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Whether they be the sexual, spiritual or functional, and ranging from the playful to the dark, artistic works may be found through painting, drawing, sculpture photography and literature.
The striking new exhibition has been put together as part of the ‘Art and the community’ project by the Langwith Arts team of students. They have made it their mission both to increase the profile of Langwith College as a certifiable centre for arts within the university and wider York, and to strengthen York’s artistic community by forging links between artistic institutions such as Artspace, York St John, Dance Society, Film-making Soc and Art Soc.
The exhibition showcases art inspired by the universal subject of the human body; a source of creative inspiration that is as relevant today as it has been throughout history, and an important part of many creative artists’ training. In the words of one of the curators Kirsty Denison: “It has given everybody involved an opportunity to produce varied and dynamic artistic pieces under a unifying theme."
Works by postgraduate student and artist Tobi, who has already received attention for his contribution to the project, greets you at the gallery’s special entrance, setting a charmingly unashamed sexual and playful tone. It is a celebration of the voluptuous, contoured female form through life castings, well placed in the limited space to make the most of the light and shadow that makes them striking. I believe these sculptures capture a sense of sex appeal, without being derogatory whilst alluding to the woman as a figure of nurture and nourishment through her body.
In striking contrast to Tobi’s works were some of my favourites by Bethany Marett. Her life drawings have a simplicity and spiritual depth that draws you in, revealing a reflective character of the woman in the drawing rather than a perspective on her physical being. Her work uses nudity as a facilitator of spiritual intimacy and nakedness, rather than simply a study of bodily features.
Two stunning pieces by Simon Watkins can’t go without a mention. Simon is an extraordinary artistic talent whose technical finesse is such that you wouldn’t bat an eyelid if you saw them displayed in one of Italy’s famous art galleries. The timeless quality and depth of both of his works are an asset to the exhibition, and one of the two is a rare and therefore precious reference to the male sex.
One of curator Kirsty Denison’s paintings captures her subject unawares as if from the eyes of an adoring onlooker, focussing on the beauty of the female form. The other is a more complex image of a girl stripping that provokes notions of self-reflection and vanity though the sensitive depiction of an everyday event.
Sporadic genderless silhouettes or the affectionately termed ‘Leslies’, give the exhibition a witty twist, throwing the flair of all of the art works that make up the exhibition into relief though their clinical, lifeless form.
Antonia Shaw's weighty paintings depict a post-masectomy patient in her theatre robes were unquetionably the most moving response. Both paintings are charged with energy that captures arrestingly the harrowing trauma of masectomy, leaving you with a tragic sense of the unbearableness of losing part of your physical being.
Diversity of media and approach keeps you interested and makes this a great exhibition for experts and novices alike. All of the artists and their works already mentioned are just a few of many more, including Joshua Mardell’s photography that adds a refreshingly playful perspective on the human body and Charlotte Sykes’ energetic and raw abstract piece inspired by bodily movement in dance.
Given the challenge of its dual functionality as a corridor and a JCR as well as an art gallery, the Langwith Arts team have done an admirable job of making the exhibition exciting enough to compete with its surroundings while creating something that you can take something from whether you’ve just got two minutes or half an hour.
There is just enough information in the form of a little bit of history at the start of the exhibition to ground the subject matter, and numerous blown-up literary interjections juxtaposed with the works of art provide food for thought and give the exhibition a non-visual artistic dimension.
The hard work of the Langwith Arts team has certainly paid off as the success of the project speaks for itself. A thought provoking, professionally presented gathering of dynamic and exciting artworks has set a high standard for exhibitions to follow and is not to be missed.
The launch party will continue the celebration of the artistic talent in York’s various communities on the 2nd June. Take a break from revision and essays to enjoy free wine, ‘nibbles’ and witness the unveiling of Tobi's thought-provoking new piece We Feed the World. You won’t be disappointed.
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