Polar landscapes
28th November 2023
Two current and local exhibitions Arctic Visions and the Frozen Continent are well worth visiting. Arctic Visions: Capturing the Uncapturable at Nature in Art (Twigworth) presents the paintings of Nicholas Jones which immerse the viewer in the vast space and luminous light of the Arctic. The exhibition Frozen Continent is in Cheltenham’s Wilson Gallery and focuses on Edward Wilson whose family archive it holds and takes us on a journey through his early life in Cheltenham to his research of the Antarctic wilderness as a member of Captain Scott’s Antarctic team of 1912.
Illustrations below: first block, Nicholas Jones’s paintings; second, Edward Wilson’s sketches
Notes from exhibition catalogues:
Arctic Visions and the Frozen Continent (November 2023 to February 2024)
The paintings of Nicholas Jones immerse the viewer in the vast space and luminous light of the Arctic. Capturing a world made up of the simplest of ingredients – ice, water, rock, and light, this exhibition offers a point of connection with the fragile beauty of this astonishing region of our planet, on whose wellbeing we all depend.
Nick is the 2022 winner of the Royal Geographical Societies Cherry Kearton medal. In 2018 he was the Scott Polar Research Institute’s Arctic Artist in Residence, out of which these paintings were made thanks to a remarkable voyage along the coasts of Greenland and Baffin Island. Nick’s paintings have always dealt with one main subject: the landscape. But here also the seascapes are prominent.
These paintings open our eyes to the beauty of nature, inviting us to a meditative contemplation of its wonders, and reminding us of the vital importance of preserving our shared home.
The Frozen Continent (7 October 2023 –18 February 2024)
“Edward Wilson was one of the most admirable of men. An expert naturalist, an intrepid explorer, modest and in the end, heroic. He was also an accomplished artist whose watercolours painted on expeditions with Captain Scott are not only scientifically accurate but uniquely evocative.” [Sir David Attenborough]
The Wilson Art Gallery and Museum is named after Edward Adrian Wilson whose family archive it holds. It contains paintings, drawings, writings and possessions which tell the extraordinary story of Wilson – the man, the artist and the scientist. The exhibition takes us on a journey through his early life in Cheltenham to his research of the Antarctic wilderness as a member of Captain Scott’s Antarctic team.
An accomplished artist, Wilson created vivid depictions of the Antarctic landscape and its wildlife which provide important documentary evidence of its geology, biology and importantly, its meteorology. His legacy is explored in an interactive exhibition which considers the impact of the changing climate on our lives today.
The Frozen Continent exhibition invites you explore first-hand the experience of the infamous journey to the Antarctic. By providing insights into the men themselves we discover what they ate, how they passed the time, their relationships with each other, and what drove them in their ill-fated attempt to be the first to reach the South Pole.