University of Warwick Art Collection
Warwick Business School
Journeys Through Landscape
The Business School was one of the first buildings to be built on agricultural land on the Warwickshire
boundary and it is fitting that it contains an exhibition exploring artists’ responses to landscape.
The works selected exemplify the many
approaches which contemporary artists have used
to examine and portray landscape. The works are
all concerned with the way we travel through and
experience the landscape around us, the way we
plan our routes, departure points and destinations,
and the things we encounter along the way.
The neon work by Langlands and
Bell provides a way of considering
world travel and we are taken on a
journey around the globe as the
identification codes of international
airports intermittently light up.
1
The piece by Susan Derges was created by the
movement of a wave across light sensitive paper
submerged in the sea, capturing a single moment,
rather than the passage of time as in the works of
Long and Fulton.
2
Maps have been used by travellers
for thousands of years and there
are two works which use the idiom of cartography
in this exhibition. Layla Curtis has used sections
of mass produced Ordnance Survey maps for her
collage with disorientating results. Simon Lewty’s
hand drawn map represents a walk taken with
reference to historical associations.
Many artists use performance as a basis for their
artwork, two other works here are the result of
actual walks taken through landscape. In the case
of Richard Long, a text based record of a walk,
providing samples of its various stages, but
leaving gaps for the viewer’s imagination to fill.
Hamish Fulton accompanies his text with an
image of the dramatic destination of his walk.
Both Long and Fulton trained as sculptors at St
Martins College but later sought to replace the
idea of the object with action. The time taken
during a stage of, or to complete their respective
journeys is a feature of both works.
The natural processes that affect and shape the
land have been the inspiration for many artists.
The abstract painting by Estelle Thompson can be
considered as having a different concept of
‘journey’ – a journey our eyes take sweeping
across the canvas. We move from one end to the
other as we try to make sense of the whole. A
more obvious reference to the notion of journeying
through landscape is seen in Julian Opie’s
screenprint with its cartoon-like take on movement
through the contemporary environment.
3
1. Langlands & Bell - Frozen Sky
2. Susan Derges - Shoreline
3. Julian Opie - Cars?
The University Collection of over 800 items is on display in the buildings and landscape of the University campus. You can look at images and find out
where they are by visiting the Art Collection website http://go.warwick.ac.uk/art . To ensure the works you wish to see are available on the day of your
visit, contact the Curator or Curatorial Assistant in advance at the gallery office on 024765 22589 or email E.A.Dooley@warwick.ac.uk
University of Warwick Art Collection Mead Gallery 024765 22589 http://go.warwick.ac.uk/art
Warwick
Business School