Visit to Walkers Gallery Liverpool
By Anne Stride - Gallery Northwest - Manager
Walkers Gallery Liverpool
This was my first visit to The Walkers Art Gallery and what a treat it was! This gallery houses one of the most important and renowned painting collections in the UK and is the largest outside London. The collection includes European Renaissance paintings, masterpieces by Rubens, Rembrandt, Turner and Stubbs, Pre-Raphaelite artworks by Rossetti and Millais, Impressionist works by Monet and Degas and contemporary works by Hockney and Wylie.
One of the family by Cotman
Image from Walkers Gallery Liverpool
Each room contained collections from different time periods with 2D and 3D work intermixed. Grand oil paintings of medieval, religious and heroic classical scenes filled the large airy rooms. Stories telling of acts of heroism throughout the Empire prompted many large-scale paintings of heroes in victory and defeat. There was such a sense of peace and tranquillity as you entered the rooms, in stark contrast to the violence often represented on the walls.
Room 7- the Victorian Room, had a very different atmosphere.
The painters represented here had chosen undemanding, accessible subjects such as children and animals. These were cheerfully sentimental pieces such as Cotman’s One of the Family or historical narratives like Yeames’ And When did you last see your Father?I found this painting particularly striking; with clever use of colour to represent childhood innocence; detailed character depictions as well as the powerful scene being portrayed.
When did you last see your father - Yeams - image from Walkers Gallery Website
Room 10 exhibited artworks by the Impressionists and post-impressionists. Landscapes and scenes of daily life from European artists such as Monet, Degas and Cezanne, who experimented with depicting light and colour were on display. I particularly enjoyed the colour and liveliness in these paintings.
The sculptures and ceramics throughout the gallery were varied and stimulating to touch and see.
I was surprised to encounter work by Jonny Vegas on show in the gallery. Jonny rediscovers his artistic talent in a collaboration with internationally recognised sculptor Emma Rodgers. Actor and comedian Johnny Vegas has a degree in Art and Ceramics. Three decades after he graduated, he returned to the studio after a chance meeting with local sculptor Emma Rodgers. They have made new work with bronze, clay and 3D printing, shown alongside the historic objects that inspired them.
Their display explores the idea of metamorphosis, meaning a mental or physical transformation. A common theme is transformation through flight. In Emma’s work, tragic mythical figure Icarus is transformed through the wings his father made for him. Johnny shows a fragile female figure breaking free from her fears through flight. These pieces were impactful; not only mentally challenging but also beautifully crafted.
Another surprisingly powerful installation was ‘Stitching Souls: Threads of Silence’
Stitching Souls: Threads of Silence
Image from the Walker Gallery Liverpool website
This installation by British Trinidadian artist-in-residency, Karen McLean, comprises of 132 heads created with authentic African fabrics using traditional quilting techniques. Made in partnership with a community of sewers in the artist’s home city of Birmingham, the work honours and memorialises the enslaved African people who lost their lives in the Zong Massacre (1781).
I was shocked by the truly abhorrent history which inspired this artwork - the slave trade where slaves were treated as cargo and were totally dispensable. On looking more closely at the work, it became clearer that the shorter stands with stitched represented the children along with 3 tall protectors.
This powerful work raises awareness of a truly difficult subject and in doing so, it creates a platform for further discussion opportunities. Art can be a vehicle for learning and change. I strongly recommend a visit.