Young Gainsborough & Illuminating the Landscape
Two new exhibitions examining the enduring human relationship with nature
Twenty-five recently discovered landscape drawings by English artist Thomas Gainsborough are presented in the exhibition Young Gainsborough: Rediscovered Landscape Drawings, paired with the film Illuminating the Wilderness, by 2021 Turner Prize nominees Project Art Works, which charts the pleasures and challenges of neurodiverse responses to the landscape.
Produced in the late 1740s when Gainsborough was in his early twenties, the drawings offer an intimate glimpse into the early career of this master of portraiture and landscape, highlighting his youthful enthusiasm for nature. The exhibition also features paintings and drawings from Gainsborough’s early years, along with works by the Dutch landscape painters who influenced him.
Illuminating the Wilderness is a film produced by Project Art Works, conceived and directed by Kate Adams and Tim Corrigan and filmed on location with Ben Rivers, Margaret Salmon and neurodivergent artists and makers, families and carers.
The 40-minute film follows the exploration of a remote Scottish Glen over several days and reveals the pleasures, challenges and shared experience of neurodivergent responses to nature. Moments of humour, and tender consideration for each other, unfold in and around the landscape and weather systems of the mountains. The remoteness, scale and indifference of the landscape provide a rare sense of freedom and belonging for everyone involved.
Within the exhibition galleries, visitors are also invited to participate and share their creative responses to the natural world through drawing and writing, creating a room filled with love notes and messages of gratitude to the planet, surrounded by a wild ‘forest’ of illustrations on the walls.
This exhibition has been organised in collaboration with Royal Collection Trust, York Museums Trust, National Gallery of Ireland and Nottingham Castle.
