Arriving back in Nottingham after twenty-two years away, it’s a pleasure to see the castle and the ancient pub Ye Olde Trip to Jerusalem still standing proudly in the morning sunshine. I’m here to visit Nottingham Castle Museum & Art Gallery which hosts the installation Kaleidoscopic Realms. The exhibition, co curated by Jennifer Gilbert of Jennifer Lauren Gallery in Manchester and artist Christopher Samuel, is a celebration featuring eight contemporary artists who together have been profiled by the SHIFT project. The Jennifer Lauren Gallery was set up in 2017 by Gilbert to apply her many years of experience as an advocate to empower neurodivergent and disabled artists. Samuel, a fine art graduate and multi-disciplinary artist, boasts an extensive list of commissions applying his own experiences as a black disabled artist.
Gilbert set up SHIFT during 2020 to raise the profile of learning disabled and neurodivergent artists including Cameron Morgan, Leslie Thompson, Michelle Roberts, Siddharth Gadiyar, James Gladwell, Thompson Hall, Richard Hunt and Nnena Kalu. Championing the under-represented, she provides a platform for disabled artists, placing them centre-stage and elevating their presence in the general artistic community. The exhibition aims to bring detailed insight into their artistic abilities and respective practices all within a stylish, contemporary setting.
Entering the exhibition, a display of introductory information greets you; full of symbols, various communication methods and a summary of what is on show. The installation fills four large rooms – each artist has their own showcase across a combination of display cases and wall-hung works such as paintings and textiles. Every artist has also been filmed to provide additional insight into their practice. Headphones are available to listen to the films which pushes the experience a little further by allowing a more personal moment to listen more closely about the artists; a small, valuable detail. Printed copies of the narrative are held at the side of each screen, reinforcing the theme of communication. The curators have definitely delivered in terms of viewer accessibility.
For example, all videos include a British Sign Language interpreter, and there are braille descriptions, audio recordings, and tactile experiences available, so that every viewer can access something from each artist. I do believe this standard should be the minimum benchmark for art to become all inclusive. Every visitor has the opportunity to engage each artist in a variety of ways.
The curators included one additional item, a bespoke double-sided board, crafted into a handheld object; it reminded me of a painter’s palette. It visually describes each artist’s practice through clever flow diagrams, offering further insight to their work. Because of this, I was able to pick up on the small nuances developed by the artists in how they generate ideas. Thompson Hall has a routine: drinking a cup of tea, thinking, and allowing ideas to flow into his consciousness. I could totally relate to this. It also incorporates communication tools to extend the experience by using QR codes. It connected me on multiple levels across the installation and I would urge all visitors to make full use of this real stroke of genius.
Cameron Morgan is from Project Ability, a Glaswegian art studio aimed at improving the lives of mental ill-health and learning-disabled artists. Morgan’s work combines bold imagery, painting, textile, and ceramics. Photography is also a vital component and often the starting point of his work, which he develops with drawing or painting. This project reflects his love of imagery and outline by his use of vibrant colours to emphasize meaning; each piece is strong individually but when all the work is combined into a single entity, it elevates into something special. I cannot speak highly enough of his glazed ceramic cameras, such as ‘Say Cheese’ (2024), demonstrating visual hyperbole at its best. His affinity with cameras is clear, and the joy this tool of expression provides is clearly visible in how he has crafted his ceramic interpretations, incorporating his sense of humour – which is the glue to all his work.
Richard Hunt, a self-taught artist who grew up in Gibraltar, produces themed paintings utilising his childhood memories and his connections with water, demonstrating his world from various perspectives. He wants you to observe what he sees by combining paint and marker pen to craft deep, colourful scenes often using mysterious shapes. Hunt has been collaborating with Sonia Boué, a multiform artist and neurodivergent consultant, for four years now. He is clearly influenced by the sea from his childhood, and he expresses these memories with stunning complexity. His unusual paintings are full of intricate joy.
James Gladwell, an artist working in drawing and embroidery, showcases in the second room. He has been a member of Barrington Farm Studio, Norfolk, since 1989. The farm was founded in 1988 as a means of providing a place of stimulation and security. Gladwell’s playful works of colourful creatures and everyday objects are detailed and layered. He doesn’t use a hoop or frame to embroider but rather forms cross-stitch diligently on a table, immersed in his world, steadily repeating. Gladwell was taught by his grandmother, and he has learned to apply his thoughts and dreams to his embroidered artwork. Using donated materials, the fabric aligns itself naturally to the dreams he brings to life. Gladwell suggests in his artist bio that he finds the process satisfying, perhaps even meditative.
