Artists hosts University of Chichester’s first public exhibition since lockdown
THE first public exhibition to be hosted at the University of Chichester since lockdown began has opened.
Students from the MA degree in Fine Art are displaying their work for the first time in the new socially-distanced show Re-vision 2020. The exhibition, which runs until Tuesday 22 September, features five artists each with different techniques from digital designers and painters to outdoor sculpturists and textualist.
It is held in the University’s artOne venue on its Bishop Otter campus in Chichester and, although it is free to all, viewing is by appointment only by contacting Clarie Hilton at c.hilton@chi.ac.uk.
The show was a long time coming for the students, whose first exhibition was cancelled earlier this year as a consequence of the Covid-19 restrictions – although lockdown did inspire much of their new work, as the artists explain.
Sculpturist Andigoni Needs embraced lockdown
Contemporary artist Andigoni Needs, known as Noni, creates work which explores the gendered experience of women in the domestic sphere, including ideas of refuge and home. She had been focusing on life drawings but, unable to get into the University’s workshop because of Covid, she instead turned her hand to sculpture.
Noni said: “Lockdown has been a real struggle creatively [but] I felt I had to embrace the Covid situation. It also spoke to the themes of my practice. I think I have successfully brought together the thematic streams of my practice to resolve my current body of work. This would not have been to result pre-lockdown.”
MA inspired gave Nicola Aspin to return to art after years away
Textualist Nicola Aspin paints with oils on extra fine linen, making the stretchers and the base coat – known as gesso – herself. She said the degree has given her the confidence and skills to continue her path as an artist, having undertaken her undergraduate qualification many years ago.
Nicola added: “My subject matter is old and overlooked household textiles, things like bed linen and tea-cloths and I choose worn and used items to show their faded beauty and to hopefully spark memories in the viewer. The pandemic has meant isolation but, with the support of online tutorials, I have managed to continue working, thinking creatively when Covid meant a lack of materials.”
Lucy Carter’s 2D digital art is ‘otherworldy’
Digital artist Lucy Carter’s 2D prints highlight the use of colour, spatial contradiction, and perspectival shifts of interior and exterior locations to create “otherworldly” spaces, which audiences can read “but are not quite right.”
Speaking of the exhibition, Lucy said: “This is a way for the students to celebrate with friends and family on their accomplishments throughout their studies, and it’s really eye opening to see all the hard work unfold.
“This is something I will really miss, but I am eternally grateful that I am able to display my work in our final exhibition.”
Environmentalist Madeline Landauer makes art from ‘discarded junk’
Madeline Landauer, whose art supports environmentalism, added: “My art is improvised installations and assemblages from discarded junk materials that I collect while wandering, reflecting cosmic chaos and promoting environmental awareness in these extraordinary times on Earth.”
For more on the Re-vision show go to www.chi.ac.uk/fine-art/degree-shows-and-events or find out more about the University of Chichester’s MA in Fine Art at www.chi.ac.uk/fine-art.
Exhibition details
- Re-vision 2020
- 10am to 6pm
- Monday 7 to Tuesday 22 September (closed Sunday 13 and 20 Sept)
- Venue: artOne, Bishop Otter campus, Chichester, West Sussex, PO19 6PE
- Appointment only: email Clarie Hilton at c.hilton@chi.ac.uk
- Car parking: free after 5pm on weekdays