News

Monday 17 November 2008

Unloud paintings at Nottingham Trent University (27 November to 19 December)

A breathtaking mosaic display of 1,600 tiny paintings exploring environment and culture in northern Russia is to go on display at Nottingham Trent University. It is the first time that Duncan Higgins' Unloud paintings have been shown as a whole, since the visual artist was awarded a fellowship to carry out a three year project by NESTA (National Endowment for Science Technology and Arts).

The exhibition, from 27 November to 19 December in the University’s Bonington Gallery, aims to reflect Duncan Higgins' experience with the places he visited and the people he met on Russia's Solovetsky Islands. He uses a variety of methods as source material for the 10cm x 7.5cm paintings – drawings, DVDs, photography, mobile phone images, books and artefacts – before carrying out the work in his studio.

The Solovetsky Islands, often referred to as Solovki, are just 165km from the Arctic Circle. The six islands are known for their scenic beauty and have long been used for both retreat and exile. Founded in the 15th Century, its monastery was one of Russia's most famous and holy, and became a major pilgrimage destination – but it was also a place of exile and in the 20th Century was used as a brutal Soviet prison camp at which hundreds of prisoners died.

Duncan Higgins, an established and exceptional visual artist based in the University’s prestigious School of Art and Design, said: "Each of the 1,600 paintings is a response to a direct encounter with something; a place, a person, an object, an idea, an emotion or a question I have experienced in northern Russia over the last three years. Altogether they are structured as a complete idea, an interwoven whole.

"Northern Russia is shrouded in a rare serene stillness and beauty, undermined, in my mind, by the decaying presence of evil. When I first stepped off the plane on Solovki Island I experienced a sudden shift in my understanding of my cultural place in the world. I see this work as part fact, part fiction, part ghost story, part love story, and almost a painted film."

He added: "For me, painting is a form of imaginative thinking through a material practice. These places are a compelling and unique microcosm of concentrated social and political history that touch not only my own, but wider shared histories. It is a place of limits or an extreme situation incorporating the climate extremes, geographical extremes, extremes of faith, brutality, beauty and fantasy."

ENDS

Notes for editors: The exhibition is open Monday to Thursday 10am to 5pm, and Fridays 10am to 4pm. Admission is free.

NESTA (www.nesta.org.uk) is the National Endowment for Science, Technology & the Arts. Its mission is to transform the UK's capacity for innovation. With the largest portfolio of early-stage businesses in the country, it is a leading authority on how to grow new ideas. We also stimulate imaginative solutions to pressing social issues and shape policy to help the UK meet its national innovation challenges.

For more information please contact +44 (0)115 848 6131.

Press enquiries please contact Dave Rogers, Senior Press Officer, on telephone +44 (0)115 848 8782, or via email dave.rogers@ntu.ac.uk or Therese Easom, Press and Media Relations Manager, on telephone +44 (0)115 848 8774, or via email therese.easom@ntu.ac.uk