Hampshire Cultural Trust has announced its 2018 exhibition programme, with shows including the first UK exhibition to consider Gerald Scarfe’s extensive work in animation, theatre and costume design, an exploration of the life and legacy of former Tate curator David Brown whose remarkable art collection he left to Southampton, ARTIST ROOMS: Agnes Martin, and Southern Shores celebrating the coastline of southern England.
Southern Shores
13 January – 17 March 2018
The Gallery, Gosport Discovery Centre
This exhibition celebrates the coastline of southern England by bringing together 20 marine-themed works from the world-class collection of Southampton City Art Gallery. Spanning almost 200 years of art history – from The Wreckers (1791, George Morland) to Stranger on the Shore (1981, Eden Box) – the region’s long and varied relationship with the sea is reflected through an eclectic selection of paintings by artists including Richard Eurich, Spencer Gore and C.R.W. Nevinson. The show also includes rarely exhibited works- such as the 19th century Moonlight Scene by William Adolphus Knell – which have been conserved especially for this exhibition.
May TheToys Be With You
13 January – 14 April 2018
The Sainsbury Gallery at the Willis Museum, Basingstoke
From a galaxy far, far away, comes an unmissable exhibition for Star Wars fans.
From X-Wing fighters to lightsabers, May TheToys Be With You is formed from one of the UK’s finest collections of vintage Star Wars toys and original cinema posters.
These fantastical designs became the playthings of a generation, and have fired our imaginations and stamped their place on our cultural landscape since the first film was released forty years ago. For little and big kids alike, this is a not-to be-missed opportunity to view rarely seen and highly collectable Star Wars treasures.
A Remarkable Man: The art and legacy of David Brown
20 January – 20 March 2018
The Gallery, Winchester Discovery Centre
Through the words of those who knew David Brown and his exceptional contribution to the arts, this is the intriguing story of a remarkable man, collector and curator.
David Brown was born in Romsey, Hampshire, in 1925. During World War II, he worked in the Cornish tin mines as a Bevin Boy, before studying to be a vet and working in Africa. Following the tragic death of his beloved partner in 1967,Brown returned to England, resigning from his veterinary career and finding solace in his passion for art. After formally retraining in art history he took a position with the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art and in rapid succession became Assistant Keeper of the Modern Collection at Tate. Brown amassed a substantial personal art collection, one that championed artists who were, at the time he purchased their works, up and coming. He died in 2002.
A plethora of major 20th century artists was represented in his outstanding private collection, a large portion of which he left as a bequest to Southampton City Art Gallery. The wide-ranging selection of 2D and 3D exhibits includes work by Roger Fry, Gilbert & George, Howard Hodgkin, Gillian Ayres, David Bomberg, Maggi Hambling, Leon Kossoff, Richard Long, Roger Hilton and Alison Watt – to name but a few – and provides a thought-provoking glimpse into a rare vision and lasting legacy.
Gerald Scarfe: Stage and Screen
31 March – 27 June 2018
The Gallery, Winchester Discovery Centre
Gerald Scarfe is the UK’s most prominent political cartoonist, known for his acerbic and uncompromising satire – his work has appeared in The Sunday Times for 45 years. However, his unmistakable characters and worlds have also been given new life on stage and screen and this is the first UK exhibition to explore his extensive work in animation and theatre and costume design.
Gerald Scarfe: Stage and Screenwill feature more than 100 preliminary sketches, storyboards, costume and set designs, photographs, ephemera, costumes, set pieces and animation cels.
These are taken from Pink Floyd’s The Wall (1979), Walt Disney’s Hercules (1997), Los Angeles Opera’sThe Magic Flute (1993) andOrpheus in the Underworld (1999),English National Ballet’s The Nutcracker (2002)and Gerald Scarfe’s animated short, The Long Drawn Out Trip (1972).
Scarfe says:“Like Pygmalion I always want to bring my creations to life – to bring them off the page and give them flesh and blood, movement and drama. Paintings and drawings are two dimensional. To give them 3D rotundity one has to make a sculpture. To give them life one needs animation or an actor on stage.”
Gerald Scarfe: Stage and Screen is a touring exhibition from House of Illustration.
International Garden Photographer of the Year
21 April – 7 July 2018
The Sainsbury Gallery at the Willis Museum, Basingstoke
This exhibition is a display of winning images from the prestigious International Garden Photographer of the Year competition, which is celebrating its 10th anniversary in 2018.
It will feature the very best botanical photography from across the world, celebrating the beauty and importance of plant life in its many diverse forms – from endemic wild flowers on La Palma to the idyllic British garden, visitors will take an inspirational journey through sights both familiar and unknown.
Works from categories including The Beauty of Plants, Wildflower Landscapes, Beautiful Gardens and Breathing Spaces will be on display, as well as winners from the Macro Art Photo Project.Visitors can expect to see a collection of thought-provoking and challenging images which seek to strengthen our bonds with plants and gardens, increase public understanding of the natural world and champion photography as a mode of conservation.
ARTIST ROOMS: Agnes Martin
7 July – 7 October 2018
The Gallery, Winchester Discovery Centre
The career of Agnes Martin (1912 – 2004) spanned nearly five decades during which she came to be regarded as one of America’s foremost abstract painters.
Martin’s search for a kind of transcendent beauty led her to paint her first grid paintings during the 1960s whilst living in New York. The grid allowed her to create paintings which were without intellectual content or reference. Eschewing perceptual space, brushwork composition or texture, they were self-descriptive and self-referential in a way that clearly represented a new beginning for painting at that time.
However, by 1967 the pressures of success and illness led her move to New Mexico and stop painting altogether for sevenyears.
The eight paintings – mostly from Martin’s later career in the 1990s- held in ARTIST ROOMS exemplify her exquisite handling of paint. The delicate colours appear to project beyond the picture plane to engage all the senses. Happy Holiday and Faraway Love come from a sequence of paintings from the late 1990s in which the artist used titles to evoke states of euphoria, contentment and memories of past happiness.
This is Hampshire Cultural Trust’s first receipt of the prestigious ARTIST ROOMS scheme, a world-class collection of international contemporary art dedicated to fostering creativity amongst young people nationwide.
Janet Owen, Chief Executive of Hampshire Cultural Trust, says: “We are thrilled to have such a diverse and exciting programme taking place across Hampshire in 2018, one that local people will enjoy exploring and at the same time will encourage visitors from beyond our county borders to come and see what Hampshire has to offer.”