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Plymouth City Council Media Release Plymouth City Museum and Art Gallery will partially re-open on Saturday 3 May with two exciting temporary exhibitions. The Museum has been closed since the end of November 2007 while it undertakes a £1.2 million refurbishment programme. Work is progressing well and the start of the summer marks the beginning of its spaces becoming accessible to the public once more.
Dancing the Clay: Ceramics by Tony Lattimer A 10-year retrospective of works by ceramic sculptor Tony Lattimer. The exhibition will run until Saturday 14 June and will feature large-scale ceramics by the West Penwith-based artist. Included within the show is a nine-piece installation exhibited all last summer at the prestigious International Museum of Ceramics in Faenza, Italy. Tony was invited to exhibit as the European Master in an exhibition of ‘Three Masters’ which ran concurrently with the International Competition for ceramic artists under 40. My earlier ceramic pieces were inspired by forces of nature, particularly water, but more recently by life forces,” said Tony. I began to see how we celebrate life energy through dance. As a result my latest work has been about trying to capture the energy and movement of a celebrating body in the fired stillness of ceramic pieces. It’s quite a paradox but it excites me!” Visitors to the exhibition will be able to walk amongst Tony’s huge coil pots, which stand at approximately one and a half to two metres high each. A ‘Touch Pot’ will also enable them to experience the tactile qualities of his extraordinary work. In connection with the exhibition the Museum is offering a range of events including artist-led sessions for groups in the gallery on 21, 22 and 23 May and 12 and 13 June. Tony will also give a free lunchtime talk on Tuesday 3 June. Places on all these events are free but spaces must be booked in advance. All enquiries and bookings can be made by contacting 01752 304774. Where Are We? Questions of Landscape Also opening on 3 May is ‘Where Are We? Questions of Landscape’, a touring exhibition organised by the Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A) London, which will run until Saturday 28 June. The exhibition features more than 50 photographs of the changing landscape from the past 150 years and includes a cross-section of classic and contemporary photographers. Since the introduction of photography in the 1830s landscape photographs have become as varied as the terrain they map,” said Martin Barnes, Senior Curator of Photographs at the V&A. Photographers are easily placed to examine our environment and through their art they pose questions, give opinions and provide answers. The images in this exhibition allow us to look afresh at unusual and familiar environments and to examine our current position in the world.” This exhibition includes work by internationally renowned photographers such as Herbert George Ponting, Alfred Stieglitz, Bill Brandt, Ansel Adams and Ori Gersht as well as Devon-based Jem Southam and Cornwall-based Patrick Shanahan. Herbert George Ponting’s images were taken during the final expedition of Plymouth-born Robert Falcon-Scott (Scott of the Antarctic). June 2008 marks the 140th anniversary of the birth of this heroic explorer and the Museum will be offering two free lunchtime talks to mark the occasion on Friday 6 and Tuesday 10 June. Both talks will begin at 1.10pm but due to ongoing refurbishment works, will take place at Sherwell United Church, North Hill - just across the road from the main Museum. There is no need to book in advance. For more information call 01752 304774. ‘Dancing the Clay: Ceramics by Tony Lattimer’ and ‘Where Are We? Questions of Landscape’ will be on display at Plymouth City Museum and Art Gallery from Saturday 3 May. Opening hours are 10am to 5.30pm Tuesday to Friday and 10am to 5pm on Saturdays and Bank Holiday Mondays. Admission is free. 25 April 2008 |
