Edward Lear, Moment to Moment
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Oxford
Department Name: English Faculty
Abstract
Lear is known around the world as a prolific nonsense poet, but his first love was drawing and painting. Over a period of fifty years, he travelled in Europe, the Balkans, the Middle East, India, and beyond, composing thousands of pictures. 'Edward Lear, Moment to Moment' brings together, for the first time, an outstanding selection of sketches and paintings from across the whole span of his career. Drawing on several collections and archives in the USA, the UK, and Europe, the exhibition will demonstrate Lear's acute sensitivity to cultural and geographic contexts, showing how his radically associative mind and method forge connections between disparate parts of his experience. At several points, the project will encourage consideration of how Lear's artistry can contribute to debates about the dynamics of multicultural exchange.
In addition, both the exhibition and the public programme explore how Lear's itinerant life, one lived in many ways from moment to moment, fed into his creative process. The artist's troubled family history and his complex attitude towards his homosexuality -- along with his lifelong troubles with epilepsy, depression, and mental instability -- had a major influence on his work. This project shows how questions about sexual and social identity, physical and mental illness, became informing preoccupations of his art -- and, crucially, it demonstrates how Lear conceived his art not merely as marked by his past but as a form of therapy for dealing with it.
Pushing beyond received views of Lear as merely genial or trivial, this project concentrates attention on how the artist experienced himself as an oddity, a stranger, a spectator ('Society is a game I can't play at,' he lamented). Lear was fascinated by forms of exile and uprootedness, migration and marginality; his 'outsider' status helped to make him an acute analyst of social codes, and of the ways in which these codes might be re-thought and reshaped. The exhibition comes at a time when debates about community diversity and cohesion -- and the role art might play in developing such connections -- are prominent. In addition, recent interest in art therapy, and in forms of creative mindfulness which attend to the present moment, speak to a public need to utilize art in order to foster mental and physical health. Both the exhibition and public programme aim to respond to this need. The underlying motivation of the project is to explore the ongoing legacy of Lear's work by inviting audiences to consider how he speaks from his moment to ours.
In addition, both the exhibition and the public programme explore how Lear's itinerant life, one lived in many ways from moment to moment, fed into his creative process. The artist's troubled family history and his complex attitude towards his homosexuality -- along with his lifelong troubles with epilepsy, depression, and mental instability -- had a major influence on his work. This project shows how questions about sexual and social identity, physical and mental illness, became informing preoccupations of his art -- and, crucially, it demonstrates how Lear conceived his art not merely as marked by his past but as a form of therapy for dealing with it.
Pushing beyond received views of Lear as merely genial or trivial, this project concentrates attention on how the artist experienced himself as an oddity, a stranger, a spectator ('Society is a game I can't play at,' he lamented). Lear was fascinated by forms of exile and uprootedness, migration and marginality; his 'outsider' status helped to make him an acute analyst of social codes, and of the ways in which these codes might be re-thought and reshaped. The exhibition comes at a time when debates about community diversity and cohesion -- and the role art might play in developing such connections -- are prominent. In addition, recent interest in art therapy, and in forms of creative mindfulness which attend to the present moment, speak to a public need to utilize art in order to foster mental and physical health. Both the exhibition and public programme aim to respond to this need. The underlying motivation of the project is to explore the ongoing legacy of Lear's work by inviting audiences to consider how he speaks from his moment to ours.
