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Midlands Arts Trail: Inclusion in the Arts

For our special issue we have created an arts trail, themed on inclusion, in partnership with 13 galleries across the midlands. This trail will take you on a journey exploring how race, gender and disability are represented in our regional public collections.

Race

  • Detail from abstract painting

    Clara Ugbodaga-Ngu, Abstract (1960)

    Research and Cultural Collections, University of Birmingham

    Clara Ugbodaga-Ngu is a highly significant figure in the development of Nigerian modernism. Through her teaching, she influenced future artists and helped to lay the foundation of modernist practice in post-colonial Africa.

    Trailpoint 1
  • Detail from Black Mother

    Ernst Neuschul, Black Mother (1931)

    The New Walk Museum and Art Gallery, Leicester

    Black Mother by German Expressionist artist Ernst Neuschul is an intimate portrayal of a mother breastfeeding her child. The work treats the subject with great dignity, belying the extreme difficulties faced by people of colour in inter-war Germany.

    Trailpoint 2
  • Detail from Untitled (Standing Woman)

    Claudette Johnson, Untitled (Standing Woman) (1990)

    Wolverhampton Art Gallery

    Claudette Johnson is an important British artist who celebrates black femininity by bringing it to the forefront of her work. She creates honest portrayals of black women, which are informed by her own experiences, and which seek to challenge preconceptions of black femininity.

    Trailpoint 3

Gender

  • Detail from Double Take

    Eileen Agar, Double Take (c.1936)

    The Potteries Museum and Art Gallery, Stoke-on-Trent

    This work by Eileen Agar subtly explores the feminine psyche and draws from the Surrealist interest in psychoanalysis.

    Trailpoint 4
  • Detail from Crouching Woman

    Egon Schiele, Crouching Woman (1914)

    Barber Institute of Fine Arts

    This drypoint etching by renowned Austrian artist Egon Schiele depicts a seemingly distressed woman, partially-clothed and crouching uncomfortably. The depiction of hysteria as seen in this work is a common feature of Schiele’s art. It was also a popular topic in fin-de-siècle Vienna, where this work was made.

    Trailpoint 5
  • Detail from Light Gathers

    Barbara Delaney, Light Gathers (1997)

    Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery

    Barbara Delaney’s artistic practice is informed, but not defined, by her experience with visual impairment. Light Gathers is a strikingly visual work that celebrates light honestly and thoughtfully.

    Trailpoint 6

Disability

  • Detail from I 1

    Alexa Wright, ‘I’ 1 (1998)

    Leamington Spa Art Gallery and Museum

    Alexa Wright is a celebrated British photographer whose work considers disability and the ways in which non-disabled people react towards it. In her photographic series ‘I’ from 1998, Wright collaborated with disabled people to create semi-self portraits.

    Trailpoint 7
  • Detail from Rock Drill

    Jacob Epstein, Study for Rock Drill (c. 1913)

    The New Art Gallery, Walsall

    With his Rock Drill sculpture, Jacob Epstein created a terrifying mechanised soldier. Following the First World War, however, he broke this work down into a mutilated torso. His Rock Drill reflects the tragic story of war and represents the debilitated, damaged body of the worker-soldier.

    Trailpoint 8
  • Wax model

    Making Together, RBSA collaboration with Sense and HA (2017- now)

    Royal Birmingham Society of Artists

    My article considers biological explanations of gender, and in it I explain the reason why medical wax models from the 19th Century still matter today when we think about intersex and transgender identities.

    Trailpoint 9
  • Detail from Beauty is Always With You

    Dale Marshall, Beauty is Always With You (2013)

    Herbert Art Gallery and Museum, Coventry

    By embracing his past, Dale Marshall creates raw, powerful works that are open and honest about his mental health and convey his story and struggles to the viewer. He hopes to use his works to start a frank and authentic discussion about mental health.

    Trailpoint 10

This trail has been compiled by Jennifer Wilbur, in partnership with the galleries and collections featured. Jennifer is the 2019/20 Undergraduate Research Scholar for Midlands Art Papers. She is completing her final year of her History of Art BA at the University of Birmingham.

How to do the trail

Please note that some of the works featured in the trail are not on permanent display- please check with the galleries before you visit to avoid disappointment.

Addresses and contact details of the featured galleries and museums

Birmingham

  • Birmingham Museum and Gallery, Chamberlain Square, Birmingham, B3 3DH

Phone: 0121 348 8000
Email: BMAG.Enquiries@birminghammuseums.org.uk

  • RBSA, 4 Brook Street, Birmingham, B3 1SA

Phone: 0121 236 4353
Email: rbsagallery@rbsa.org.uk

  • Research and Cultural Collections, 32 Pritchatt’s Road, University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, B15 2TT

Phone: 0121 414 6750
Email: rcc@contacts.bham.ac.uk

  • The Barber Institute of Fine Arts, University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, B15 2TT

Phone: 0121 414 7333
Email: info@barber.org.uk

East Midlands

  • New Walk Museum and Art Gallery, 53 New Walk, Leicester, LE1 7EA

Phone: 0116 225 4900

Email: via the New Walk Museum and Art Gallery website

West Midlands

  • The New Art Gallery, Gallery Square, Walsall, WS2 8LG

Phone: 01922 654400
Email: info@thenewartgallerywalsall.org.uk

  • Wolverhampton Art Gallery, Lichfield Street, Wolverhampton, West Midlands, WV1 1DU

Phone: 01902 552055

Staffordshire

  • The Potteries Museum and Art Gallery, Bethesda St, Hanley, Stoke-on-Trent, ST1 3DW

Phone: 01782 232323

Warwickshire

  • The Herbert Art Gallery and Museum, Jordan Well, Coventry, CV1 5QP

Phone: 024 7623 7521
Email: info@culturecoventry.com

  • Leamington Spa Art Gallery and Museum, Royal Pump Rooms, The Parade, Leamington Spa, CV32 4AA

Phone: 01926 742700

Email: prooms@warwickdc.gov.uk

  • Dudley Museum and Art Gallery, Dudley Archives, Tipton Road, Dudley, DY1 4SQ

Phone: 01384 811280

Acknowledgements

Grateful thanks to our museum and gallery partners, notably Anna Young at Research and Cultural Collections; Heather Southorn at the New Walk Gallery; Carol Thompson at Wolverhampton Art Gallery; Samantha Howard and Sam Richardson at the Potteries; Helen Cobby at the Barber Institute; Victoria Osborne at BMAG; Alice Swatton at Leamington Spa Art Gallery; Julie Brown at the New Art Gallery; Natalie Osborne at the RBSA; and Martin Roberts at the Herbert. Many thanks also to the following artists for their generosity in allowing us to reproduce their work: Claudette Johnson, Barbara Delaney, Alexa Wright, HA (Andrea Hannon and Rob Hamp), and Dale Marshall.