Event type: Exhibition

In the Window – December –...

Wait and See is a collection of twenty-four shadow-boxes, one to be opened on each of the days of Advent, from the first of December until Christmas Eve.

Each box is unique, and is made using collage, printmaking and bookbinding techniques, with layers of opaque and translucent paper creating three-dimensional scenes.  The boxes can be lit from the front or from behind, creating a play of light and shadow.

As well as for Advent Elizabeth’s boxes could be given to mark a special or memorable date such as a birthday or anniversary as each one has a number on the front which is lifted to reveal each magical scene she has created.

The boxes are inspired by Victorian toy theatres, Eastern European animation, and fairy tales, and by my own memories of making Advent calendars as a child. And I wanted to make a thing of delight to brighten dark days, to make something glad.

Elizabeth Willow

The Tudors: Passion, Power and Politic...

The Tudors: Passion, Power and Politics will open at the Walker Art Gallery on 21 May 2022, featuring around one hundred objects.

This includes almost seventy works from the National Portrait Gallery, a selection of additional loans, and paintings from the Walker Art Gallery’s collection. It is the first time such a significant number of the National Portrait Gallery’s renowned Tudor portraits have been lent for exhibition.

The Walker’s show will follow a smaller exhibition of 25 works at The Holburne Museum in Bath in January, with both exhibitions encompassing some of the most famous portraits from the National Portrait Gallery’s Tudor collection.

The exhibition presents the five Tudor monarchs, Henry VII, Henry VIII, Edward VI, Mary I and Elizabeth I, some of the most familiar figures from English history and instantly recognisable in the portraits that have preserved their likenesses for five hundred years.

The dynasty’s reign over sixteenth-century England, from 1485 to 1603, encompassed the tumultuous years of the Reformation; a literary renaissance; conflict with Scotland, France and Spain; conquest and colonisation in Ireland and America; and the expansion of England’s global reach through piracy and trade.

This major exhibition at the Walker will explore the Tudors from a range of perspectives. It will spotlight some historically underrepresented aspects of the period, including Black Tudor history and LGBTQ+ history.

Image: Queen Elizabeth, (c) National Portrait Gallery

Inspired by Lady Lever

A fabulous gown created for Lady Lever will go on display for the first time in this display celebrating 100 years of history at Lady Lever Art Gallery, and the life of the woman it’s named after.

Elizabeth Lever was a support and inspiration to her husband throughout the development of Lever’s business, Lever Brothers, and the building of the village of Port Sunlight. Although Lord Leverhulme named the gallery after his wife, who died in 1913, there is very little in the gallery about Elizabeth herself.

A recent rediscovery in the gallery store of a court dress, which belonged to Elizabeth, has provided the opportunity to exhibit this personal piece of history of Elizabeth Lever and to shed more light on her story.

George Cockram: From Birkenhead to Ang...

From Birkenhead to Anglesey: An artist rediscovered. Curated by Charles Nugent

This exhibition brings together for the first time George Cockram’s paintings from across his career from the 1880s to the 1940s. By the early 1890s, Cockram (1861-1950) was a successful artist with an established reputation. He regularly commanded three figure sums for his works – substantial amounts for the period. Presented chronologically, this exhibition recognises Cockram’s accomplishments and begins to redress his recent obscurity.

Born at 51 Thomas Street, Birkenhead, Cockram studied at the Liverpool School of Art under John Finnie between 1876 and 1884. He regularly exhibited at the Royal Academy in London, at the Walker Art Gallery in Liverpool and at the Royal Cambrian Academy in Conwy, as well as in exhibitions in Manchester, Birmingham, Glasgow, and as far afield as New Zealand. His works are in a number of public collections throughout Britain including the Williamson, Walker Art Gallery, Ferens Art Gallery, Tate and Oriel Môn.

