Raw Materials: New Exhibition at the Bethlem Gallery opens 29 May

Raw Materials: Work from Wood opens on Wednesday 29 May at the Bethlem Gallery. This exhibition of work from wood has been created by Sue Burbidge. Sue’s passion for raw materials manifests in a spectrum of creative outputs from sculptural forms, to turned vessels, crafted boxes and cabinets and monoprints taken directly from the tree’s form. Much of the wood has been locally sourced with some items on display created from trees felled from the Bethlem grounds. Also on show, will be a sculpture made for the Bethlem Orchard, a legacy from ‘Art in the Garden’ a collaboration between the Bethlem Royal Hospital Occupational Therapy Department, the London Orchard Project and the Local Food Project.

The Bethlem Gallery and Museum will also be open on Saturday 1st June, from 11am – 5pm. At midday, there will be a guided walk around the grounds by Sue Burbidge, starting from the Bethlem Gallery. This is a great opportunity to enjoy the spacious, peaceful site, which is criss-crossed by nature trails. Later that same afternoon (2pm), there will be a free talk in the museum. The Head of the Archives and Museum will explore the Guttman-Maclay Art Collection, which forms the backbone of the museum collection, including work by Louis Wain, Charles Sims and William Kurelek. Meanwhile, from 12 – 3pm, Art in the Garden will also take place in the O.T. Walled Garden on the Bethlem site. We’re hoping for sunshine!

Exhibition opening 29th May 3 – 6pm

Exhibition continues: 30th May – 21st June

Wednesday – Friday 11am – 6pm and Saturday 1st June 11am – 5pm.

Art in the Garden is open Friday 31 May (1 – 4pm) and Saturday 1 June (12 – 3pm) in the Walled Garden.

This exhibition is part of London Creativity and Wellbeing Week 2013 for more information visit: www.creativityandwellbeing.org.uk

Gods, Devils and Dreams: New Exhibition Opens at the Bethlem Gallery Next Week

Next week, on 24th April, a new exhibition opens at the Bethlem Gallery. Peter Harry Lewis White’s Gods, Devils and Dreams will run until 17 May, featuring large-scale paintings and detailed pencil drawings. His work depicts visions and dreamscapes that take the viewer on a journey into abstracted landscapes, figures and happenings. “My exhibition reflects my experiences and my creations. There are some windows into my memory and mind, but the rest is just colour and form.”

The exhibition will be open for Museums at Night 2013, a nationwide festival of late openings and events at museums and galleries, in which Bethlem is participating on Thursday 16 May. The Museum will be open until 7.30pm, with a special talk on Spiritualists and Spook-Spotters in the nineteenth century at 6.30 providing the perfect follow-up to an exhibition visit. How did psychiatrists explore hypnosis and spiritualism in late nineteenth-century Bethlem? What were the hospital’s connections with the Society for Psychical Research? And how were ‘spooky’ goings-on thought to help us explore the relationship between mind and body?

Gods, Devils and Dreams opens on 24th April (3 – 6pm) and continues 25th April – 17th May

Wednesday – Friday 11am – 6pm

Gallery and Museum also open Saturday 11th May, 11am – 5pm

Reversible Owl – Peter White

Escapism, Colour & Light: New Exhibition at the Bethlem Gallery opens this week

Escapism, Colour & Light is a new exhibition by Matthew at the Bethlem Gallery, opening this week (Wednesday 27 March). Matthew, a current Bethlem Royal Hospital resident, exhibits vibrant landscapes and abstracted forms, which engage the viewer in imagined terrains and simplified colourful shapes. His work reinvents familiar objects and visions through a sophisticated and playful artistic process.

Opening: 27th March, 3 – 6pm

Exhibition continues: 28th March – 19th April

Wednesday – Friday 11am – 6pm

Museum and Gallery open Saturday 6th April, 11am – 5pm

At 2pm on 6th April, there will be a final opportunity to tour the historic hospital boardroom, before the administration block is closed for building works. The Boardroom at Bethlem is located in the Art Deco administration block, soon to be temporarily closed for construction work on the new museum. It is something of a time capsule, with displays including heraldic crests dating back to 1547, the Bridewell Chandelier of 1757 and portraits from the art collection. This guided tour, starting at the Bethlem Museum, will offer visitors a history of the ancient hospital.

