DEEPER BENEATH THE SURFACE
‘Beneath the Surface’ brought together paintings by George Stubbs alongside works by nine contemporary artists from the UK and Europe living and working today. The exhibition compared and contrasted the historical with the contemporary, finding connections and conversations between works of art. As Stubbs delved inside the bodies of horses to find out how muscle, bone and sinew shapes their anatomies, the featured contemporary artists went ‘beneath the surface’ in other ways.
Stubbs spent ‘some time’ at Wentworth Woodhouse in 1762, occupying a role that could be seen as similar to artists in residence that occupy contemporary arts spaces today. During his time at Wentworth Woodhouse he produced paintings that are recognised as being hugely significant in the history of English art, including the famous Whistlejacket. With Beneath the Surface, Wentworth Woodhouse wanted to celebrate Stubbs as a local hero and reinforce that really great art has been made in Rotherham — and continues to do so today.
‘Beneath the Surface’ brought together paintings by George Stubbs alongside works by nine contemporary artists from the UK and Europe living and working today. The exhibition compared and contrasted the historical with the contemporary, finding connections and conversations between works of art. As Stubbs delved inside the bodies of horses to find out how muscle, bone and sinew shapes their anatomies, the featured contemporary artists went ‘beneath the surface’ in other ways.
Stubbs spent ‘some time’ at Wentworth Woodhouse in 1762, occupying a role that could be seen as similar to artists in residence that occupy contemporary arts spaces today. During his time at Wentworth Woodhouse he produced paintings that are recognised as being hugely significant in the history of English art, including the famous Whistlejacket. With Beneath the Surface, Wentworth Woodhouse wanted to celebrate Stubbs as a local hero and reinforce that really great art has been made in Rotherham — and continues to do so today.
Over 300 years after Stubbs, Wentworth Woodhouse invited Cait to serve as Artist in Residence. She collaborated with students from Wales High School to create new work and curate this exhibition in response to ‘Beneath the Surface’, digging deeper into what it means to people in Rotherham. She created several typewritten pieces, using quotes from the students and a short film documenting their thoughts and feelings.
During workshops and interviews, they explored ideas of connection and conversation using words, humour and language, inspired by early visual poets and contemporary artists, to dissect themes that stood out to them from the Beneath the Surface exhibition.
Experimenting with film, typewritten pieces, letterpress printing and the cut-up technique (among other analogue processes) the project also aims to explore the relationship between new and old, and create a conversation between past and present, as in ‘Beneath the Surface’.
Stills from the short film.