People |
ORCID iD |
| Matthew Bevis (Principal Investigator) |
| Description | Edward Lear is known around the world as a prolific nonsense poet, the author of 'The Owl and The Pussy-Cat' and many other limericks and songs. But his first love was drawing and painting. Over a period of fifty years, he travelled in Europe, the Middle East, India, and beyond, composing thousands of pictures. Edward Lear, Moment to Moment was the first exhibition solely devoted to Lear's sketches and landscape drawings from across the whole span of his career. One of the key findings of Edward Lear, Moment to Moment was the new light it shed on the artist's fascination with the creative process, including the very process through which his work comes into being (experimental methods of composition, successive drafts, doodlings, and written marginalia in the drawings and paintings). The show offered a study of the momentary-the thrilling, haunting evanescence of the moment as apprehended by Lear, and his commitment to the sketch itself as an unpredictable medium for essaying thought and feeling. |
| Exploitation Route | Future related research and exhibitions. |
| Sectors | Creative Economy,Education,Culture, Heritage, Museums and Collections |
| URL | https://www.ikon-gallery.org/exhibition/moment-to-moment |
| Description | The public programme that went with this exhibition has multiple impacts. Please see the report below -- compiled by the Ikon team and myself -- for the key impacts: Formal Learning 3 digital resources, 41 downloads 21 self-guided and guided tours, 534 participants 30 workshops, 900 participants 1 teacher CPD session, 10 participants AHRC category: Exhibition materials; Picturing Empire Artist Taiba Akhtar produced school packs for key stages 1, 2 & 3 to accompany the Edward Lear exhibition. To date, there has been 41 downloads of the packs, including 3 schools (1 Artsmark) for distribution to 192 students (working towards Arts Award Bronze). "As an artist and printmaker my practice is a journey of self, derived from the constant recitation of Quranic verses, alluding to meditation and intuition. My evolving interest in language and communication binds the spoken, written and the read, emphasising hidden meanings and capturing space, place and memories. Not only did Lear's visuals spark interest but also the text as notes to self-compiling the nonsensical, subconscious as well as his later reworkings. It was an opportunity to stop and appreciate the emergent and the ephemeral, becoming responsive within space and place, feeling serenity, multiples unravelling yet derived from journeys. The journeys become impermanent, differing from you to me, here to there, moment to moment." - Taiba Akhtar, Artist 900 primary school students visited Ikon for workshops on the theme of journeys connected to the Lear exhibition. Led by artist Sarah Hamilton Baker, the workshops encouraged pupils to explore the artworks through exercises, discussion and producing their own drawings and paintings. The visits formed part of Ikon's 2022/3 partnership project with the Creative Connections consortium of 13 primary schools (including 6 Artsmark). Sladefield Infant School and Jervoise Primary School in Edward Lear: Moment to Moment Artist Monica Perez Vega led a teacher CPD session, introducing participants to a variety of drawing techniques inspired by Lear's experimental methods. Ikon welcomed 21 self and guided tour groups of the gallery including 4 primary, 6 secondary, 6 FE and 6 HE. "I brought three groups to see the Lear exhibition. One was a group of Year 1 BA Art History students (approx. 35). We discussed the different ways in which historical art works are curated; students were surprised to see pre-20th century paintings displayed in a white cube setting, so it was a productive point of discussion. I also brought a group of Year 2 BA Art History students, taking my special subject module 'Art, Race, and the British Empire'. The Lear exhibition allowed us to explore the complexities of Orientalist landscape imagery. It also provided students with the opportunity to see the working processes behind the creation of oil canvasses. Finally, I brought the British Art Network Research Group (artists, museum professionals and academic researchers) 'Race, Empire and the Pre-Raphaelites' to view the exhibition. It allowed the group to consider the role of imperialism and travel in Lear's practice, and to contrast this with better known works by his Pre-Raphaelite peers. It led to particularly interesting discussions about colour and imperialism, and the place of ancient Egypt in Victorian imperial imaginaries. In terms of my own personal research, the show was a prompt to learn more about Lear, and to engage with an 1860s travel painter with whose works I was previously completely unfamiliar." - Dr Kate Nichols, Associate Professor in Art History, University of Birmingham Public programme 3 gallery events, 79 attendees Exhibition guide, printed and digital, 401 downloads