WHITWORTH Art Gallery has a range of new exhibitions ready for the summer, not least of which is Nikhil Chopra’s Coal on Cotton which is being shown as part of Manchester International Festival
Chopra’s performance will last 65 hours, beginning at sunrise on Friday 5 July and drawing to a close at sunset on Sunday 7 July.
For Coal on Cotton, Indian artist Nikhil Chopra will focus on the two materials that contributed to Manchester’s enormous wealth in the 19th century.
In a sustained performance, situated in the Whitworth’s half-built Landscape Gallery, Chopra will draw on personal and collective memory to reveal the complexities and correlations in India and Britain’s shared cultural histories. Chopra’s performance will last 65 hours, beginning at sunrise on Friday 5 July and drawing to a close at sunset on Sunday 7 July.
In addition, Whitworth Art Gallery has six new exhibitions for the Summer Season from July to September.
Revolutionary Light brings together examples of work on paper from the Whitworth’s collection. Prints and watercolours by William Blake, Anish Kapoor and JWM Turner explore light as a powerful, mysterious and celestial force.
Continental Drift will include works from the collection by leading European artists and makers as well as British artists with particular links with the Continent. The exhibition will feature an array of European greats, from Dürer to Picasso to Freud.
Idle Thoughts, brought to us by Pavel Büchler, consists of a series of diary pages, which at first purport to expose his most private thoughts. However, by limiting the number of pages, and through a process of overwriting the text, the diaries become significantly illegible.
Deep Water by Alison Wilding will occupy the Gallery’s Sculpture Court. This important work from the collection is made up of a steel column rising from a wide base, which will transform the space. The work has an austere and grave presence, which silently communicates the artist’s preoccupation with materials, weight, darkness and light.
Wall to Wall: New Wallpaper Acquisitions - The Whitworth’s collection of wallpapers and wall coverings, many by visual artists, is one of the most internationally significant in the UK. The show brings together more than 30 of the Whitworth’s new acquisitions dating from the 18th – 20th centuries displayed together for the first time.
Construction is inspired by the Whitworth’s continued physical transformation. The exhibition will showcase works by British artists from the Whitworth and Manchester Art Gallery’s collections, which were made based on mathematical and architectural principles. As the Whitworth embarks on a new phase of architectural development, these artists’ interests in architectural forms, space, light and nature become more pertinent than ever.
