A few words from the programme leaders...

     There is a long history of collaboration between artists and poets. Almost 100 years ago, in 1924, the Bureau of Surrealist Research opened to the public. Surrealism, as it became known, is one of the better-known art movements. What is less well known is that its founder, André Breton, was a writer and a poet and that the term originated with another poet and writer – Guillaume Apollinaire. Before Surrealism, in Zürich in 1916, Dada was founded by artists and poets and in 1909 Futurism was founded by Filippo Tommaso Marinetti – a poet. Collectively, these three avant-garde art movements have had a huge impact on 20th and 21st century art, and poets and writers played at least as big a role in it. 

 

     Today, in 2023, this tradition continues. For the first time at the University of Lincoln, MA Fine Art students are exhibiting work alongside visual poets from our esteemed MA Creative Writing course, which is recognized as a centre of excellence when it comes to experimental and conceptual poetics. It is well-known in art circles that sculpture, once confined to marble and bronze, has evolved to embrace new forms, such as installation and video art. Similarly, painting is no longer limited to the canvas, but has transcended into artist films, projections and performances derived from action painting. Our MA Creative Writing students practice advanced techniques and develop innovative strategies for writing poetry that push the boundaries of the form, including visual, conceptual, cine, object, sound and installation poetries. As such, visitors of this exhibition might be surprised to discover that creative writing has also embraced its own expanded field. They should expect to encounter art and may not be able to distinguish which course the artist has been studying on. Text-based work is made by a fine art student, while video installation is made by creative writers, for example. Not only are these creative practitioners exhibiting together, but they have also been working together for the whole of the summer semester. It has been a delight to see the synergies that have emerged and the coming together of different creative approaches to art making and exhibition management. 

 

     One of the great joys of seeing fine art degree shows is their diverse and eclectic nature. The trade-off is that you rarely see shows that are thematically linked. Bare, however, has clear contextual and conceptual consistency. Each artist, in their own way, has lain bare an aspect of their personal life. The works in this exhibition are all deeply personal, often dark and autobiographical. Like the Surrealists, or the psychoanalytic theory which they based their work on, these artists allow their fears, traumas or anxieties to surface – released from any sense of repression. Like all good art, this approach is most successful when the artworks transcend the personal and begin to function in more universal or timeless space. These links between the exhibiting artists are coincidental: the fine art and creative writing students began to develop their ideas and practices independently of each other. On the other hand, perhaps there is something about the University of Lincoln, its “One Community” values – its commitment to equality, understanding, listening, kindness and acceptance – that shines through this work . . . that encourages and fosters it in the first place. Students from two courses, who did not previously know each other, came together in this spirit. They worked under supervision, but independently, for the most part. Their professionalism is to be commended. We are certain that in years to come they will reflect fondly on the process leading to this exhibition: both the making of the work and the exhibition planning and management. They have put into practice a range of skills that they will need if they are to continue to work as artists in the future. They are in good stead and we look forward to hearing about their future achievements.