Nature is painting for us, day after day, pictures of infinite beauty if only we have the eyes to see them.
John Ruskin
Infinite Beauty is a unique exhibition that investigates the enduring appeal of nature as a subject for leading British contemporary artists. Drawn entirely from private collectors in Hampshire, many of the works on display will be exhibited publicly for the first time.
Victorian artist and art critic John Ruskin promoted nature as an inexhaustible source of truth and beauty and this exhibition demonstrates that this is still very much the case. Yet the fears of ecological disaster driven by climate change and humanity's impact on our environment have given a renewed sense of urgency and purpose to art focused on the natural world. Nature has provided food for the soul during the Coronavirus pandemic but we cannot take it for granted.
The exhibition explores the way in which artists interact with natural forms: plants, animals, habitats and the wider landscape and, in some cases, how their work comments on the ways human activity impacts the ecologies around us. It will feature an eclectic mixture of media, style and approaches with photography, printmaking, ceramics and sculpture helping us to look at our relationship with nature afresh. Works by leading artists will take us from familiar everyday experiences to the ends of the earth among the ice and snow of Antarctica.
Infinite Beauty is a group exhibition, featuring the work of Darren Almond, Edward Bawden, Harry Bertoia, Adam Buick, Rob & Nick Carter, Chris Drury, John Elwyn, Harry Epworth Allen, Beatrice Forshall, Elisabeth Frink, Andy Goldsworthy, Maggi Hambling, Ian Hamilton-Finlay, Eliot Hodgkin, Dan Holdsworth, Paul Kenny, Paul Kershaw, Alice Kettle, Claude Lalanne, Bernard Leach, Richard Long, Juliette Losq, David Mach, John Minton, Dennis Mitchell, David Nash, Thomas Reichstein, Tracey Sheppard, Emma Stibbon, Wendy Taylor, Silvy Weatherall and Kim Wilkie.
A lively and varied events programme has been planned to coincide with the exhibition. Click on the links below to secure your tickets.
- Richard Mabey: The Unofficial Countryside
20 Oct, 7pm - 8pm, Online Zoom https://www.arcwinchester.org.uk/event/unofficial-countryside - Infinite Beauty Curator's Tours with Steve Marshall
26 Oct, 10am/12pm/2pm/3.30pm, The Gallery: https://www.arcwinchester.org.uk/event/curators-tours-steve-marshall - Lorna Carmen McNeill: Mark Making with the Land
5, 12, 19 Nov, 11am - 1pm, Learning Room 1 & 2: https://www.arcwinchester.org.uk/event/mark-making-land - Chris Drury: Edge of Chaos
3 Nov, 7pm - 8pm, Performance Hall: https://www.arcwinchester.org.uk/event/edge-chaos - John Grande: The Ley of Land Art
10 Nov, 7pm - 8.30pm, Performance Hall: https://www.arcwinchester.org.uk/event/ley-land-art - Sir Peter Murray CBE: Sculpture, Space and Landscape
12 Nov, 11am - 12.30pm, Performance Hall: www.arcwinchester.org.uk/event/sculpture-space-and-landscape-sir-peter-murray-cbe
Don't miss the complementary exhibition HEARTH at City Space and in the atrium (until 13 November).
Image credits:
- Banner: Silvy Weatherall, Confusion, Guinea Fowl Feathers (2017) Image courtesy of the artist.
- Chris Drury, Wind Vortex – Sky Blu, Antarctica – (2007) Inkjet print, 975 x 716mm. Image courtesy of the artist.
- Juliette Losq, Widderschynnes (2014), ink and watercolour on paper mounted on canvas, 223 x 153cm. Image © Juliette Losq
- Wendy Taylor, Conqueror Maquette (2000) 67 x 43 x 33cm. Image courtesy of the artist.
