A total of 41 artworks by over 200 children and young people have been selected for Generation ART: Young Artists on Tour, a new exhibition which launches at Turner Contemporary in Margate on 2 June before touring to venues in Leicester and the Isle of Wight.
Supported by gallery education and advocacy organisation engage, Generation ART aims to demonstrate the importance of providing creative opportunities for children and young people.
By enabling them to be involved in a high quality exhibition at every stage – as curators, artists, audiences and champions – the project hopes to raise the aspirations of schools, teachers and children and young people themselves.
Projects by established artists will accompany the exhibition on each stop of the tour as a way to create a continuum between the young people’s artworks and those of their professional contemporaries. At Turner Contemporary, the exhibition will take place alongside a new installation by Grayson Perry, Provincial Punk.
Feelings and emotions
Among the selected works, Feeling Stones was created by a group of 14-18 year olds from Orchard School (Community Special School) in Kent. The pebble-like ceramics have been engraved with personal thoughts and emotions.
Their teacher Grace Jones explains: “Many of the children find it hard to express their own emotions so within this project we focused on using ceramics as a way of expressing their feelings.”
Children at Mellor Primary School, Leicester, have created a video work which showcases ideas inspired by both listening to and looking at other works of art. The Storm references Beethoven’s Symphony No 6 along with works by Turner, Lowry, Hokusai, Hiroshige and contemporary American landscape artists.
Pupils from two schools in Brighton created a photographic project, Looking in the Family Album, following a research trip to the Family Politics exhibition at Jerwood Space, London. Led by artists James Cassey, Alex Buckley and Marysa Dowling, the students collaborated with each other to create giant backdrops, costumes and fantasy portraits that make reference to the works of Cindy Sherman and Thomas Demand.
Speaking about the project, director of engage Jane Sillis said: “The open submission attracted impressive submissions from young artists created in many settings – school, galleries, youth centres and at home.
“The selection panel was impressed by the range of medium young artists used and the variety of stimulus they drew on, including artworks and the world around them. Many of the selected pieces were created in response to artworks or with the support of professional artists. We hope that the works on display in Generation ART will be a source of inspiration for other young artists, teachers, artists and educators alike.”
Generation ART: Young Artists on Tour, Turner Contemporary, Margate, 2 June – 6 September 2015. www.engage.org
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