Symposium schedule, printed and digital, 175 downloads Showcase, 363 visitors AHRC category: Exhibition materials; Symposium; ' Matthew Bevis and Jonathan Watkins introducing Edward Lear in the Round The symposium, Edward Lear in the Round, uncovered key themes from the exhibition with papers by literary and art historians. The event was live broadcast and archived on Ikon's YouTube account. "The Edward Lear exhibition was an opportunity to think through some of the knottiest parts of Lear's landscape work. I produced new research for it, based on the Vivien Noakes archive, which I hope will feed into a future article. It was tremendously helpful and a real landmark in the Lear calendar." - Dr Noreen Masud, Lecturer in English, University of Bristol DASH associate artist Aidan Moesby gave a gallery talk titled Edward Lear Under the Weather "I hadn't been aware of the connection of Lear and disability, both in a documented aspect of his eyesight, epilepsy and depression and the representation of these in his work. This has opened up another layer of research within my artistic and curatorial practice." - Aidan Moesby, Artist with SHOUT festival; Edward Lear Under the Weather Queer Lear' -workshop in association The stream had a peak audience of 32 people and generated 280 views across the course of the day. The recording was archived on the website and YouTube channel with a total of 1240 views. Comparing the romanticism of Lear's era to the climate criticality of the present day, he considered our current relationship to the weather and how it impacts upon us emotionally. Artist John Yeadon showcased a selection of old and new works, curated by producer Channi Dorset in Ikon's Events Room. Part of SHOUT Festival 2022, the exhibition and artist talk, titled Queering Edward Lear, considered Victorian attitudes towards homosexuality experienced by Lear. "I knew Lear painted landscapes abroad but didn't fully appreciate the significance of a gay man travelling abroad in the 19th century - escaping the punitive laws on sexuality in Britain. I was also interested how this travelling paralleled many other 19th century homosexuals. I knew of Sir Richard Frederick Burton, not realising Lear was an avid reader of Burton's stories and travels, or that Lear painted a watercolour portrait of Burton in Arab garb. One of the outcomes of my investigations into Lear is how much things have changed. Britain was the worst place to be gay in the 19th century compared with the rest of the world, today it's arguably one of the safest countries to be LGBTQ. I have a great nephew who came out when he was 15 and though I was illegal all my teen age years the art world tended to be rather forgiving. I reflect how fortunate I have been compared with Lear." - John Yeadon, Artist John Yeadon and Channi Dorset delivering the talk Queering Edward Lear Families 2 workshop sessions, 50 attendees Sea Legs Puppet Theatre performed Edward Lear's Dream, a production based on The Owl and the Pussy-cat using imaginative story-telling and puppetry. "I came to the Sea Legs puppet show at Ikon with my young family and some of their friends and we all absolutely loved it! My son is a very active 4-year-old but he was completely absorbed throughout the whole performance and it's given us confidence that we can try other similar experiences with him." - Family Saturday attendee Sea Legs Puppet Theatre performing Edward Lear's Dream at Ikon Gallery Art at HMP Grendon 1 workshop, 8 participants AHRC category: Edward Lear Under the Weather DASH associate artist Aidan Moesby led a workshop on Lear's use of colour, introduced by Professor Matthew Bevis, Oxford University. Bevis subsequently met the prison's Governor to discuss a new project supporting prison communities with monthly poetry classes. The men are continuing to engage with Lear's landscapes through six workshops by artists Fae Kilburn and John Yeadon from February - March 2023. The workshops will coincide with an exhibition at the prison of work - by Fae Kilburn, John Yeadon, Aidan Moesby and Simon Faithfull - in response to Edward Lear: Moment to Moment. Each artist is in dialogue with different aspects of Lear's landscapes, considering his use of series, colour and the ephemeral nature of his work. For example, Kilburn's silkscreen prints, titled Transient Moments, celebrate her perspective as a neurodivergent and partially sighted artist. Like Lear, Kilburn has epilepsy and seeks inspiration and sanctuary in the landscape. "Lear is an artist I feel connected to and his work moves me unlike any other artist, from our shared lived experience, the stigma feared and faced to the beautiful work he created. Our perspective is so often seen as less than, despite artists with disabilities throughout history changing the art world forever." - Fae Kilburn, Artist S ocial care 7 self-guided and guided tours, 145 participants AHRC category: Crossing Boundaries Ikon welcomed informal learning groups, including Pink Sou'westers, Birmingham City Mission