Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts

REALITY: Modern & Contemporary British painting

• 27 September 2014 — 1 March 2015 *on now

REALITY brings together over 50 works celebrating the strength of British painting with some of the most influential artists of the last sixty years.

Uncompromising and direct, the work of each artist retains a strong reference to the real world, ‘the stuff of life’. While, to an extent, painting has been eclipsed in recent decades by the Minimal and Conceptual movements, installation, photography and film, REALITY testifies to the survival and the impact of British painting today.

Artists represented include: Walter Sickert, Francis Bacon, Lucian Freud and David Hockney, alongside contemporary painters including Ken Currie, George Shaw and Caroline Walker.

Admission

Website

http://scva.ac.uk/art-and-artists/exhibitions/reality-modern-and-contemporary-british-painting

Points of Departure: Photography of African Migrations

• 21 October 2014 — 1 February 2015 *on now

How can a still image capture the movement of migration? How can the still image reflect the problems of (dis)connection, experienced by the migrants and the families they have left behind?

Migration is a major political concern of our time. More people than ever are on the move in search of a better future – but migrants who travel in pursuit of employment are sometimes seen by their hosts with ambiguity. It is a matter on every politician’s mind.

Looking at the transatlantic slave trade and contemporary migration, photographers Hélène Amouzou, Mamadou Gomis and Judith Quax examine migration from West Africa.

Admission

Website

http://scva.ac.uk/art-and-artists/exhibitions/points-of-departure

Abstraction and the art of John Golding

• 14 February — 27 September 2015

Abstract art was a great invention of the twentieth century. Abstraction and the Art of John Golding is an exhibition in two parts; first, it surveys the origins and full development of abstract art at the beginning of the century, and then displays a selection of works of the artist John Golding following the gift of the artist's works to the Sainsbury Centre in 2014.

Suitable for

• Family friendly

Admission

Website

http://scva.ac.uk/art-and-artists/exhibitions/abstraction-and-john-golding

Francis Bacon and the Masters

• 18 April — 26 July 2015

Francis Bacon and the Masters is a groundbreaking exhibition bringing together over 25 major works by Francis Bacon with old and modern masters including Velázquez, Rembrandt, Titian, Michelangelo, Rodin, Van Gogh, Picasso and Matisse.

The exhibition forms the culmination of the celebrations marking the 250th anniversary of the State Hermitage Museum, St Petersburg and will coincide with the UK/Russia Year of Culture in the UK.

The exhibition explores Bacon's obsession with the art of the past, examining how he consistently drew on the work of masters such as Michelangelo, Velázquez and Degas, as well as to the stylized forms of ancient Greek and Roman works.

Admission

Website

http://scva.ac.uk/art-and-artists/exhibitions/francis-bacon-and-the-masters

Crossroads of Empires: Archaeology in West Africa

• 21 October 2014 — 1 February 2015 *on now

Crossroads of Empires is a large-scale research project led by University of East Anglia archaeologist Anne Haour, which aims to help us better understand West Africa’s past during the last 1500 years.

Media depictions of Africa often focus on famine and environmental catastrophes: Anne’s team wanted to show another side of the story.

The exhibition shares the experience of pursuing research into the African past, both to communicate the rich history of Africa and to provide a window into the modern landscape and culture of Africa, as well as giving a sense of what it is like to work there.

Suitable for

• Family friendly

Admission

Website

http://scva.ac.uk/art-and-artists/exhibitions/crossroads-of-empires

Last Friday Art for Lunch

• 30 January 2015 1:15-1:45pm
• 27 February 2015 1:15-1:45pm
• 27 March 2015 1:15-1:45pm
• 24 April 2015 1:15-1:45pm

Join one of our superb guides for an informative talk on an artist, object or aspect of the Robert and Lisa Sainsbury Collection.

Admission

Website

http://scva.ac.uk/whats-on/events/category/talks-and-tours/last-friday-art-for-lunch

Study Afternoon: Pre-historic and Cycladic figures

• 1 February 2015 2-4pm

Come and find out about the beautiful and mysterious figures made in the Cyclades thousands of years ago. As well as looking at their background and what they may have meant to the people who made them, we will explore how, from once being considered ugly and barbaric, they have come to influence modern sculptors and potters.
Suitable for over 16s.

Suitable for

• Not suitable for children

Admission

Website

http://scva.ac.uk/whats-on/events/category/talks-and-tours/sainsbury-centre-sundays-study-afternoons

Sunday Studio

• 1 February 2015 2-4pm
• 1 March 2015 2-4pm
• 12 April 2015 2-4pm

Drop in to our Studio to join in creative activities led by Artists. Make artwork of your own, or with your family, inspired by the Robert and Lisa Sainsbury Collection. Experiment with lots of materials, and explore new ideas.

