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Strange Worlds: the vision of Angela Carter

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Angela Carter, Bristol Festival of Ideas, Strage Worlds, exhibition, opening 10 December 2016Homage to the dark and compelling drama of Carter’s visual imagination – brutal, surrealist and savage.

Angela Carter – one of the most distinctive literary voices of the last 100 years – lived in Bristol from 1960 for nearly a decade.

She studied at Bristol University, where she specialised in medieval literature, which piqued her interest in the gothic themes explored throughout her writing.

Her life, work and influences are to be celebrated with an exhibition at the Royal West of England Academy (RWA) and a series of films at Watershed that form part of the Bristol800 programme.

The exhibition – Strange Worlds: The Vision of Angela Carter – includes painting, sculpture, drawing, installation, printmaking and film alongside illustrations from Carter’s books, manuscripts, photographs and personal artefacts that give a fascinating and intimate insight into her life and work.

It also includes historically significant works by Marc Chagall, William Holman Hunt, Paula Rego, Dame Laura Knight, Leonora Carrington and John Bellany, as well as works by major contemporary artists who were either directly influenced by Carter or who explore themes found throughout her work.

With Chagall, Rego and Pacheco to evoke the haunting magic of Angela Carter in this explosive new exhibition, twenty five years after her death, Bristol’s RWA, celebrates the life, work and influences of one of the most distinctive literary voices of the last 100 years.

Strange Worlds: The Vision of Angela Carter will invite a dialogue between art, literature and the imagination by exploring the artists who influenced Carter and those who were inspired by her.

Delving into the latent meanings of childhood fairy tales and the twisted imagery of gothic mysticism, this exhibition pays homage to the dark and compelling drama of Carter’s visual imagination – brutal, surrealist and savage.

This unique exhibition, which will reveal the profound impact of Carter’s work on 21st century culture, will include painting, sculpture, drawing, installation, printmaking and film from the nineteenth century to the present day.

Echoing Carter’s recurring themes of feminism, mysticism, sexuality and fantasy, the exhibition will include historically significant works by Marc Chagall, William Holman Hunt, Paula Rego, Dame Laura Knight, Leonora Carrington and John Bellany, on loan from major national collections.

The exhibition also features works by major contemporary artists who were either directly influenced by Carter, or who explore themes found throughout her work.

These include Ana Maria Pacheco – who will present her macabre and unsettling installation, The Banquet – Alice Maher, Eileen Cooper RA, Tessa Farmer, Nicola Bealing RWA, Marcelle Hanselaar and Lisa Wright RWA.

These works will be shown alongside illustrations from Carter’s books, manuscripts, photographs and personal artefacts that give a fascinating and intimate insight into her life and work.

While living in Bristol, she also wrote The Bristol Trilogy (1966-1971), three novels set in the city in which, according to her friend and editor Lorna Sage, ‘art and life mingle so that life itself is often a form of art’.

As part of the Bristol800 programme, the opening weekend of the exhibition will include special events and activity relating to Carter’s work. Further details to follow.

Bristol800 is a partnership programme that is developing, delivering and promoting activities in 2016 that celebrate significant Bristol anniversaries along with other commemorative and special events that raise awareness and encourage debate about different aspects of the city.

The exhibition is curated by Dr Marie Mulvey-Roberts of the University of the West of England (UWE), and the artist and writer Fiona Robinson RWA.

Strange Worlds: The Vision of Angela Carter runs from 10 December 2016 – 19 March 2017 at the Royal West of England Academy. The opening weekend will include special events and activities.

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