and The Arts Society Worcester. Artists Simon Faithfull, Monica Perez Vega and Polly Brant led workshops for The Voice of the Domestic Workers, a support network and campaign organisation for migrant domestic workers. "Although the artist Edward Lear comes from a very different time and context, I discovered through this exhibition that there is a curiously close correspondence between Lear's observational sketches and my own itinerant drawing practice. Both Lear and myself use line drawings to capture moments and places somewhere on this planet - a record of wandering and looking. The drawing workshop with the Voice of the Domestic Workers then widened these themes of wandering, displacement and borders - drawing seeming to be a really useful tool to talk about journey and barriers." - Simon Faithfull, Artist "The Edward Lear exhibition provided a fantastic opportunity to develop a new partnership between University of Leeds, Ikon and the charity Voice of Domestic Workers. It was particularly illuminating to see how an art-historical show could be brought into relation with the contemporary lived experiences of overseas domestic workers through the focus on Lear's journeys across Europe, the Middle East and India. Many of the women were inspired by the work, finding resonances between Lear's experiences and their own journeys to the UK via the Middle East. Undertaking the exhibition visit and related artist workshop has developed the way in which I have conceived of our new research project with Voice of Domestic Workers which will focus on co-producing art historical research as a means of informing an exhibition and commissioned work, drawing on art history to find forms and concepts that can help communicate the lived experiences of migrant domestic workers." - Dr Gill Park, Lecturer in Contemporary Art and Curating, University of Leeds The Voice of the Domestic Workers at Ikon Gallery Ikon Youth Programme on Slow Boat 1 workshop, 6 participants Artist Simon Faithfull also met with students from MA Arts and Education Practices at BCU, to share his practice in the context of Edward's Lear's sketches. Participants produced drawings on a moving Slow Boat, which captured their changing surroundings. Front of House 19 spotlight tours, 88 attendees Information Assistants led 19 Spotlight Tours for 88 attendees based on exhibitions by Edward Lear, Mayunkiki and Farwa Moledina. "As an artist and writer, my practice primarily involves the interpolation of short-form prose and poetry with contemporary fine art painting. I appreciated the opportunity to personally investigate Lear's works, and examine his own use of poetry within the backgrounds and margins of his landscapes. This was especially engaging as a contextual reference point for my own work." - Leah Hickey, Artist and Writer Edward Lear: Moment to Moment exhibition page, 28,613 views/ 8365 active users Social Media 360 Gallery Scans Digital Content Video, 395 views Twitter 43.5k, Instagram 34.6k, Facebook 18.2k, YouTube 1.73k and LinkedIn 1.7k (figures taken on 16 November 2022) Captured using Ikon's Matterport camera, Edward Lear, Moment to Moment has received 214 visits AHRC category: Exhibition materials Ikon produced an extended information film about Edward Lear with Professor Matthew Bevis to provide further insight for visitors on the exhibition which is available to watch on YouTube and the Ikon website and has received 395 views so far. Two further short video reels were produced and shared on social media platforms which received a combined 5012 views Press release, 164 downloads Moment to Moment received extensive press interest across news, trade and consumer publications, with the exhibition being positively covered by leading UK-based outlets. The exhibition was well-received by national newspapers, with Jonathan Jones reviewing Moment to Moment for The Guardian online and stating "The Ikon Gallery has put together an exquisite selection of Lear's quick, immediate sketches and watercolours. It makes for an intimate, warming show". He also recommended the show in his online 'Art Weekly' column and included as his Going Out, Staying In pick for The Guardian's Saturday supplement. The show was similarly recommended in The Daily Telegraph's Review's 'Reasons to Be Cheerful' section, as well as being featured as The Times' main art pick in its 'Hot list - a guide to your weekend'. Furthermore, The Observer published an exclusive arts news preview on the Moment to Moment exhibition, where journalist Dalya Alberge interviewed both Jonathan Watkins and Matthew Bevis about the show. The piece ran across a full page in main the paper and was also published online. Interviews were further conducted by respected broadcast and trade publications, with BBC Radio 4's flagship news and current affairs programme airing a conversation between Jonathan Watkins and presenter Nick Robinson on BBC Radio 4 Today. The London Magazine, England's oldest literary periodical, also published an online interview