Suitable for

• Family friendly
• Especially for children

Admission

Website

http://scva.ac.uk/whats-on/events/category/family-friendly/sainsbury-centre-sundays-sunday-studio

Young Associates

• 3 February 2015 4:30-6:30pm
• 17 February 2015 4:30-6:30pm
• 3 March 2015 4:30-6:30pm
• 17 March 2015 4:30-6:30pm
• 31 March 2015 4:30-6:30pm
• 14 April 2015 4:30-6:30pm

Young Associates is a group of young people who work together to devise and deliver visual arts projects in response to the Sainsbury Centre collections, work closely with staff to curate public events and exhibitions for the Sainsbury Centre programme, work with contemporary artists and engage with current issues in art and culture.

Admission

Website

http://scva.ac.uk/whats-on/events/category/workshops/young-associates-10

ArtsLab

• 4 February 2015 4:30-6:30pm
• 11 February 2015 4:30-6:30pm
• 25 February 2015 4:30-6:30pm
• 4 March 2015 4:30-6:30pm
• 11 March 2015 4:30-6:30pm
• 18 March 2015 4:30-6:30pm
• 25 March 2015 4:30-6:30pm
• 1 April 2015 4:30-6:30pm

ArtsLab offers you an opportunity to work directly with artist Jemma Watts to experiment and develop your art practice. Each week there will be a chance to learn new techniques. ArtsLab has been designed to explore different topics each half term, with dedicated sessions for experiment scheduled in to the course. The first half of term, we will look at 'Communicating Ideas'. In the second half of the term, we will explore different sculpture techniques.

Participants will be encouraged to work on a particular theme of their own, drawn from their own research or from the Sainsbury Collection.

Ideal for students to enhance their GSCE or A-Level work or for anyone wishing to develop their portfolio.

Suitable for

• 16-17
• 14-15
• 11-13

Admission

Website

http://scva.ac.uk/whats-on/events/category/workshops/artslab-12

Evening Lecture: Lynda Morris : 'No Subject Matter: Painting how you see.'

• 5 February 2015 From 6:30pm

Lynda Morris, Professor of Curation and Art History at NUA will discuss the differences between the exhibition she curated 'John Wonnacott & John Lessore: The Life Room and the City' at Norwich Castle Museum and NUA Gallery to celebrate the 170th anniversary of NUA's founding in 1845, and 'Reality: Modern and Contemporary British Painting' at the Sainsbury Centre.

By exploring the relationship between painting and photography, Lynda Morris will develop the ideas of no subject matter, painting what you see and the alternative idea of narrative in figurative painting.

Admission

Website

http://scva.ac.uk/whats-on/events/category/special-events/eveneing-lecture-lynda-morris-no-subject-matter-painting-how-you-see

Thursday lunchtime talks

• 12 February 2015 1:15-1:45pm

Get a different perspective and insight into the collections and exhibitions with talks given by contributors from a range of disciplines and backgrounds

Admission

Website

http://scva.ac.uk/whats-on/events/category/talks-and-tours/thursday-lunchtime-talks

Mini-Studio

• 13 February 2015 10:15-11:45am
• 13 March 2015 10:15-11:45am
• 10 April 2015 10:15-11:45am

Creative play sessions led by Artists for pre-school children and their adults or carers. Themed activities inspired by the collections and exhibitions, which allow the children to have fun with a variety of materials, exploring their own creativity, and often getting quite messy!

Suitable for

• Especially for children
• Family friendly

Admission

Website

http://scva.ac.uk/whats-on/events/category/workshops/mini-studio-5

Study Afternoon: Bringing Modernism in Sculpture to England

• 1 March 2015 2-4pm

A look at early twentieth century sculptors, Jacob Epstein, Henri Gaudier-Brzeska and Henry Moore: what influenced them and how they influenced each other.
Suitable for over 16s.

Suitable for

• Not suitable for children

Admission

Website

http://scva.ac.uk/whats-on/events/category/talks-and-tours/sainsbury-centre-sundays-study-afternoons

Study Afternoon: China

• 12 April 2015 2-4pm

The Three Dancing Tomb Figures that so delighted Robert Sainsbury when he purchased them in 1933, delight us still. Robert and Lisa Sainsbury added to this first foray into Chinese and World Art, with acquisitions of small sculptures, vessels and decorative artefacts covering a period from the Neolithic to the fourteenth century.

Discovering more about this small but exquisite collection and the stories behind the objects, will form the basis of our exploration of Chinese art.
Suitable for over 16s.

Suitable for

• Not suitable for children

Admission

Website

http://scva.ac.uk/whats-on/events/category/talks-and-tours/sainsbury-centre-sundays-study-afternoons