TWO new exhibitions are telling their own unique stories at Rugby Art Gallery and Museum.
Every Object Tells a Story, which opened earlier this month, delves into the Little Elborow Street venue’s social history and archaeological collections to present an Aladdin’s cave of objects which open a window on Rugby’s history.
Exhibits include a Viking ring discovered in a field, a section of an eighth century carved stone cross discovered when St Andrew’s Church was built, the boots worn by Lady Dorothie Feilding while serving on the frontline in the First World War, and a music magazine featuring psychedelic rock legends Spacemen 3 on the cover.
Meanwhile, Body en Thrall is the first major public display of the Girlpower and Marcelle Joseph Collections in the UK. Collected over the last decade, the artworks in the two private collections explore the performance of gendered identity and representation, primarily through the depiction of the feminine body.
They are being shown alongside a selection of works from the gallery’s own Rugby Collection of modern and contemporary art, which was founded in 1946 to collect works of ‘promise and renown’. It now holds over 250 artworks and over the last 20 years has sought to address issues of underrepresentation within the collection by focusing on gender, sexual, and racial identity.
It includes Untitled (Lockdown Portrait) by Turner Prize-winning artist Gillian Wearing, an oil on board painting which was one of a series of self-portraits created by the renowned conceptual British artist to capture her changing state of mind during the first pandemic lockdown in 2020.
It was acquired for the Rugby Collection after Rugby Art Gallery and Museum secured grants from the Contemporary Art Society and the Arts Council England/Victoria and Albert Purchase Grant Fund.
Body en Thrall runs until April 23, and Every Object Tells a Story until September 16.
Visit www.ragm.co.uk for more information about exhibitions and events at Rugby Art Gallery and Museum.