with Jonathan Watkins and Mathew Bevis. The exhibition was further discussed by news and current affairs magazines, with The Spectator's Laura Gascoigne deeming Lear 'as free with his watercolour washes as he is careful with his line' in a review published across two pages in print, as well as online and on The Spectator Australia's website. For Prospect, Britain's leading current affairs monthly magazine, press trip attendee David McAllister also positively reviewed the exhibition online by praising Lear's stylistic methods. Moment to Moment was also extensively reviewed by key trade publications. Matthew Kerr reviewed the show online for Apollo, praising Jonathan Watkins and Matthew Bevis by saying "It is crucial to see these paintings as a group, and it is a testament to the deftness of Bevis and Watkins that they so vividly achieve a sense of the processes and patterns shaping Lear's pictorial life"; Kerr's review also appeared in Apollo's newsletter. Furthermore, Studio International, The Burlington Magazine and ThisIsTomorrow also praised the show. For example, Studio International deemed Lear's works 'extraordinarily beautiful and meticulously detailed', while Burlington said it was 'a pleasure and a privilege to see such a great number of Lear's topographies' across three pages of its November issue. The exhibition was also tied to many wider features on Edward Lear, with Country Life publishing an extensive 5-page feature on him as Artist of The Week, providing deep insight into Lear's biography and practice while linking to Ikon. Similarly, ArtUK ran a feature on 'The artistic ambitions of Edward Lear' tied to the show, while renowned American literary publication New York Review of Books syndicated Jenny Uglow's Moment to Moment catalogue essay in its online Arts section. Furthermore, Moment to Moment was previewed extensively across trade and consumer publications, with print previews being published in The Times Literary Supplement, The Oldie, Artists & Illustrators, The Art Newspaper and Italian art magazine Antiquariato, as well as an online previews running on AirMail and WestSideBid. Widewalls, Weltkunst and ArtMonthly also posted online listings of the exhibition. |
| First Year Of Impact | 2022 |
| Sector | Creative Economy,Education,Culture, Heritage, Museums and Collections |
| Impact Types | Cultural,Societal |
| Description | Partnership with Ikon Gallery |
| Organisation | Ikon Gallery |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
| PI Contribution | See below. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Edward Lear, Moment to Moment was a major exhibition at the Ikon Gallery, an educational charity which promotes public engagement with art. Drawing on archival work in the US, the UK, and Europe, Edward Lear: Moment to Moment was the first show to be devoted to Lear's sketches and landscape drawings. Illuminating his interest in process-successive drafts, doodlings, and written marginalia-viewers were invited to reflect on a drama played out between the emergent and the ephemeral, and to consider how Lear's work might speak from his moment to ours. The initiative featured school visits, workshops, and collaborations with HMP Grendon, Birmingham's SHOUT festival of Queer Art and Culture, and other community groups. The show was attended by 20,000 people and the website (featuring virtual tour and symposium) has had over 28,000 visits to date. |
| Impact | A substantial catalogue, plus full public programme: school visits, workshops, and collaborations with HMP Grendon, Birmingham's SHOUT festival of Queer Art and Culture, and other community groups. |
| Start Year | 2020 |
| Description | A range of activities linked with the public programme for the exhibition -- all listed below |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Media (as a channel to the public) |
| Results and Impact | What follows is a full report -- compiled by myself and by the team at Ikon -- which details the range of impact activities associated with the project: Edward Lear (1812 - 1888) is known around the world as a prolific nonsense poet, especially as the author of The Owl and the Pussy-Cat and many other limericks and songs. From 9 September - 13 November, Ikon presented the first exhibition dedicated solely to Lear's sketches and landscape drawings, tracing his journeys through Europe, the Middle East and India across many decades. It featured nearly 60 works by Lear, many exhibited for the first time, and borrowed from collections in Europe, the US and the UK, including Yale Center for British Art, Houghton Library at Harvard, Tate, American School of Classical Studies at Athens, Gennadius Library and the Ashmolean Museum. The exhibition revealed Lear's compulsive drive to depict and evoke the present moment through his in-situ drawings, illuminating his experimental methods of composition, successive drafts, doodlings and written marginalia. The exhibition was co-curated by Matthew Bevis, Professor in English Literature, University