Much of what is known about Cockram is taken from newspaper articles and reviews, letters and receipts for paintings. These are brought vividly to life in this exhibition and illustrated book by Charles Nugent, which is on sale in the gallery. Several of the paintings have been sold and withdrawn from the exhibition, though they are all illustrated in the catalogue with detailed entries; the numbering has been retained to match the published catalogue (available to purchase for £15). All the numbered paintings are for sale.

They are grateful to Charles Nugent for amassing and preserving this incredible collection.

Open Wednesday, Thursday and Friday 10:30 – 5
Saturday 10:00 – 4:30

Refractive Pool: Contemporary Painting...

The Refractive Pool project, which started in 2019, has explored contemporary painting in the city through events, a book and online resources, highlighting the diverse range of artists and painting styles, and culminates in this exhibition.

Liverpool-based artists Josie Jenkins and Brendan Lyons have selected and curated the exhibition, which will feature 20 local artists to give an overview of the community of painters based in the city.

The Refractive Pool book will feature 40 Liverpool-based artists who work with paint and will include exclusive new poetry by Paul Farley.

MaMa Pop-up

Bringing art back into Dr Martin Luther King Jr Building (MLK), National Museums Liverpool is delighted to announce Migrant Artists Mutual Aid (MaMa) as the creatives for the first in a series of pop-up exhibitions planned for the much-loved venue.

Running from 4 March to 5 June 2022, this exhibition will drive a series of thrilling and captivating pop-up displays that will run throughout 2022 / 2023.

Founded in 2011, MaMa is a cross-national network of women, mothers, migrants, artists, academics, and activists who work together to support members who are seeking sanctuary, and campaign for justice in the migration system.

Their pop-up exhibition will be a visually strong and immersive experience, as well as a platform for engagement discussion and debate, MaMa plan to include music, performance poetry and workshops. The participation of communities in the development will focus on the long and deep relationships that MaMa has as a community of migrants, refugees, and asylum seekers with groups across the city.

MaMa will work with National Museums Liverpool as well as with vulnerable and marginalised participants in Liverpool, developing their artistic response to Liverpool and its role in historic slavery through an immersive soundscape of music and spoken word augmented by visual elements taken from the Slavery Museum’s rich archival material and newly created artistic works.

I AM ME

A group of young women from St Helens will open a brand new art exhibition on 10 December in the old Tyrers Building (and second space for MD Creatives for use by community groups and multi-agency collaborations) exploring young people’s experiences.

Produced by St Helens arts organisation Heart of Glass, the exhibition entitled I AM ME will be a chance for audiences to see new artworks including film, photography, poetry and sculpture made by the young women alongside other artworks they have curated.

In the new year, the show will tour schools/colleges and other venues across  the city region.   The group, aged 15-25, -have been working with professional artist  Sophie Mahon over the last year. Together with Sophie, they have been developing their experience in different art forms including film,  photography, poetry, sculpture and installation, exploring issues that are important to them and supporting one another to develop their  creativity and skills as well as learn more about co-curating an exhibition.

Alongside their own sculptures, drawings and poems, the group have also selected a number of artworks created by artists and young people in St Helens that resonated with them and the themes explored in the exhibition:

Artworks on display include:

Running on Fumes

A film by Caroline Smith in collaboration with ten young people exploring their experiences of St Helens High Street, the impact of Covid-19, and their hopes for the future. Commissioned by Historic England as part of Future of the High Street; a series of ten new short films organised by a range of UK arts organisations and created by contemporary filmmakers in collaboration with young creatives. (https://www.heartofglass.org.uk/projects-and-events/projects/running-on-fumes)

Queer Treatment

A animated short film by Amy Pennington exploring connection, identity, representation and celebrating queer icons past and present. (https://www.heartofglass.org.uk/project-and-events/events/queer-treatment-a-new-animated-film-by-artist-amy-pennington)

PARRTY

A new Zine* for young women, by young women celebrating their voices, views and interests. PARRTY is a project by Kate Hodgson in collaboration with girls and young women living in and around Parr St Helens. (*DIY – Do It Yourself / Self published magazine) (https://www.heartofglass.org.uk/projects-and-events/projects/parrty)

Level the Playing Field

A new sculptural work created by Sophie Mahon exploring and incorporating the responses of 6000 school children in St Helens collected as part of #DearStHelens, which asked the children of our town ‘what does a child-friendly borough look like and feel like to live in? The sculpture represents children and young people’s collective concerns and hopes for the future, with imagery and text taken directly from their responses.

