Gallery Preview: Saturday 13 May 2017

Kathakali meets Carnival: Celebrating the traditions of South India and Carnival

13 May – 19 August

An exhibition of costumes and performances bringing together the culture and traditions of Southern India, the Caribbean, Hampshire and the Isle of Wight.

Exploring the heritage of centuries of grassroots culture, the exhibition and activities that form Kathakali meets Carnival unites storytelling through striking visual imagery, the sacred theatre of Southern India and flamboyant carnivals of Hampshire, the Isle of Wight and the Caribbean.

The exhibition will feature the highly colourful and eye-catching costumes owned by The Kala Chethena Kathakali Company and worn by Kathakali performers through the centuries, displayed alongside carnival costumes and parade exhibits from the New Carnival Company.

Caroline Hall: Hampshire Views

29 April – 19 August

Spanning a decade of the artist’s work, this exhibition is an examination of subject, surface and material.

Early works on canvas inspired by the Itchen Valley are displayed alongside a series of paintings created from film shot out of car and train windows. These split second glimpses of scenery are stretched across the surface of aluminum and capture a lasting impression of the accumulated blur of speed, colour and shape of the whirring landscape.

In a new mixed media installation created for this show Hall uses the setting of Southampton Water to explore the differences between the analogue skills of draughtmanship and digital technology.

At various points the artist will be working in the gallery, publicly painting elements of her projected film directly onto a large canvas. This work is playful, but it also questions our preconceptions. Image credit: Caroline Hall, Trees from a Train

Last chance to see: Out of the Blue

Out of the Blue is an exhibition by 13 members of the Oaklands Art Club, a community art group based in Southampton.

Oaklands Art Club was set up in 1991 by Jack Harrison and provides and meeting place where artists of all levels can practise their craft.

This exhibition forms part of the group’s 25th anniversary celebrations and presents a series of artworks created especially, responding to the theme of ‘The Sea’.

Exhibition runs from until 20 May 2017.

Image credit: Late afternoon Brixham Harbour © Peter Spalding