New exhibitions at Plymouth City Museum and Art Gallery

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New exhibitions at Plymouth City Museum and Art Gallery - Plymouth City Museum and Art Gallery

By: Jo Clarke
Added: 22 February 2012

Plymouth City Museum and Art Gallery has a series of new and exciting exhibitions on display in early 2012 that are not to be missed.

The Museum’s headline exhibition for the spring is its Scott 100 show, ‘From Plymouth to Pole: Scott, Science and the Men who Sailed South’ (14 January to 14 April). The exhibition marks the 100^th anniversary of Plymouth-born Scott of the Antarctic leading the first British expedition party to ever reach the South Pole. It also commemorates the death of him, Edward Wilson, Henry Bowers, Lawrence Oates and Edgar Evans on their ill-fated return to base camp, highlight the scientific achievements of his expeditions and look at his local and naval associations.

‘Forms Most Beautiful’ is on display until 21 April. The exhibition has been produced by the Museum’s natural history department in partnership with Plymouth University and a variety of other marine organisations in the City. It will help people discover more about the tiny larval forms that populate the coastline around Plymouth, as well as the people who have studied and collected them since the 1800s.

The Museum also officially unveiled a brand new commission in early February. ‘Plymouth Porcelain: A New Collection’ has been created by British ceramic artist, Clare Twomey and has been partly created at London’s Victoria and Albert Museum, where Clare was the ceramic artist-in-residence in 2011. The artwork has been inspired by the Museum’s significant Plymouth Porcelain collection and features over 30 suspended cases containing white porcelain objects – all of which have been cast from objects suggested by the people ofPlymouth.

Later in the spring, visitors can look forward to another new exhibition called ‘Women in Art’, which will be on display from 3 March, showcasing a selection of work from the permanent collections that either portray or were created by women. The exhibition, which is dedicated to the memory of the Museum’s later Keeper of Art, Maureen Attrill, will cover Renaissance times to the modern day and will include historical portraits and 20^th century ceramics.

“We’ve definitely got a busy season ahead of us.” says Exhibitions and Partnerships Officer, Judith Robinson. “Our programme is very full and varied and includes a really interesting combination of in-house curated exhibitions, partnership working, historic collections and contemporary artwork. As always, each of our shows will be reinforced by a range of events for families and adults as well as the education and outreach work that we’ve got such a good reputation for.”

Exhibitions coming up later in the year include shows that look at the previously hidden history of the city’s LGBT communities; the influence of China on western decorative art; the history of surfing and the Newlyn School of Artists. A headline autumn/winter exhibition focusing on Plymouth-born artist and first ever director of London’s National Gallery, Sir Charles Eastlake is also currently in development, in partnership with the National Gallery.

To stay up to date with Plymouth City Museum and Art Gallery’s exhibition and event programmes visit www.plymouthmuseum.gov.uk or call 01752 304774. More information about Scott of the Antarctic is also available from www.plymouth.gov.uk/scott100