Collection news

The current exhibition in the Mead Gallery is a celebration of the first fifty years of Warwick’s now extensive art collection. It begins with some of the spectacular paintings by artists of international renown given as a gift to the University to inaugurate the collection in 1965. The exhibition goes on to chart its development into a comprehensive representation of many artistic trends in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries.

Numbering around 9,000 works encompassing paintings, artists’ prints, sculpture, ceramics and photography, the collection is displayed in numerous buildings on four campuses. The Mead exhibition, which runs until 20^th of June, is a rare opportunity to see the richness and variety of the collection in one place.

The collection features the most recent acquisition which is a large-scale, expressive landscape (2 x 2.5 metres) by Leamington-based Mary Riley. Its title is ‘Larkstoke’, a hill in Warwickshire which has been a regular inspiration for her work for over twenty years, a place she has studied in all seasons, times of day and weather conditions. It is a subtle and complex work conveying the sensation of being part of nature rather than a mere observer, it invites contemplation and personal reflection.

The artwork Missing Lebanese Wars by The Atlas Group has just found a new home in the History Department on the third floor of the Humanities building. The work tells the story of a fictitious group of betting mad Historians who battle to be the victor in deciding how far from the winning post the winning horse will be photographed. To find out more and to see who wins why not make a visit to see the work in situ.

We have just installed a new exhibition of works in the Learning Grid Leamington. The Learning Grid located inside Leamington Spa Town Hall was in need of something interesting for its walls and after meetings with staff members we decided on a collection of still life works done in different media and styles.

Why not go along and take a look.