Art of the east coast on display at mima

Works on display, including John Constable, focus on representations of the English east coast from the last 200 years

A new exhibition examining the landscape of the east coast opens at mima today.

The works on display, including John Constable, focus on representations of the English east coast from the last 200 years.

Running until June 27, the exhibition particularly looks at the influence of industry and technology on landscape.

The works on show are specifically drawn from the collections of Contemporary Art Society member museums and galleries on the east coast, and also consider the influence of art schools along the east coast.

From the early Norwich Society of Artists (1803–1833) to the progressive Time-Based Art course in Hull during the 1990s, artists and students have looked to the local landscape for inspiration.

Some works show a nostalgic view of landscape and the rural idyll, others a more political viewpoint and see a landscape under threat.

John Sell Cotman and Peter De Wint see it divided by landowners and industry in the 19th century, while Fran Cottell and Simon Poulter look at the privatisation of land during the Thatcher era.

The exhibition’s title - Damn Braces: Bless Relaxes - is taken from William Blake’s The Proverbs of Hell, from his illustrated poem The Marriage of Heaven and Hell (c 1789).

A copy of Blake’s Book of Job (c 1825) owned by poet Alfred, Lord Tennyson is on show complemented by a recording of Tennyson’s written descriptions of the Lincolnshire countryside.

The exhibition focuses on the landscapes of Northumbria, Humberside, Norfolk and Lincolnshire.

Meanwhile another new exhibition will open at mima on May 2. Chance Finds Us will feature work by eight North-east-based artists including Rachael Clewlow and Nick Kennedy, who were both born in Middlesbrough.

A number of new works have been made specifically with mima in mind, including two new paintings by Rachael. These works chart her movement through the local landscape in a series of walks made over the last six months, offering a new vision of Teesside’s geography.

“This exhibition is a fantastic opportunity to highlight the wealth of talent and the calibre of artistic thinking that is present in the North-east,” said Alix Collingwood, mima curator.

More details at www.visitmima.com.