Leslie Thompson is from Venture Arts, an organisation aimed at giving identity to disabled artists. Thompson has been practicing since the 1990s, his art growing against the backdrop of Moss Side, Manchester. He uses ink, paint, or ceramics to illustrate his life. His abilities have resulted in numerous commissions, and he has gained a serious reputation. Thompson’s practice centres around his highly detailed drawings which are best viewed, in my opinion, in person. There is so much you see that is not easily visible from an image online. His art is full of humour and he uses labelling to elevate it further. Nuanced and mindful descriptions give the viewer a glimpse of his thoughts. Often creating from memory, the artist’s ability is clearly demonstrated by his image of ‘Animals from Memory’ (2018) which has now been acquired by The Government Art Collection.
The final artist in Room Two is Michelle Roberts of Project Art Works in Hastings. She is an ambitious designer who combines paint and brush pens to create complex puzzles of pattern and colour. Her detailed drawings use shapes and distorted caricatures with imaginative consistency, as if they are related in some way. Roberts was introduced to colour by her grandfather. He was a watercolour artist and she would often accompany him. Greatly influenced by films or special events, she methodically covers the paper in an improvised way. The process can evolve into a folding book, like her work ‘Untitled’ (2022), or it can be a single piece of multiple designs. Tony Colley, an artist mentor for Project Art Works, suggests that it’s a narrative which unfolds as Roberts’ designs roll out over several weeks of work.
Room Three contains the work of Nnena Kalu and Siddharth Gadiyar. Kalu is part of ActionSpace, a studio within Studio Voltaire in London. They seek out talent and help artists with realising their potential. Kalu practices drawing and sculpture, often creating two dimensional creations through repetitive processes. She using a process called rhythmic wrapping to craft unruly shapes. Her process has intensity at its heart. My first glance at ‘Vortex Drawing 45’ (2023), left me completely lost for words. I felt so much in her work. Sadness, joy, anger, and frustration. Her wrapped sculptures are haunting. Plaster Magazine described her work as urgent and frenetic, as if it is an extension of Kalu herself; for me, I was amazed how her artistic expression touched so many emotions.
Siddharth Gadiyar, also of Project Art Works, uses his instincts to produce extraordinary images from paint and adhesive taped media. His work incorporates pattern and colour underlined by his motif of choice, the circle, in large scale paintings. Starting from a hung sheet of canvas or heavy material, resembling a carpet on full, vertical display, he attaches boundaries of shapes using tape. The expressions are huge, each one developed weekly in a three-hour session. The circular form is repeated by his use of painted spots, heavy from the liberal application of paint. He makes conscious decisions to pick up the brush, select colour and place. The energy, the drips, the hues all combine to make very interesting art structures.
The final room houses work from Thompson Hall, another member of the ActionSpace studio. Hall is a specialist in large scale acrylic and pencil drawings. Using his observational skills in everyday situations he creates flat, patterned, symbolic and vibrant works to express his emotions. His messages are often politically inspired and address societal inequalities. Hall splits his time between making and thinking. Beginning with a cup of tea, he reads and, when ready, starts to draw. It seems reading is a crucial aspect of Thompson’s work on many levels. His text-based straplines drive the focus and suggest the title. ‘Living on a Breadline’ (2019), for example, is a harsh reminder to those who attend foodbanks. The piece contains many emoticon-like facial depictions, angry and sad. A simple, meaningful piece of creative illustration.
After assessing each artist’s work, the one constant which really connected me back to each artist in understanding their workflow was the palette tool I mentioned above. Having been designed specifically for this purpose and illustrated in a friendly tone, it was my go-to prompt and reminder for each artist.
Educators, family, friends, and the spaces in which we exist influence everyone. Each creative in this exhibition has been guided by these relationships in their lives and in their creative outlets. For me, interpreting their work is subjective. Some artists are unable to express verbally the reasoning underlying their decisions, but the art and mark making they employ suggests a highly developed sense of style, and method that works for each of them. It was also clear throughout the exhibition that each artist has strong familial connections to specific aspects of their upbringing, something which they cherish and hold tight to.
Jennifer Gilbert should be applauded for her courage by choosing to advocate and exhibit neurodivergent and overlooked artists. Her work with other UK organisations supporting disabled artists aims to debunk what is deemed ‘art’ and who can become an artist.
Being critical about anything is a good thing so long as it is done in a constructive, factual and comparable manner. Disability is a spectrum that affects every person. Perfection does not exist – it never will and that is what makes life so interesting. I will take away from this installation two things: Morgan’s wonderful little piece of cheese, because it makes me smile so deeply, and Kalu’s staggering emotional expression that she applies to her canvas. I will never forget the feeling of first glancing at her work. I wonder how it will affect you.
Kaleidoscopic Realms, Nottingham Castle Museum & Art Gallery, 8 June – 3 November 2024.
Michael Orr is a Creative Media & Audio Producer based in Preston.
This review is supported by Jennifer Lauren Gallery.
Published 28.08.2024 by Jazmine Linklater in Reviews
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