Lakeside Arts, the University of Nottingham's public art programme is to reopen this weekend since closing its doors in March due to the Coronavirus pandemic. On Saturday 17 October Lakeside's Djanogly Gallery will once again welcome visitors to enjoy an exhibition featuring works by the celebrated, Nottingham-born artist Mat Collishaw.
The show is the first major solo exhibition of leading contemporary artist Mat Collishaw (born 1966) in the city of his birth who since graduating from Goldsmith's College in the late 1980s has established an international reputation.
Collishaw rose to prominence in the 1990s as one of the defining generation of Young British Artists alongside his contemporaries Damien Hirst and Sarah Lucas. Often drawing on subjects from the history of art and photography, his works play with opposites, revealing the compelling power of imagery to attract and repel as well as to deceive us. Early forms of photography are combined with recent technology such as virtual reality and animatronics, to create works that address the moral dilemmas of the present day.
Featuring his 2016 installation Albion – a ghostly apparition of the Major Oak – alongside other artworks such as The Centrifugal Soul, a modern version of a Victorian zoetrope hinting at our modern-day preoccupation with self-image; this exhibition provides an inspiring contemporary art experience for anyone seeking a much-needed cultural recharge.
To ensure an enjoyable and safe experience for all, and in order to comply with the latest Government guidelines, Lakeside is limiting visits to one household per 30-minute timeslot. This means that audiences can pre-book safe in the knowledge that the gallery will be dedicated to them and others in their household – allowing visitors to enjoy their very own private tour of this fabulous exhibition!
The opening of Lakeside's Djanogly Gallery is only the first phase of a gradual reopening that will see the return of performances, workshops and other gallery and museum experiences across Lakeside's multiple venues. Looking ahead, Lakeside will deliver a series of outdoor and online workshops for families and young people through October half term, and the University of Nottingham Museum and the Weston Gallery will welcome back heritage loving visitors from the end of October.
The Museum has twice won Museum of the Year in the Nottinghamshire Heritage Awards and features archaeological artefacts from Nottinghamshire and the wider East Midlands.
The Weston Gallery reopens with a much-awaited display honouring Florence Nightingale's 200th birthday, celebrating the founder of modern nursing. This exhibition sheds new light on the Lady with the Lamp, exploring her family roots in Derbyshire, and her work after the Crimean War to improve sanitary conditions in homes. Again, online advanced booking for designated timeslots will be required.
