Our Plants by The Problem and Criticism Class

This exhibition has been curated by the Problem and Criticism class, held at Attenborough Arts Centre.

The class tutor, Diane Hall, encouraged the class to extend their creative practice and develop their own individual style. She provided a new subject each term and challenges class members to address the theme in a variety of different ways. The work is shared and constructively criticised in the group at each meeting.

The Autumn 2024 project focused on Tim Fowler’s exhibition, ‘The Ground’, which is an extensive exploration of plants significant to Tim’s Barbadian (Bajan) heritage.

The class had the opportunity to visit Tim’s studio before term began and heard him speak thoughtfully about his practice and subject matter. In his studio they saw how he worked on multiple large canvases, and how the form, line and colour of both fore-and-background of his paintings developed.

The class members were each asked to choose a plant that is native to the UK or culturally significant in some way. Whilst they could not emulate the size of Tim’s paintings, his work inspired them to extend the colour palettes they would normally use, to build up layers of pigment and to create tonal changes of background using blocks of colour and line in a dynamic way.

Diane encouraged deep observation of the chosen plants while not aiming at botanical illustration. Through drawing and painting with a variety of media and collage, they were enticed out of their comfort zones to see and make art differently.