Exhibition programme highlights for 2022 unveiled

Another Crossing - Artists Revisit the Mayflower Voyage

26 February-5 June 2022
'Another Crossing - Artists Revisit the Mayflower Voyage' is a collaborative initiative between Plymouth College of Art, The Box and the Fuller Craft Museum in Brockton, Massachusetts. The exhibition addresses the ongoing resonance of the Mayflower voyage for today’s society. It showcases ten artists including Sonya Clark (USA), Christien Meindertsma (Netherlands), David Clarke (UK) and Jonathan James Perry (Wampanoag), all of whom have created work in response to the 400th anniversary, utilising only technology - tools, materials, and processes - that existed in 1620. The exhibition highlights the sophistication of historic craft practices, like beadwork, joinery, metalsmithing, leatherwork, and pottery.

Breaking the Mould: Sculpture by Women since 1945

An Arts Council Collection Touring Exhibition 26 March-5 June 2022
'Breaking the Mould' is the first survey of post-war British sculpture by women. This exhibition explores the work of over forty sculptors in the Arts Council Collection. It provides a radical recalibration, addressing the many accounts of British sculpture that have marginalised women or airbrushed their work from art history altogether.

'Breaking the Mould' represents the strength and diversity of female sculptural practice. Many of the represented artists have challenged widespread notions of sculpture as a ‘male occupation’ by embracing new materials, subjects and approaches. In contrast, others have avoided institutional bias by producing work for alternative spaces or public sites.

Featured artists include: Barbara Hepworth, Elisabeth Frink, Kim Lim, Cornelia Parker, Veronica Ryan, Rachel Whiteread and Anthea Hamilton. The Plymouth presentation is delivered by The Box and The Arts Institute, University of Plymouth partnership and will be displayed as a dual-site exhibition at The Box and The Levinsky Gallery at the University of Plymouth.

Dress Code - Fashion Stories from The Box

2 April-4 September 2022
In the city’s first exhibition dedicated to fashion, highlights from The Box’s costume and textile collection will be displayed alongside paintings, drawings, film and archival material to tell important local and international stories about fashion and clothing. The exhibition spans the 1700s to today and speaks to contemporary conversations about identity, sustainability, shopping, design, making and craft. A paper dress from the 1960s foretells the future of fast fashion. A 300 year old silk gown tells the story of global textile trade. A subversive garment made locally, and worn all around the world, represents one of several of the city’s histories of garment production. From lace to latex, visitors will learn about Plymouth’s fashion pasts and futures.

Because The Night Belongs To Us

18 June-4 September 2022
From the Van Dike Club of the late 1960s to the world famous Union Street - Plymouth’s contribution to experimentation, self-expression, music and creativity has been distinctive, challenging and captivating. Because the Night Belongs To Us is the culmination of a five-year community engagement project called Plymouth After Dark, which has brought together a diverse range of previously unseen archive materials, film, images and new commissions to tell this story for the first time.

The Box has developed the exhibition with numerous contributions from the people of Plymouth. It has been supported by artist Keith Harrison (recent commissions include Jerwood Open, V&A Ceramics Resident, Outlands Network], award winning journalist, writer and critic John Harris (The Guardian, Rolling Stone, Melody Maker) and DJ, psychotherapist and broadcaster Nemone (BBC Radio 6 Music, Radio 2, Radio 1, BBC and ITV).

British Art Show 9

8 October-23 December 2022
The British Art Show is a landmark touring exhibition that celebrates the vitality of recent art made in Britain. British Art Show 9 takes a critical look at art produced from 2015 to the present moment, a period that begins with Britain voting to leave the European Union and closes with the still unfolding Covid-19 pandemic. The exhibition was shaped after meeting with over 230 artists in 23 cities and will present work by 45 artists, including Turner Prize nominees Oscar Murillo and Hurvin Anderson.

In Plymouth, the exhibition centres on the migration of bodies, peoples, plants, objects, ideas and forms. It includes Cornwall-based Abigail Reynolds, who in 2013 held one of the first South West Showcase exhibitions at Plymouth College of Art, and Katie Schwab, who had a residency and exhibition at Plymouth College of Art in 2019.

Since Plymouth hosted BAS7 ten years ago, the city has grown in maturity, confidence and reputation as a cultural destination and centre for contemporary art. Plymouth will be taking a very innovative approach to developing audiences, involving them in the planning process as they aim to dispel the myths around contemporary art. The multi-site exhibition will be delivered in partnership with Plymouth Culture, KARST, The Levinsky Gallery at the University of Plymouth and MIRROR at Plymouth College of Art.

Ongoing exhibitions

Until 27 February 2022, the critically acclaimed 'Songlines: Tracking the Seven Sisters' continues at The Box and The Levinsky Gallery at the University of Plymouth. The blockbuster show from the National Museum of Australia is the largest exhibition of Aboriginal art ever staged in the UK. It features 300 paintings and objects by over 100 Aboriginal artists and combines state-of-the art exhibition and display technologies with art, song and dance to tell the epic story of the Seven Sisters.

The Box’s award-winning 'Mayflower 400: Legend and Legacy' exhibition also continues until 2 January 2022. The show was created in partnership with the Wampanoag Advisory Committee to Plymouth 400 in Massachusetts, and with the help of over 100 museums, libraries and archives across the UK, US and The Netherlands, to mark the 400th anniversary of the sailing of the Mayflower.

Image credits

Header image: The Past As Future Artifact (Mask 2), 2020 by Jeffrey Gibson from 'Another Crossing - Artists Revisit the Mayflower Voyage'. Image by Brian Barlow. Courtesy of the artist and Sikkema Jenkins & Co, New York
Sculpture image: Icon, 1957 by Barbara Hepworth from 'Breaking the Mould'. Arts Council Collection, Southbank Centre, London © Bowness
Dress image: Printed and embroidered wool dress, 1940s from 'Dress Code' © The Box, Plymouth
Nightclub image: First all night rave at Flicks - The Warehouse, 14 February 1992 from 'Because The Night Belongs To Us' © Mirrorpix
Exhibition image: Two female visitors look at some of the works on display in the 'Songlines: Tracking the Seven Sisters' exhibition at The Box © Getty