ARTISTS STIMULATE EDUCATIONAL DEBATE AT PLYMOUTH ARTS CENTRE
At a time of year when many people return to their studies and set against the background of increased
fees for Higher Education, changes to the current National Curriculum, an exhibition at Plymouth Arts
Centre is set to fuel the debate by presenting the work of two internationally-renowned artists known for
their campaigning stance on education.
Screenings of The Poor Stockinger, the Luddite Cropper and the Deluded Followers of Joanna Southcott
by Luke Fowler, a 2012 Turner Prize nominee, will be shown in the Window Gallery at Plymouth Arts
Centre on the Barbican in Plymouth from 5 October until 1 December. The film’s title is a quotation from
Marxist historian, Edward Palmer Thompson, the subject of the film. Thompson was employed by the
WEA (Workers’ Educational Association) in Yorkshire and taught literature and history to adults who,
historically, had been unable to benefit from Higher Education, including miners, factory workers and the
unemployed; the aim being to create a better and more equal world through education.
Additionally, the external walls, café and restaurant at Plymouth Arts Centre will provide the gallery space
for work by Bob and Roberta Smith, again from 5 October to 1 December. The artist, otherwise known
as Patrick Brill, is recognised for his trademark, text-based paintings. These colourful signs are hand
painted onto scraps of wood and roughly nailed together.
Bob and Roberta Smith’s work explores the relationship between humour, politics and society and
questions established values and authorities. Many works take the form of succinct witty slogans whilst
others, such as the Cuts to the Arts and Letter to Michael Gove, are longer diatribes that expose a
frustration with political decision-making. The messages almost always advocate for creativity, culture
and freedom.
These paintings use the visual language of folk and punk; the use of drop shadow text and a mixture of
different fonts and letter sizes evoke the aesthetics of protest and are reminiscent of makeshift public
notices and temporary shop signs from an era before the computer. The tone of the larger text work is
akin to angry letters published in newspapers, the artist says “I’ve always liked the idea of the green ink
letter, the person in the suburbs throwing brick bats at the people in power.”
Screenings of the film by Luke Fowler will be shown on a loop from 10am until 7.10pm and visitors can
drop in at any time to see some or all of the film during this period. For more information about both
exhibitions, and associated events and films at Plymouth Arts Centre, visit www.plymouthartscentre.org.
or 01752 206114.
Ends
29 September 2013
For more information and high resolution images, contact Kate Foster at Plymouth Arts Centre on 01752
206114, 07815 754088 or kate.foster@plymouthartscentre.org.
Notes for Editors
Luke Fowler received the inaugural Derek Jarman Award for artist filmmakers in 2008 and was
nominated for the Turner Prize in 2012 for The Poor Stockinger, the Luddite Cropper and the Deluded
Followers of Joanna Southcott. The film was commissioned by The Hepworth Wakefield,
Wolverhampton Art Gallery Film and Video Umbrella, through the Contemporary Art Society Annual
Award: Commission to Collect.
The artist, Bob and Roberta Smith, has two names but is actually one person, Patrick Brill, a Trustee of
the Tate.