Cape Farewell

Art and Climate Change

National Museums Liverpool together with John Moores University, is hosting the thought provoking exhibition Cape Farewell: Art and Climate Change as part of the Liverpool Biennial.

The exhibition, featuring leading contemporary artists including Alex Hartley, Gary Hume, Heather Ackroyd & Dan Harvey can be seen at the newly refurbished National Conservation Centre, Walker Art Gallery and 68 Hope Street from 16 September until 26 November 2006. The exhibition was created in partnership with the Natural History Museum in London.

The show also includes work by David Buckland, Peter Clegg, Gautier Deblonde, Max Eastley, Nick Edwards, Antony Gormley, David Hinton, Ian McEwan, Michèle Noach and Rachel Whiteread.

Cape Farewell came into being when artist David Buckland gathered together a group of artists to join climate scientists and educators onboard The Noorderlicht, a 46m schooner, bound for the High Arctic. To date there have been three expeditions enabling both the scientists and the artists to chart the effects of climate change in the region. The artists have created work inspired by their voyages, using a range of different media including sound, video, sculpture, photography and painting.

For further information and images please contact angel Samata on 0151 478 4747 or by email angela.samata@liverpoolmuseums.org.uk

At the National Conservation Centre:

• Stranded - Heather Ackroyd and Dan Harvey. Changes in temperature and ocean currents have effected whale populations across our oceans. Stranded mammals found around the uk coast have risen to more than 800 per year (UK Stranding Project 2004). The skeleton of one of these, a minke whale found off the coast of Skegness, is used in Stranded, a collaborative piece by Ackroyd and Harvey. Using a process of crystallisation the artists have covered the 6m long skeleton in a dazzling diamond-like frosting, suggesting the need to conserve these threatened animals. Alongside Stranded, a video shows the retrieval of the mammal and how the artists created the final piece.
• Nymark (Undiscovered Island).  Alex Hartley was inspired by the discovery of a piece of Arctic land that was exposed for the first time as a direct result of climate change. The exhibition’s opening week sees the second anniversary of Hartley’s discovery (19 September 2006). The process of the discovery and Hartley’s attempt to claim and name the island are all documented in a stunning 8m long photographic montage.
• Ice Texts. David Buckland – haunting photographs of warning messages projected onto Arctic glaciers from the Noorderlicht schooner.
• Gautier Deblonde’s photographs of Rachel Whiteread’s Embankment, her installation at Tate Modern’s Turbine Hall that was influenced by her experience of the Arctic.

At the Walker Art Gallery:

• Hermaphrodite Polar Bear.  Gary Hume – an enamel painting is inspired by the effects of pollution on the polar bear population.
• 80° 05’N 16°44’E; Ultima Thule; Fata Morgana.  Nick Edwards – three video artworks inspired by Edwards’ watercolour sketches of the mysterious Arctic seascape displayed amongst the Walker’s Impressionist paintings. Nick Edwards says,

”The sooner we realise there’s nowhere to run to, the sooner we’ll change our  behaviour”.

Cape Farewell: Art and Climate Change continues at Liverpool School of Art & Design at John Moores University - 68 Hope Street, Liverpool. On Friday 29 September Cape Farewell Artists’ Talks at the Liverpool School of Art & Design 68 Hope Street includes artists David Buckland, Dan Harvey and Heather Ackroyd followed by an evening sound and video event by Max Eastley and David Buckland.

Published by Cape Farewell to accompany the exhibition’s tour around the UK, Burning Ice: Art and Climate Change is a 176-page publication comprising 200 stunning colour photographs and illustrations. The book charts the experiences of artists who have voyaged with Cape Farewell including Heather Ackroyd and Dan Harvey, David Buckland, Siobhan Davies, Gautier Deblonde, Max Eastley, Antony Gormley and Rachel Whiteread and the work they have subsequently produced.  Extracts from expedition journals complement writings by novelists Ian McEwan and Robert MacFarlane warning of the impacts of climate change. It is available at National Conservation Centre and Walker Art Gallery.

Notes for Editors

For more information please go to the Cape Farewell web site www.capefarewell.com

68 Hope Street Gallery is part of Liverpool School of Art & Design, Liverpool John Moores University. 68 Hope Street building comprises art and design studios, workshops, television and media studios, an art gallery and a lecture theatre.  Open Monday – Thursday 10am-4pm, Friday 10am-2pm.  Liverpool School of Art & Design, Liverpool John Moores University, 68 Hope Street, Liverpool, L1 9EB.  Information 0151 231 5190.

Arts Council England is Cape Farewell’s major arts funder. Cape Farewell Arts is supported by the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation and The Bromley Trust. Cape Farewell - Art and Climate Change was created in partnership with the Natural History Museum London and is supported by Toshiba.

For ten weeks every two years, several hundred of the world’s most exciting visual artists show their work in over 40 locations across Liverpool city centre, from major gallery spaces to unexpected temporary locations. The fourth Liverpool Biennial, the UK's contemporary visual art festival, takes place 16 September to 26 November 2006. Co-ordinated by Liverpool Biennial of Contemporary Art Ltd, it is delivered in association with the city’s major visual arts organisations: Tate Liverpool, the Walker Art Gallery, FACT (Foundation for Art & Creative Technology) Open Eye, afoundation and Bluecoat Art Centre as well as smaller arts groups and organisations. An extensive programme includes International 06, John Moores 24, Bloomberg New Contemporaries 2006 and a penumbra of smaller scale exhibitions. For more information, visit www.biennial.com 

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