FREE Drop In Sessions

– Sat 11th Dec – MD Creatives will be performing a pop up dance routine  in the space at 11am & 3pm
– Sun 12th Dec – Kate Hodgson will be hosting a free drop in ‘Make your own zine’ workshop between 12pm – 4pm  (all materials will be provided)

The exhibition will run from 10 – 15 December, at the old Tyrers Building, Bridge Street, St Helens, 10am – 4pm, entry is FREE.

The project is part of the local arts organisation Heart of Glass’s Young Hearts programme which is about creating a safe and welcoming space  for young women to learn together, share their stories, and to develop their creativity.

In addition to the creation and curation of artworks, the young women have had the opportunity to visit art galleries and exhibitions in Leeds and  London including The Tetley, Tate Modern and Wellcome Collection where they have learned more about the process of making, curating and  developing art.

This project has been commissioned by the local arts organisation Heart of Glass with support by Paul Hamlyn Foundation and is part of the  Young Hearts Programme exploring young women’s voices and experiences living and growing up in St Helens.

Heart of Glass Producer Kate Houlton said:

“In a world still dominated by male artists, it’s been so exciting to see this amazing group of young women come together, support one other  and launch this amazing exhibition in an incredible town centre space. At Heart of Glass we believe that arts belongs everywhere, to everyone  and we are so excited that this project will go on to tour to schools, colleges and venues across the Liverpool City Region so that we can shine  a light on the experiences of this group of young women and open up a dialogue about the issues and themes they’ve explored.”

Artist Sophie Mahon said:

“It has been a genuine pleasure to work with such an inspiring group of women to explore issues that affect us all and to provide a platform for  young people’s voices to be heard. This exhibition showcases some of the ideas, concerns and hopes that have come through conversations  and creations with the young women’s group and from young people across St Helens.”

Participant, Sandy-Rose, age 23, said: “Ive been able to explore skills I never knew I had and unlocked a lot of creativity. I’ve really enjoyed being part of a group that totally understand and support each other. “

Fresh Perspectives

The bi-annual exhibition of inspiring artworks by young people from Wirral secondary schools.

Aiming to celebrate, nurture and encourage the artistic talents of local students and engagement with arts and culture outside of the classroom, Fresh Perspectives is always a local highlight.

This will be the fifth time the exhibition has taken place.

Doctor Who: Worlds of Wonder

From epic monsters to costumes and props, science is brought to life exploring some of the Doctor’s many adventures and encounters through space and time.

This world premiere exhibition will see visitors engage with original artefacts, sets and much more – it’s a must-see for any fan of Doctor Who and science enthusiasts too.

Journeying through the world of Doctor Who, visitors will discover the science that weaves its way through the history of the longest-running sci-fi TV show in the world, which has been on our screens for almost 60 years.

Explore the past, present and future of the Earth and the vast reaches of the cosmos in this imaginative new exhibition, presented by Sarner International under license from BBC Studios.

Art in the Mansion: Suzanne Grace and ...

Suzanne Grace and Steve Bayley are local Liverpool artists who enjoy interacting with nature and specialise in fine art painting.

Their mutual interest in the natural world and conservation issues has inspired them into forming this collaboration. Whilst Steve works from Hub Studios and Gallery in the Baltic Triangle, Suzanne works from Wild Art Studio local to Calderstones.

Both artists’ works have included a large variety of contemporary and expressionistic styles whilst also venturing into more traditional practices like portraiture and landscape art.

Their art is a mixture of abstract and subjective works which involves many different processes of mark making. Both have exhibited locally and throughout the North West and have undertaken a number of commissions.

All works are for sale and can be purchased via The Reader Shop.