'Round the table' by Ray Kyte
An exhibition of artwork donated by the Contemporary Art Society (CAS) to the University of Liverpool will open at the Victoria Gallery & Museum (VG&M) on Friday, 28 May 2010.
The exhibition, `A Break with Tradition: 100 years of the Contemporary Art Society’, aims to promote understanding and appreciation of contemporary art. It will feature artwork given to the University of Liverpool by the CAS including Bridget Riley’s wallpaper designs for the Royal Liverpool University Hospital, Philip King’s Heart and Dennis Creffield’s Autumn Equinox I, which was inspired by J.M.W.Turner’s paintings of Petworth House.
As part of the exhibition’s public engagement programme, work will be on display by students from Liverpool Community College and Liverpool Adult Learning Services. The students studied the content and techniques used in the artwork `August,’ by contemporary artist Graham Arnold. They then produced their own memory collages inspired by his work. One of the key themes of the exhibition is to inspire visitors to consider their own responses to contemporary art.
The Contemporary Art Society was founded by a group of art enthusiasts in 1910 to encourage the appreciation and understanding of contemporary art and to develop public collections and collectors in the UK. The CAS buys from young artists and donates their work to British galleries and museums. It has presented over 8,000 works to public collections in the UK by artists including Henry Moore, Damien Hirst and Bridget Riley. The CAS is marking its centenary this year with a nationwide programme of events, displays and projects.
Matthew Clough, Director of the VG&M said: “The VG&M is delighted to be hosting this exhibition. We felt it was very important to mark the centenary of the CAS and to underline the significant contribution it has made, both to the developments of this particular collection and to the collecting arts in the UK. We are also very excited and impressed with the results of the engagement programme which forms part of this exhibition. We are currently working with the CAS to acquire a new work for the collection as part of their ongoing donation programme.