Recording the Region 2017

14 Jun 2017

In 2017 Southampton City Art Gallery is hosting a series of exhibitions which invite artists working locally to display new and existing works inspired by the surrounding area.

Each of the shows will provide new interpretations on the local landscape and encourage us to look more closely at details that are often overlooked or considered common place.

The series begins with Hampshire Views featuring the work of Winchester based artist Caroline Hall. Spanning a decade of the artist’s practise 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 train and car windows made on journeys across Hampshire.

Hall has also created a new mixed media installation which explores the differences between the analogue skills of draughtsmanship and digital technology. Part film, part painting it focuses on shipping movements in Southampton Water using the familiar chimneys of Fawley oil refinery as a backdrop. At points during the exhibition the artist will be publicly painting elements of the film directly onto the specially constructed canvas causing the work to grow and morph

In August the gallery will be showcasing a collaborative project between artists Lizzie Mckellar and Lorraine Morris that charts the River Itchen from source to sea.

Exploring the river’s route through the Hampshire countryside during all seasons of the year the artists have created a body of work that explores the diversity of the landscape through photographs, sketches and paintings

First exhibited in 2013 at Pinglestone Barn, in Alresford, not far from the river’s source the project has grown and developed as it has toured to venues along the rivers path, completing the journey in the city where it flows out into Southampton Water.

Recording the Region 2017 will conclude in December with the exhibition Common Ground featuring work by Southampton based photographer David Baker.

Focusing on Southampton Common this exhibition is the culmination of 4 years spent documenting the space in the early hours of the morning. During the day this large communal space is used by hundreds of people and is home to a wide range of events. By showing it transformed by time and weather Baker hopes to motivate others to engage with the Common in a new and personal way.

Exhibition Programme 

29 April – 19 August: Hampshire Views; Caroline Hall

26 August – 25 November: The Itchen: From Source to Sea; Lizzie Mckellar and Lorraine Morris

2 December 2017- 7 April 2018: Common Ground; David Baker

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