impossibility of practising as a contemporary artist without “marrying” various sources of cultural inspiration in their work.
As much a choreographed as a curated show, the installation and interpretation explore, in collaboration with the Northern School of Contemporary Dance, the “marriage” of mind and body involved in the creation of a work of art.
The concept for Sacrament of Marriage has been devised by Alchemy. It is curated by Alchemy in partnership with Bradford Galleries and Museums.
New Worlds is part of the imove programme, funded by Legacy Trust UK, Arts Council England and Yorkshire Forward. imove celebrates and challenges the relationship between people and their moving bodies through a series of exciting and innovative arts projects across Yorkshire.
www.imoveand.com
www.gilliesjones.wordpress.com
www.alchemyanew.co.uk
This innovative programme looks at the extraordinary mix that is modern day Yorkshire – marrying individuals from across the world with the region’s heritage and contemporary vibrancy and links the visual arts, music, dance, film and new media together in the lead up to the 2012 Olympics.
7 August -7 November 2010
Coming of Age: Celebrating 21 Years of Mela in the UK
What began in Bradford in September 1988 as a small gathering on a football pitch in the Great Horton area of the city has now grown into a two-day international celebration which attracts around 200,000 visitors. The Bradford Mela is recognised around the world as the most pioneering and ambitious Mela in the UK. This colourful photographic exhibition captures the diversity and experiences of the past 21 years and explores the history and roots of the famous Bradford and Nottingham Mela. This exhibition helps clarify the important role the Mela has in the strengthening the UK’s cultural heritage, and also marks a point of reflection and visioning for the future.
14 August - 7 November 2010
Toward the Light by Pip Dickens
A collection of recent and new paintings and drawings created while in residency at Cartwright Hall, the exhibition’s subject is the dramatic relationship we have between light and darkness. The artist approaches this subject though adiverse range of contexts and methodologies, whilst using inspiration taken from the collections held at Cliffe Castle Museum. Pip’s subject matter ranges from cinematic formats, classical literature and the Space Race to chandeliers, ribbons and lace. Pip is concerned with visual perception, examining and challenging theories and methodologies of light and movement within the second dimension. She plays with ideas of extremes and visual confusion – a kind of terrible beauty. Drawing upon many sources from natural phenomena to darker elements, influenced by Peter Jackson’s King Kong; Charles Dickens’ Great Expectations’; Joseph Merrick (Elephant Man), Pip has extracted common threads: darkness, dust, shadows, clouds, fog, light.
18 September - 12 December 2010
Das Ewig-Weigbliche by Nicola Bockelmann
The theme of this exhibition; ‘Porn Chic’ is taken from the realms of current media: tv; fashion; photography– a lifestyle phenomenon. It evolved in the 1990s when the media contributed to the sexualisation of our culture. Boundaries between pornography and culture became blurred and permeable. PornChic = pornification of mass culture’. Nicola has a traditional, detailed approach on large canvasses with contemporary composition. Blowing up ‘Porn Chic’ images from advertisements, which use tactics as a means to sell, and painting them in a semi photorealistic way on large canvas, Nicola maintains the figures sense of distance and glamour. The result of Bockelmann’s PhD studies, provoking thought andurging viewers to question everyday glossy explicitness, the paintings aim for traditional technical expertise with fresh reflections on modern society. Contains images with an adult theme.
13 November 2010 - 20 February 2011
Wycinanki:The Art of Polish Paper Cuts
Explore the art of wycinanki, the traditional Polish folk art of cutting paper in this stunning exhibition. Wycinanki was traditionally used by Polish farmers to decorate their cottages and of ten depicted scenes from daily life, such as weddings or holidays. This beautiful art form is still popular and widely practised in two regions of Poland. On loan from the Horniman Museum, London.
20 November 2010 - 20 February 2011
Sculpture by Glenys Barton
Glenys Barton graduated from the Royal College of Art in 1973 and since has been represented by Flowers Galleries. She has had numerous solo shows, exhibiting at the National Portrait Gallery in London, Manchester City Art Gallery, Canary Wharf and the town in which she was born, Stoke on Trent. Her sculpture, largely in ceramic, is made with great attention to the surface quality of the clay and its colours, which range from smoky whites and pale blues that merge with a porcelain body to bright turquoise, contrasting with the red of terracotta. The incredible strength and intensity of her work has taken it beyond the realm of ceramics, firmly placing her among the most important sculptors working in the figurative field today. Glenys Barton’s work also features in the screen adaptation of Ian McEwan’s ‘Enduring Love ’which starred Daniel Craig, Samantha Morton and Bill Nighy sculpted portraits of whom she was commissioned to make for the film. In association with Flowers, London.