of Oxford (research project: Knowing Edward Lear) and Jonathan Watkins, former Ikon Director. Publishing Edward Lear: Moment to Moment catalogue. Ikon published an exhibition catalogue for Edward Lear: Moment to Moment. The book contains full-colour illustrations of the works in the exhibition alongside essays by co-curator Matthew Bevis (Professor of English Literature, University of Oxford); Jenny Uglow (biographer and author of Mr. Lear: A Life of Art and Nonsense (2018), Adam Phillips (psychoanalyst and writer), Hugh Haughton (Professor of Literature, University of York), and Stephen Duckworth (writer and independent researcher). Formal Learning 3 digital resources, 41 downloads 21 self-guided and guided tours, 534 participants 30 workshops, 900 participants 1 teacher CPD session, 10 participants AHRC category: Exhibition materials; Picturing Empire Artist Taiba Akhtar produced school packs for key stages 1, 2 & 3 to accompany the Edward Lear exhibition. To date, there has been 41 downloads of the packs, including 3 schools (1 Artsmark) for distribution to 192 students (working towards Arts Award Bronze). "As an artist and printmaker my practice is a journey of self, derived from the constant recitation of Quranic verses, alluding to meditation and intuition. My evolving interest in language and communication binds the spoken, written and the read, emphasising hidden meanings and capturing space, place and memories. Not only did Lear's visuals spark interest but also the text as notes to self-compiling the nonsensical, subconscious as well as his later reworkings. It was an opportunity to stop and appreciate the emergent and the ephemeral, becoming responsive within space and place, feeling serenity, multiples unravelling yet derived from journeys. The journeys become impermanent, differing from you to me, here to there, moment to moment." - Taiba Akhtar, Artist 900 primary school students visited Ikon for workshops on the theme of journeys connected to the Lear exhibition. Led by artist Sarah Hamilton Baker, the workshops encouraged pupils to explore the artworks through exercises, discussion and producing their own drawings and paintings. The visits formed part of Ikon's 2022/3 partnership project with the Creative Connections consortium of 13 primary schools (including 6 Artsmark). Sladefield Infant School and Jervoise Primary School in Edward Lear: Moment to Moment Artist Monica Perez Vega led a teacher CPD session, introducing participants to a variety of drawing techniques inspired by Lear's experimental methods. Ikon welcomed 21 self and guided tour groups of the gallery including 4 primary, 6 secondary, 6 FE and 6 HE. I brought three groups to see the Lear exhibition. One was a group of Year 1 BA Art History students (approx. 35). We discussed the different ways in which historical art works are curated; students were surprised to see pre-20th century paintings displayed in a white cube setting, so it was a productive point of discussion. I also brought a group of Year 2 BA Art History students, taking my special subject module 'Art, Race, and the British Empire'. The Lear exhibition allowed us to explore the complexities of Orientalist landscape imagery. It also provided students with the opportunity to see the working processes behind the creation of oil canvasses. Finally, I brought the British Art Network Research Group (artists, museum professionals and academic researchers) 'Race, Empire and the Pre-Raphaelites' to view the exhibition. It allowed the group to consider the role of imperialism and travel in Lear's practice, and to contrast this with better known works by his Pre-Raphaelite peers. It led to particularly interesting discussions about colour and imperialism, and the place of ancient Egypt in Victorian imperial imaginaries. In terms of my own personal research, the show was a prompt to learn more about Lear, and to engage with an 1860s travel painter with whose works I was previously completely unfamiliar. - Dr Kate Nichols, Associate Professor in Art History, University of Birmingham Public programme 3 gallery events, 79 attendees Exhibition guide, printed and digital, 401 downloads Symposium schedule, printed and digital, 175 downloads Showcase, 363 visitors AHRC category: Exhibition materials; Symposium; ' Matthew Bevis and Jonathan Watkins introducing Edward Lear in the Round The symposium, Edward Lear in the Round, uncovered key themes from the exhibition with papers by literary and art historians. The event was live broadcast and archived on Ikon's YouTube account. "The Edward Lear exhibition was an opportunity to think through some of the knottiest parts of Lear's landscape work. I produced new research for it, based on the Vivien Noakes archive, which I hope will feed into a future article. It was tremendously helpful and a real landmark in the Lear calendar." - Dr Noreen Masud, Lecturer in English, University of Bristol DASH associate artist Aidan Moesby gave a gallery talk titled Edward Lear Under the