Art for the People: contemporary reflections on the Usher Gallery’s archive
An exciting exhibition of new work produced in response to the Usher Gallery’s archive by artists currently undertaking the University of Lincoln’s MA Fine Art.
In 2027 the Usher Gallery will be celebrating a century of providing culture to the city of Lincoln. As part of the MA Fine Art module ‘Artist as Curator’, artists Ollie Daniels, Stefan Fuga, Shannon Godfrey, Rebecca Leivers and Rebecca Morley were invited to view the nearly 100 years’ worth of exhibition catalogues held in the Gallery’s archives, reflecting on the wealth of exhibition and event records from the last century.
The exhibition title takes inspiration from a 1940’s ‘Art for the People’ Special Exhibition at the Gallery which included works by Eric Newton and Jan Gordon. Through examining the delicate pages of historical catalogues, the artists identified shared themes and concerns in past exhibitions and programmes. Encompassing performance, sculpture, textiles, and drawing, the new artworks explore themes of nature, community, gender, and folklore, presented alongside a selection of materials from the Gallery’s archive.
The exhibition opens to the public on 12 April 2025 and runs until 29 June 2025.
This exhibition is free to those who visit and will be open 10am- 4pm, Thursday through to Monday.