 

Village in Yellow by Matthew

Liz Atkin Exhibition at the Bethlem Gallery

My Singular Fascination, a solo exhibition of work by Visual Artist Liz Atkin, is on show at The Bethlem Gallery from 20 February to 15 March 2013. Liz’s work is informed by her curiosity with skin as a primary source for corporeal art, both as metaphorical membrane and physical boundary. With a background in theatre and dance, physicality underpins her creative practice. Her work centres on a multilayered exploration of the possibilities of marking, extending and transforming the skin to question the limits of the body across and within the porous textures of light and surfaces. This personal investigation explores body-focused repetitive behaviour, rendering the skin to matter for re-sculpting.

She explains, “My skin, at once a public organ and a private territory, carrying with it all that my body has known, is my singular fascination. Dermatillomania, or Compulsive Skin Picking, dominated my life over a period of more than 26 years, and led to the creation of marks and scars on my body. The secrecy, shame and damage of this compulsive illness was so significant that I had no choice but to confront it directly, to study it, better understand it and in doing so become liberated from it. Drawing upon my background and knowledge of dance and movement I began another kind of intimate discourse with my body.”

“My artistic practice combines movement, photography and fine art, with my skin always the common denominator. The compulsive movement memory patterns of my body are now used creatively as I work with texture in intricate dialogue with the skin. Using materials such as acrylic paint, latex, clay, insect wings, soil and more, I capture unique performed moments, micro-textures and dances with a scanner, video recorder or digital camera. I consider my skin as a site, a soft canvas, a terrain for imaginative transformation, but moreover one that continues to heal.”

The exhibition coincides with OCD Week, an initiative run by OCD Action to raise awareness and to dispel the myths and show the real cost of OCD.

Exhibition opens: 20 February, 3 – 6pm

Exhibition continues: 21 February – 15 March, Wednesday – Friday, 11am – 6pm

Museum and Gallery open Saturday 2 March, 11am – 5pm. Artists’ talk at 2pm.

Blue by Liz Atkin

Bethlem: A Museum of the Mind – Exhibition from 23 January to 8 February

An exhibition showcasing plans and artwork for the new ‘Museum of the Mind’ at the Bethlem Royal Hospital will be on display in the Bethlem Gallery from 23 January to 8 February 2013. The exhibition will provide an opportunity for public consultation on this exciting new community and education project, devoted to the history of mental health care.

The Bethlem Archives & Museum has supported research and exhibited treasures from its collections for over 40 years from the same small building tucked away on the Bethlem site. The stunning new ‘Museum of the Mind’ is due to open in 2014. Central to the new museum will be a permanent exhibition which will draw on the internationally recognised collections of archives, art and historic objects. The Bethlem Art and History Collections Trust have commissioned Real Studios (who recently completed the Voyagers gallery at the National Maritime Museum) to develop designs for the exhibition, which will be made publicly available in this exhibition.

Our ‘Museum of the Mind’ will be housed in the prominent Administration Building, which includes a stunning Art Deco reception area and staircase and the historic Boardroom of the hospital. The development of the museum has been made possible by two substantial grants awarded to the Bethlem Art and History Collections Trust in 2010, from the Heritage Lottery Fund and the Maudsley Charity. This exhibition will make the plans widely available for the first time, and we hope that many of our readers will take the opportunity to provide us with feedback, that will shape the final display, ensuring it meets the needs of all potential users.

On Saturday 2 February, at 2pm, we will be holding a consultation session. Visitors to the exhibition will be given a short talk on the plans by the Head of the Archives & Museum, followed by discussion. Don’t miss the chance to have your say!

Exhibition details:

Opening Event:                       23 January, 3 – 6 pm

Exhibition continues:            24 January – 8 February

Opening times:                       Wednesday – Saturday 11 am – 6 pm

Bethlem Gallery and Museum are both open Saturday 2 February, 11am – 5pm

Join us for a talk and discussion at the Gallery at 2pm

www.bethlemmuseumofthemind.org

Bryan Charnley – Broach Schizophrene