11 January 2013
Series of exhibitions inspired by natural science
The University of Dundee is to host a series of exhibitions featuring artists inspired by natural science, and in particular by its first professor of biology, D'Arcy Thompson.
Two shows will open in the Tower Building on the evening of Friday, 18th January. In the Tower Foyer Gallery, painter Mark Wright draws on visual imagery sourced from organic structures and forms, exploring ideas of visual perception and concepts of beauty in the exhibition 'Unnatural Wonders'.
The exhibition in the Lamb Gallery takes its title, 'Drawn from Structures Living and Dead', from a section of D'Arcy Thompson's seminal book 'On Growth and Form'. The three artists work in various media but all of them use drawing as a starting point to help understand the natural world.
Curator Matthew Jarron said, "These exhibitions are the latest in a series of activities to tie into the collection of art inspired by D'Arcy Thompson that we received a grant to build.
"We're delighted to be showing work by four exciting contemporary artists who have drawn on D'Arcy's ideas and collections. Like the exhibitions we held last year as part of the same project, these shows demonstrate a range of different responses to his legacy."
Funding of £100,000 for the new collection was provided by The Art Fund, a fundraising charity enabling museums and galleries to buy, show and share art. They awarded the money through their RENEW programme, which gave a total of £600,000 to six UK museums to establish new collections of art which connect, in exciting and creative ways, with their existing holdings and current audiences.
'On Growth and Form' pioneered the science of mathematical biology and proved hugely influential to scientists and artists around the world. The specimens contained in the D'Arcy Thompson Zoology Museum have long been a source of inspiration to artists, but the grant will enable the University to acquire more works inspired by Thompson's work, as well as to bring more artists to Dundee to use the collection for their work.
Mark Wright is a Lecturer in Fine Art at Loughborough University and has exhibited widely in the UK and overseas. He will be showing a series of his large scale oil paintings, two of which have already been acquired for the University's art collection, during 'Unnatural Wonders'
'Drawn from Structures Living and Dead' features work from Gemma Anderson, Mirna Sarajlic and Lindsay Sekulowicz.
Gemma Anderson is based in Falmouth and is undertaking a PhD on isomorphology, looking at shared patterns across different natural forms and the role of the artist in helping scientists to understand these.
Dundee-based Mirna Sarajlic recently completed the Masters of Fine Art course at Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art and Design, for which she created a series of detailed etchings of animals. She will be showing some of these as well as new prints created specially for the exhibition based on specimens in the Zoology Museum.
Lindsay Sekulowicz, who works in London was artist-in-residence in the D'Arcy Thompson Zoology Museum during the summer as part of a collaboration with the Barns Graham Charitable Trust and the Royal Scottish Academy. She will be showing some of the results of her residency, including drawings and sculptural pieces.
The exhibitions will open at 5.15pm on Friday,18th January with a talk by Mark Wright in the D'Arcy Thompson Lecture Theatre. The event is free and open to all.
They will remain open until 23rd March. At the same time, a separate exhibition titled 'Mathematical Beauty: the Science & Art of Form' will be showing in the Gateway Galleries at the University of St Andrews, featuring several works that the University of Dundee has already acquired thanks to the Art Fund grant.
The Mathematical Beauty exhibition will feature historic pieces by such celebrated artists as Henry Moore and Wilhelmina Barns-Graham and modern works by Will Maclean, Roger Wilson and others.
There will be various special events to accompany the shows including a drawing workshop by artist Jennifer Robson on 26th January, a talk by Lindsay Sekulowicz about her residency on 20th February, and a lecture on 4th March by Petra Lange Berndt, art historian at University College London, exploring contemporary artists' responses to natural history collections.
There will be also be special openings of the D'Arcy Thompson Zoology Museum where new work will be shown by current MFA students at DJCAD.
More details are available at www.dundee.ac.uk/museum.
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Grant Hill
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University of Dundee
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