Visit to 'Quentin Blake - As Large As Life', at Kirkby Gallery, Knowsley - 09.01.13
Despite the council using the exhibition as an attempt to heighten the reputation of run-down Knowsley, Kirkby Gallery seems like an inappropriate host for a display of works by such a successful artist. The Liverpool suburb is not easily accessible by public transport, the effect being that very few members of the public actually visit, compared to the amount who would surely visit, were the exhibition in Liverpool centre.
The space doubles up as the town’s gallery and public library. Displaying the Quentin Blake illustrations in the children’s area of the library is a curatorial success, as the lively, colourful images would engage children and so make them more likely to adopt an interest in art.
As Large As Life is a collection of works that were originally commissioned for display in hospitals, comprising of sixty pieces. There is not much literature available to enhance the viewer’s knowledge of the works they are seeing, but Kirkby Gallery’s curator, Tina Ball, is usually on hand to provide information on the works and answer any questions. When I visited, she gave a detailed talk on what is required of a gallery to host a touring exhibition. She also supplied a background of some of the artworks.
Works include Mothers and Babies Underwater, a touching series of monochrome watercolours that were commissioned for a maternity hospital, and Our Friends in the Circus, an exciting collection of pictures from a children’s ward.
The address for the gallery is Kirkby Library, Newtown Gardens, Kirkby, Knowsley, L32 8RR. The exhibition will be there until 12 January 2013, after which it will be moved to the Foundling Museum in London (http://www.foundlingmuseum.org.uk/events/view/quentin-blake-as-large-as-life/), where it will be shown until 13 April 2013.
Although the location is not ideal, the exhibition is well worth the visit.
The space doubles up as the town’s gallery and public library. Displaying the Quentin Blake illustrations in the children’s area of the library is a curatorial success, as the lively, colourful images would engage children and so make them more likely to adopt an interest in art.
As Large As Life is a collection of works that were originally commissioned for display in hospitals, comprising of sixty pieces. There is not much literature available to enhance the viewer’s knowledge of the works they are seeing, but Kirkby Gallery’s curator, Tina Ball, is usually on hand to provide information on the works and answer any questions. When I visited, she gave a detailed talk on what is required of a gallery to host a touring exhibition. She also supplied a background of some of the artworks.
Works include Mothers and Babies Underwater, a touching series of monochrome watercolours that were commissioned for a maternity hospital, and Our Friends in the Circus, an exciting collection of pictures from a children’s ward.
The address for the gallery is Kirkby Library, Newtown Gardens, Kirkby, Knowsley, L32 8RR. The exhibition will be there until 12 January 2013, after which it will be moved to the Foundling Museum in London (http://www.foundlingmuseum.org.uk/events/view/quentin-blake-as-large-as-life/), where it will be shown until 13 April 2013.
Although the location is not ideal, the exhibition is well worth the visit.