Weather "I hadn't been aware of the connection of Lear and disability, both in a documented aspect of his eyesight, epilepsy and depression and the representation of these in his work. This has opened up another layer of research within my artistic and curatorial practice." - Aidan Moesby, Artist with SHOUT festival; Edward Lear Under the Weather Queer Lear' -workshop in association The stream had a peak audience of 32 people and generated 280 views across the course of the day. The recording was archived on the website and YouTube channel with a total of 1240 views. . Comparing the romanticism of Lear's era to the climate criticality of the present day, he considered our current relationship to the weather and how it impacts upon us emotionally. Artist John Yeadon showcased a selection of old and new works, curated by producer Channi Dorset in Ikon's Events Room. Part of SHOUT Festival 2022, the exhibition and artist talk, titled Queering Edward Lear, considered Victorian attitudes towards homosexuality experienced by Lear. "I knew Lear painted landscapes abroad but didn't fully appreciate the significance of a gay man travelling abroad in the 19th century - escaping the punitive laws on sexuality in Britain. I was also interested how this travelling paralleled many other 19th century homosexuals. I knew of Sir Richard Frederick Burton, not realising Lear was an avid reader of Burton's stories and travels, or that Lear painted a watercolour portrait of Burton in Arab garb. One of the outcomes of my investigations into Lear is how much things have changed. Britain was the worst place to be gay in the 19th century compared with the rest of the world, today it's arguably one of the safest countries to be LGBTQ. I have a great nephew who came out when he was 15 and though I was illegal all my teen age years the art world tended to be rather forgiving. I reflect how fortunate I have been compared with Lear. - John Yeadon, Artist John Yeadon and Channi Dorset delivering the talk Queering Edward Lear Families 2 workshop sessions, 50 attendees Sea Legs Puppet Theatre performed Edward Lear's Dream, a production based on The Owl and the Pussy-cat using imaginative story-telling and puppetry. "I came to the Sea Legs puppet show at Ikon with my young family and some of their friends and we all absolutely loved it! My son is a very active 4-year-old but he was completely absorbed throughout the whole performance and it's given us confidence that we can try other similar experiences with him." - Family Saturday attendee Sea Legs Puppet Theatre performing Edward Lear's Dream at Ikon Gallery Art at HMP Grendon 1 workshop, 8 participants AHRC category: Edward Lear Under the Weather DASH associate artist Aidan Moesby led a workshop on Lear's use of colour, introduced by Professor Matthew Bevis, Oxford University. Bevis subsequently met the prison's Governor to discuss a new project supporting prison communities with monthly poetry classes. The men are continuing to engage with Lear's landscapes through six workshops by artists Fae Kilburn and John Yeadon from February - March 2023. The workshops will coincide with an exhibition at the prison of work - by Fae Kilburn, John Yeadon, Aidan Moesby and Simon Faithfull - in response to Edward Lear: Moment to Moment. Each artist is in dialogue with different aspects of Lear's landscapes, considering his use of series, colour and the ephemeral nature of his work. For example, Kilburn's silkscreen prints, titled Transient Moments, celebrate her perspective as a neurodivergent and partially sighted artist. Like Lear, Kilburn has epilepsy and seeks inspiration and sanctuary in the landscape. "Lear is an artist I feel connected to and his work moves me unlike any other artist, from our shared lived experience, the stigma feared and faced to the beautiful work he created. Our perspective is so often seen as less than, despite artists with disabilities throughout history changing the art world forever." - Fae Kilburn, Artist Social care 7 self-guided and guided tours, 145 participants AHRC category: Crossing Boundaries Ikon welcomed informal learning groups, including Pink Sou'westers, Birmingham City Mission and The Arts Society Worcester. Artists Simon Faithfull, Monica Perez Vega and Polly Brant led workshops for The Voice of the Domestic Workers, a support network and campaign organisation for migrant domestic workers. "Although the artist Edward Lear comes from a very different time and context, I discovered through this exhibition that there is a curiously close correspondence between Lear's observational sketches and my own itinerant drawing practice. Both Lear and myself use line drawings to capture moments and places somewhere on this planet - a record of wandering and looking. The drawing workshop with the Voice of the Domestic Workers then widened these themes of wandering, displacement and borders - drawing seeming to be a really useful tool to talk about journey and barriers." - Simon Faithfull, Artist Simon Faithfull in