Local artist among those included in RWA’s latest exhibition

After a huge success following its reopening in May, the RWA is presenting its second show, ‘Earth: Digging Deep in British Art 1781-2022’.

The newest exhibition presents a rich exploration of our environment over four decades, inviting the viewers to ruminate over our impact on the planet, and its precarity and preciousness.

The collection brings together modern, contemporary and historical artworks from various artists, including Turner and Constable as well as more modern artists such as British-Nigerian artist Yinka Shonibare and visual artist Tania Kovats.

But it is the work by local land artist and sculptor Richard Long, which may interest viewers the most. Long’s Muddy Gravity is a mural painted using the mud from the Avon Gorge.

Dalziel + Scullion, Immersion Garment: Silhouette (2014) – photo: RWA

Funded by the Arts Council England, the painting takes inspiration from Long’s childhood.

“My first natural playground was the cliffs of the Avon Gorge and the towpath by the river. So even as a kid I was fascinated by the enormous tide, and the mud banks, and the wash of the ships as they swept past,” says Long.

“You have this wash sweeping up the mud … muddy creeks … I guess it’s right to say that I have used that experience in my art … like water, the tides, the mud. All that cosmic energy is there in my work,” he continues.

Richard Long RWA install shot – photo: Lisa Whiting

The exhibition, which runs from July 9 to September 11, is co-curated by Christina Payne, Emma Stibbon and head of the RWA programme and curator of exhibitions, Nathalie Levi.

Commenting on the gallery’s latest exhibition, Stibbon said she was “amazed and moved” by the variety of approaches to the theme of ‘Earth’.

“From the abundance and wonder of our planet the exhibition takes us to the critical question of its fragility and precariousness, confronting us with our impact on the Earth – surely the most critical issue of our time,” she said.

Richard Long install shot – photo: Lisa Whiting

Payne agreed: “The contrasts between historic and contemporary interpretations of the same theme are always really stimulating and thought-provoking.”

“I love working with the RWA – the contrasts between historic and contemporary interpretations of the same theme are always really stimulating and thought-provoking,” she continued.

Mary Buckland (1797 – 1857), View of the Axmouth Landslip (1840) – photo: RWA

The RWA is also offering many free activities alongside the main exhibition, including a one-off opportunity to draw a live goat, with Street Goat and Abigail Reed, which will take place on the remodelled forecourt at the front of the RWA on Saturday, July 30.

Artworks by Creative Youth Network’s Creative Course participants and Bristol Refugee Artists Collective will also be on display for the duration of the exhibition in the RWA’s free to visit gallery spaces.

Earth: Digging Deep in British Art 1781-2022 runs from July 9 to September 11.

Main photo: Julian Perry

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