Autumn/Winter 2007

Marie-Louise Von Motesiczky, 28 September – 9 December 2007, galleries 1 - 4

This touring exhibition has been organised in collaboration with the Marie-Louise von Motesiczky Charitable Trust and is the first major retrospective of the artist’s work. After successful exhibitions at the Goethe Institute, London in 1985 and the Österreichische Galerie im Belvedere, Vienna 1994, Motesiczky was widely acclaimed as one of the most talented and original artists of her time.

Marie-Louise von Motesiczky was born in Vienna in 1906. Leaving Vienna after the Anschluss in 1938, she spent the rest of her life in England. Her artistic career, which spans seventy years, began in the 1920s when she visited Max Beckmann's master class in Frankfurt. Several critically acclaimed exhibitions, especially in London and Vienna, have acquainted the public with Motesiczky's oeuvre which comprises portraits, self-portraits, still-life, landscapes and allegorical paintings.

Motesiczky is particularly known for her portraits, including compelling self-portraits and a moving series devoted to her ageing mother recording her decline. Related to her portraits are her figurative ‘fantasy paintings’, dream-like compositions which formed a significant part of her work in 1950s and 1960s. These magical visions blur fantasy and reality in a complex personal allegory. Motesiczky painted intimate still-lives and poetic landscapes throughout her entire career.

The exhibition has previously been shown at Tate Liverpool, Museum Giersch in Frankfurt, Wien Museum in Vienna and Museum of Modern Art in Passau.

Image credit: Self Portrait with Red Hat, 1938 by Marie-Louise von Motesiczky, oil on canvas. Copyright courtesy of Marie-Louise von Motesiczky Charitable Trust.

Gary Stevens: Wake Up and Hide
28 September – 23 December 2007, gallery 6

‘Wake Up and Hide’ is the latest work by award-winning artist Gary Stevens and reflects his ongoing fascination with the intersection between performance, visual art and video. This two wide projection piece shows a static shot of almost identical interiors with a group of people emerging from hiding places to occupy the room in ‘Hide’ and a more tense and self-conscious group in ‘Wake Up’ who run for cover at the slightest sound.

‘Wake Up and Hide’ is an interactive installation that draws on the sound created by the visitors in the gallery space to incite the action on screen.

With sound by Graeme Miller, lighting & camera by David Gopsill, art direction by Georgina Carless and interactive design & technology by Nic Sandiland. Performers include: Heather Ackroyd, Ian Bourn, Helena Bryant, Frog Morris, Fiona Templeton; Gareth Brierley, Antonia Doggett, Michelle Griffiths, Kate Meynell, Gary Stevens.
‘Wake Up and Hide’ was commissioned by and first shown at Matt’s Gallery, in association with Artsadmin.