Edmund Clark: In Place of Hate
Ikon Gallery, Birmingham,
6th December to 11th March 2018
For the last three years artist Edmund Clark has worked in HMP Grendon, on a residency funded by Ikon Gallery. Grendon is Europe’s only wholly therapeutic prison environment. The residents, mostly serving life sentences, come here by choice and commit to an intensive programme of psychological therapies. Clark uses pin-hole photography, found objects (wayward flowering weeds he has pressed, below,) and text to explore the experiences of inmates-—and his own, as a key-holder, free to leave. Ikon will also show the work of Australian artist and convict Thomas Bock (1793-1855).
Marion Adnams: A Singular Woman
Derby Art Museum and Gallery,
2nd December to 4th March 2018
As part of a programme of rediscovery of forgotten British art of the 20th century, Derby pays homage to Marion Elizabeth Adnams. Born in the city in 1898, where she mostly lived until her death in 1995, Adnams is best known for her distinctive, dream-like paintings, inspired by Paul Nash and René Magritte. Exhibiting in the 1940s alongside Henry Moore and Eileen Agar, she was a minor but still arresting exponent of British surrealism.
From Life
Royal Academy, 11th December to 11th March 2018
On the eve of its 250th birthday, the Royal Academy is scrutinising the Life Class, the bedrock of teaching at the RA Schools for 200 years. There will be paintings, films and drawings by RAs from Zoffany to Jenny Saville, with highlights including Jeremy Deller’s 2016 project, Iggy Pop Life Class, and Cai Guo-Qiang’s film One Thousand Youngsters Drawing David (2010). New work includes experiments with virtual reality technologies by Yinka Shonibare and Jonathan Yeo.
