Art & design students exhibit surreal artwork
Aspiring artists at Solihull Sixth Form College have been exploring surrealism this term and this week they visited Touchwood Shopping Centre in Solihull to see their resulting artwork on display in the Surreal Solihull exhibition.
Commissioned by Culture Solihull, students on the BTEC Art & Design Practice course worked with Solihull Cultural Education Partnership (CEP) on this live brief to give them the experience of working for a client to a set brief. The resulting art trail sees artwork from a range of young Solihull artists exhibited in shop fronts across Solihull town centre from 6 March for three months.
The brief was set to honour the legacy of Emmy Bridgwater, the great surrealist artist and poet who called Solihull home. Learners were invited to explore the techniques used by Bridgewater, including automatic drawing, collage, dreamlike landscapes and to take inspiration from the natural world.
Zoe Maksymiw, curriculum leader for Creative Arts at the College, commented: "Live briefs are a fantastic way to allow our young people to explore a possible future career path and this particular brief offered students the chance to delve into surrealism and take inspiration from a local artist. We are grateful to Solihull CEP for the exciting opportunity, which learners grasped with both hands. It’s fabulous to see the artwork on display in a public exhibition and a great reward for all the hard work the students put into this project.”
As well as BTEC Art & Design Practice, the College offers three pathways in A level Art & Design – Fine Art, Graphics & 3D Design and Photography. Live briefs are offered to students in all Visual Arts courses.
