Artists Delight

It was an honour to welcome you all to the twenty-sixth St Christopher’s Senior School Art Exhibition on 27 May 2018. This year’s Exhibition showcased the outstanding Artwork of our GCSE and Advanced Level students, and, as always, our students put on a display of exceptional work that was really symbolic of our student body. Thirty-six students exhibited this year, and there were hundreds of pieces of Artwork on show and over one hundred sketchbooks, each charting the evolution of a topic from the initial intent to the final outcome; every stage of the process documented and communicated. The Exhibition was very well attended and the opening remarks were made by Mr Nick Wilson, Head of Senior School, and Deputy Chair of the Board of Governors, Mr David Axtell. Students have been encouraged to celebrate their heritage, explore an extensive variety of cultures and examine both historical and contemporary modes of artistic working practices. All of the students have produced work that is personally relevant to them, many exploring issues that are socio-economic reflections of the current time and place.  As ever, all forms of Art are equally valued and celebrated and it has been exciting to see students really experiment with innovative approaches, especially in terms of genre and media. The product of this was apparent in the diverse body of work on display this year seeing students producing work in the forms of, Sculpture, Ceramics, Textiles, Installation, Photography and Mixed Media. The students produced very immersive displays of work this year, which was a true delight to experience. It was especially exciting to see students using traditional and unusual art resources to develop their pieces, for example, plastic plates and insulating foam, and much of the work had Digital Technology elements to it. Students also thought carefully about how they installed their pieces, and many transformed their exhibition spaces, transporting the audience to different worlds through their use of lighting, staging, sound and smell. The exhibition has been documented in the seventeenth edition of the Art Catalogue 2018. This publication is a celebration of achievement for students to cherish in later years. I would like to take this opportunity to thank our parent sponsors, Tess Ashmole and Tara Nofal for their support with this. The effort from the students, Art staff and Senior Management Team has concluded in a striking and inspired year’s work and I would like to thank my colleagues, Estelle Wardle, Joe Mulleague and Tess Ashmole, who have willingly helped the students and I, to make the Art Exhibition 2018 a tremendous success. Thank you for coming to the show and I hope to see you all at the Art Exhibition 2019.

Helen Smart (Head of Art)