09 Oct 2012

Whitworth Art Gallery | Autumn Season

Whitworth Art Gallery | Autumn Season

6 October 2012 – 27 January 2013

Three new exhibitions open at the Whitworth this October... find out more at: www.manchester.ac.uk/whitworth

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Jane and Louise Wilson

Bringing together recent works by the acclaimed British artists Jane and Louise Wilson, this exhibition features the world premiere of their new film The Toxic Camera alongside Atomgrad (Nature Abhors a Vacuum). Commissioned by Forma to coincide with the 25th anniversary of the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear disaster in the former Soviet Union, Atomgrad is a suite of large-scale photographs, depicting deserted interiors from the now almost entirely abandoned city of Pripyat, situated within the 30km wide exclusion zone around the former nuclear power station. The richly textured images of public spaces include a kindergarten, cinema and a swimming pool, all of which explicitly reveal years of decay and the hurried nature of their abandonment.

The Toxic Camera is a new film reflecting on the disaster, inspired by the film Chernobyl: A Chronicle of Difficult Weeks made by Soviet filmmaker Vladimir Shevchenko in the days immediately following the accident. On processing his film, Shevchenko noticed sections of it were heavily pockmarked and affected by static interference, coinciding with the sound of his Geiger counter measuring radiation, and realised that radiation was effectively 'visible' on the film material itself...

Find out more at: www.manchester.ac.uk/whitworth

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Hockney to Hogarth: A Rake's Progress

The Whitworth has been presented with David Hockney's entire print series A Rake's Progress (1961-1963) by the Contemporary Art Society. This joins William Hogarth's eighteenth-century series of the same title, which has been in the Whitworth's collection since 1926. To celebrate the coming together of these great works, this exhibition showcases both versions, unravelling their tales of transformation, youth, sexual discovery and unrequited love...

Find out more at: www.manchester.ac.uk/whitworth

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Aisha Khalid: Larger Than Life

Lahore-based Aisha Khalid is one of Pakistan's leading contemporary artists. She is part of a generation that has revitalised the traditional medium of miniature painting by juxtaposing decorative surfaces with deep socio-political subtexts around ideas about cultural expectations and stereotyping, the oppression of women and global politics in the aftermath of 9/11...

Find out more at: www.manchester.ac.uk/whitworth

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

VENUE CONTACT DETAILS:
Whitworth Art Gallery
Oxford Road | Manchester
M15 6ER | t: +44(0)161 275 7450
e: whitworth@manchester.ac.uk

VENUE OPENING TIMES:
Monday to Saturday 10am-5pm, Sunday 12pm-4pm

Admission is FREE

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -