Nottingham Contemporary

Brian Griffiths made the giant sculpture in the window of Nottingham Contemporary. He is known for his theatrical sculpture and installations. Of his work he says “For me, objects are known and secure – an alternative to the instabilities and anxieties of ideas.” Griffiths has exhibited widely in the UK and internationally.

Thursday Live Lecture Series

In collaboration with Nottingham Contemporary, New Art Exchange and Nottingham Castle, the Fine Art course at Nottingham Trent University presents the Thursday Live Lecture series of free seminars by the British Art Show 7 curators and a selection of artists included in the exhibition. This series is an opportunity to find out more about the art on show across the city.

Join three distinguished art critics as they discuss what they might write about British Art Show 7. They will also examine the reviews of the exhibition in a What The Papers Say style. They will take a long look at the 35 year history of the BAS, relating it to other recurring exhibition formats. The panel is Gilda Williams, London correspondent of Artforum and a lecturer on the MA Curating Programme at Goldsmiths, JJ Charlesworth, associate editor of ArtReview magazine and Sam Thorne, associate editor of Frieze magazine

Brian Dillon is the UK editor of Cabinet magazine. His writing has appeared in The Guardian, The Independent, The London Review of Books, The New Statesman, as well as various art magazines. His book In The Dark Room won the Irish Book Award for Non-Fiction. His lecture will discuss Roland Barthes’s Camera Lucida, perhaps the most influential book ever written on photography. Despite the fact that Barthes and Arbus seem to share the idea of photography as “the impossible science of the unique being,” Arbus is absent in Barthes’s text. Dillon will ask why.

Brian Dillon is the UK editor of Cabinet magazine. His writing has appeared in The Guardian, The Independent, The London Review of Books, The New Statesman, as well as various art magazines. His book In The Dark Room won the Irish Book Award for Non-Fiction. His lecture will discuss Roland Barthes’s Camera Lucida, perhaps the most influential book ever written on photography. Despite the fact that Barthes and Arbus seem to share the idea of photography as “the impossible science of the unique being,” Arbus is absent in Barthes’s text. Dillon will ask why.

Much of Olivia Plender’s work is grounded in historical research. In drawings, graphic novels, videos, performances and installations, she has examined 19th- and early 20th-century spiritualist and social reform movements, and the British Empire Exhibition of 1924. She is interested in exposing ‘the ideological framework around the narration of history’ and how this impacts on present-day politics and culture.

In Nottingham Contemporary, Plender will present a performance, ‘The Lost Works of Johan Riding', Dr Roger Quallen, Olivia Plender and Craig Burnett will introduce the little-known filmmaker Johan Riding. Dr Quallen will read from his upcoming study of Riding to provide some background about his life and work. Quallen, Plender and Burnett will then present some of the material - drawings, photos and possibly a film clip - that they have uncovered while researching his first three films: The Lost Clown, Mr Slidly Joins the Team and Out of Wack.

George Shaw studied at Sheffield Polytechnic and the Royal College of Art. He worked as a teacher in Nottingham, and had studios at the Oldknows building and in Eastwood. Using Humbrol enamel paint, he creates highly detailed paintings of the Midlands council estates of his childhood. He will discuss the literary and musical influences in his work, as well as references to art history.

Thursday Live Lecture Series

In collaboration with Nottingham Contemporary, New Art Exchange and Nottingham Castle, the Fine Art course at Nottingham Trent University presents the Thursday Live Lecture series of free seminars by the British Art Show 7 curators and a selection of artists included in the exhibition. This series is an opportunity to find out more about the art on show across the city.

Nominated for the Turner Prize in 2009, Hiorns has worked with fire, foam, copper sulphate and animal remains to explore the physical and psychological resonances of material. In this seminar he will discuss his recent sculpture, including new work made for BAS7. In collaboration with Nottingham Contemporary, New Art Exchange and Nottingham Castle, the Fine Art course at Nottingham Trent University presents the Thursday Live Lecture series of free seminars by the British Art Show 7 curators and a selection of artists included in the exhibition. This series is an opportunity to find out more about the art on show across the city.

Nottingham Contemporary is summoning the city’s Goths to appear in all their finery for a special photo shoot, from 7 – 8pm. The gloriously pale and sartorially undead will be immortalised through the lens of filmmaker Jeanie Finlay, who is making a series of Goth portraits. All participants will receive a digital copy of their likeness.

Goth Cruise, Finlay’s film about the 4th annual Goth Cruise, which took place in blazing sunshine around Bermuda – in the company of two and a half thousand Hawaiian shirted senior citizens - will be screened at 8pm. Followed by a Q&A session with director Jeanie Finlay and Chris Cooke – from the Mayhem Horror Film Festival

The BAS7’s subtitle In the Days of the Comet is the inspiration for this detailed look at the history of the heavens above and our culture below. From the earliest times the heavens have played a central role in human cultures, acting as a clock, calendar and a teller of futures. Led by Marek Kukula, Public Astronomer at The Royal Observatory in Greenwich.

Silent Histories - Digging through the 31-year history of the British Art Show, this audio guide includes information about each of the previous British Art Shows as well as British Art Show 7. Written and read by Daniella King.