Edward Lear: Moment to Moment Simon Faith, Drawing no.318, Bosphorus, 2006, digital drawing "The Edward Lear exhibition provided a fantastic opportunity to develop a new partnership between University of Leeds, Ikon and the charity Voice of Domestic Workers. It was particularly illuminating to see how an art-historical show could be brought into relation with the contemporary lived experiences of overseas domestic workers through the focus on Lear's journeys across Europe, the Middle East and India. Many of the women were inspired by the work, finding resonances between Lear's experiences and their own journeys to the UK via the Middle East. Undertaking the exhibition visit and related artist workshop has developed the way in which I have conceived of our new research project with Voice of Domestic Workers which will focus on co-producing art historical research as a means of informing an exhibition and commissioned work, drawing on art history to find forms and concepts that can help communicate the lived experiences of migrant domestic workers." - Dr Gill Park, Lecturer in Contemporary Art and Curating, University of Leeds The Voice of the Domestic Workers at Ikon Gallery Ikon Youth Programme on Slow Boat 1 workshop, 6 participants Artist Simon Faithfull also met with students from MA Arts and Education Practices at BCU, to share his practice in the context of Edward's Lear's sketches. Participants produced drawings on a moving Slow Boat, which captured their changing surroundings. Simon Faithfull with students from MA Arts and Education Practices Front of House 19 spotlight tours, 88 attendees Information Assistants led 19 Spotlight Tours for 88 attendees based on exhibitions by Edward Lear, Mayunkiki and Farwa Moledina. "As an artist and writer, my practice primarily involves the interpolation of short-form prose and poetry with contemporary fine art painting. I appreciated the opportunity to personally investigate Lear's works, and examine his own use of poetry within the backgrounds and margins of his landscapes. This was especially engaging as a contextual reference point for my own work." - Leah Hickey, Artist and Writer Taiba Akhtar delivering a Spotlight Tour in Edward Lear: Moment to Moment Website Edward Lear: Moment to Moment exhibition page, 28,613 views/ 8365 active users Social Media 360 Gallery Scans Digital Content Video, 395 views Twitter 43.5k, Instagram 34.6k, Facebook 18.2k, YouTube 1.73k and LinkedIn 1.7k (figures taken on 16 November 2022) Captured using Ikon's Matterport camera, Edward Lear, Moment to Moment has received 214 visits AHRC category: Exhibition materials Ikon produced an extended information film about Edward Lear with Professor Matthew Bevis to provide further insight for visitors on the exhibition which is available to watch on YouTube and the Ikon website and has received 395 views so far. Two further short video reels were produced and shared on social media platforms which received a combined 5012 views. Press Press release, 164 downloads Moment to Moment received extensive press interest across news, trade and consumer publications, with the exhibition being positively covered by leading UK-based outlets. The exhibition was well-received by national newspapers, with Jonathan Jones reviewing Moment to Moment for The Guardian online and stating "The Ikon Gallery has put together an exquisite selection of Lear's quick, immediate sketches and watercolours. It makes for an intimate, warming show". He also recommended the show in his online 'Art Weekly' column and included as his Going Out, Staying In pick for The Guardian's Saturday supplement. Left to right: The Guardian, The Guardian Saturday Magazine and online. The show was similarly recommended in The Daily Telegraph's Review's 'Reasons to Be Cheerful' section, as well as being featured as The Times' main art pick in its 'Hot list - a guide to your weekend'. Furthermore, The Observer published an exclusive arts news preview on the Moment to Moment exhibition, where journalist Dalya Alberge interviewed both Jonathan Watkins and Matthew Bevis about the show. The piece ran across a full page in main the paper and was also published online. Interviews were further conducted by respected broadcast and trade publications, with BBC Radio 4's flagship news and current affairs programme airing a conversation between Jonathan Watkins and presenter Nick Robinson on BBC Radio 4 Today. The London Magazine, England's oldest literary periodical, also published an online interview with Jonathan Watkins and Mathew Bevis. The exhibition was further discussed by news and current affairs magazines, with The Spectator's Laura Gascoigne deeming Lear 'as free with his watercolour washes as he is careful with his line' in a review published across two pages in print, as well as online and on The Spectator Australia's website. For Prospect, Britain's leading curr |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| URL | https://www.ikon-gallery.org/exhibition/moment-to-moment |