Top artists celebrate final exhibition for Spacex before new move
An art exhibition examining the importance of bees will be the final exhibition at Spacex’s Preston Street gallery before the organisation relocates to embark on a new way of working.
Twelve top artists will be taking part in Honeyscribe Hive, which examines our ancient relationship with the bee. The project leading up to the exhibition has involved scientists, artists, writers, beekeepers and the public.
More than 400 Exeter primary school children have also taken part. They visited the Princesshay Bee Project and worked with artist and curator Amy Shelton to create their own art, which will be shown in the exhibition.
The exhibition includes art which records the life of bees and their habitat. Amongst the contributing artists are:
- A new drawing by Peter Randall-Page
- A photogram of a honeybee drawn in honey by Nicky Thompson, Devon based artist and beekeeper
- An illustrated poem by Alec Finlay accompanied by a recording of the poem with sound design by Chris Watson, one the world’s leading wildlife sound recordists
- Amy Shelton’s herbarium collection of the wild and cultivated plants around her home in Exeter, taking a bees’-eye view of the urban environment
Amy Shelton, Artistic Director of Honeyscribe Hive said: “From prehistoric times to the present day, humans have felt a mysterious connection with bees, delighted by their honey and fascinated by their communal behaviour and ecological function. But so much of what they do goes unseen and, as a result, their battle to survive against intensive farming, habitat loss and pesticides can go unnoticed.
“The project at Spacex celebrates our bee population – making visible the miracle of pollination carried out by these extraordinary creatures in our city.”
After 42 years at its gallery space in Preston Street Spacex will move to a newly built project space at the rear of Exeter Phoenix later in the year. The visual arts organisation will move the focus away from its own gallery to develop collaborations with other organisations and work on new projects in public spaces.
Kathy Norris Project Manager at Spacex, said: “This project is the beginning of a new start for Spacex. It is part of our new Associate Programme which will enable us to deliver more and to provide opportunities for a greater number of artists and curators to work with us.
“We’ll continue to deliver the programme of high quality contemporary art that is nationally recognised, and from our new base at Exeter Phoenix, we plan to make a significant contribution to the creative ecology of Exeter.”
Honeyscribe Hive is open to the public from Tuesday 29 March to Saturday 2 April, 10.30am-4pm. There will be a range of associated events, including a creative cafe on Saturday 2 April 10.30-12 and a workshop led by Tessa Farmer on Saturday 2 April, 1.30-4pm (booking essential).
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