Work On Windows:
The Herbert in a New Perspective

Herbert Art Gallery & Museum
15 August 2020 - 9 August 2021

We invited five contemporary artists to create work inspired by the Herbert’s collection.

The exhibition is in response to the artwork produced and displayed in the windows of thousands of homes during the COVID19 lockdown. Each commission is directly painted, drawn or stuck onto the external windows of the gallery which overlook the terrace on Jordan Well and are viewable without having to enter the building. The exhibition provides physical access to art for individuals who may not yet feel comfortable entering public buildings.

[Image Description: Kid30's work on windows from the outside. A swan flying with two figures sat on its neck is painted on the inside of the Herbert's windows with graffiti.]
[Image Description: A snapshot of Tarla Patel's work on windows. Shot from the outside, a number of abstract polaroid pictures are visible.]
[Image Description: A shot of Claire Scully's work on windows. Tropical line drawings in pink illustrate a parrot and monkey amidst vegetation.]
[Image Description: Evie Kendrick's work on windows shows a colourful illustration of a mummified cat surrounded by other animals.]
[Image Description: Shot of Thomas Cardiff's work on windows. It's an illustration directly painted onto the glass in white.]
[Image Description: A shot of the Herbert from the outside of the building, with most of work on windows visible.]

The five commissioned artists come from varied backgrounds; their styles feature delicate linework, unique illustrations, fantastical creatures, abstract forms and more. The inspiration for all commissions derives from forty visual art and social history items within the Herbert’s own collection, and bring a newfound perspective to familiar objects.

The Artists

kid30

Midlands based artist kid30 has been painting graffiti for over two decades. He is well known for his cleanly painted bold characters and his unique and instantly recognisable works are prominent on the streets of the UK. His recent work focuses on mash ups of favourite cartoon characters from his childhood.

Tarla Patel

… is an artist and archivist of her father’s photography collection, the Masterji Archive. Her work captures transient nature of people and places. She is influenced by images of the past and uses them to create memories in the present. Her art explores memories and place as well as identity and belonging through migration.

Evie Kendrick

… ​is a 15-year-old digital artist based in Coventry. She has been developing her illustration skills over the past five years, mainly using Procreate on her iPad Pro. She experiments with a variety of styles and likes to draw animals, a favourite being cats. Kendrick often incorporates these characters into her own crafted narratives.

Thomas Cardiff

Alongside tattooing, Thomas Cardiff has also been involved in developing several projects within the fashion and music industries in London which gives him the wealth of opportunities to stay creative. Moving forward, Cardiff’s focus is stepping out of the tattoo industry and pushing forward into the world of art. As an illustrator, he is drawn to the works of classical oil painters and bases a lot of work on this style along with a love of abstract art and modernism.

Claire Scully

… is a multi-disciplinary Illustrator, author and educator specialising in drawing. Her work focuses on pattern and line, how images are constructed through details and the importance of the minutia within visual language. In her research and drawing practice, Scully strives to answer the questions of ‘what lies beyond the horizon’ by looking at the notion of landscape, memory and projections of the unknown.

Claire+2.jpg

Works on Windows is viewable any day at any time, but please keep in mind that some of the artworks might not be viewable at certain times of the day due to reflections and weather conditions.