Press Release

Press release

Periodic Tales: The Art of the Elements

Saturday 3 October – Sunday 13 December 2015

This exhibition is based on the best-selling book, Periodic Tales: The Curious Lives of the Elements by Hugh Aldersey-Williams. It explores the way in which the elements in the Periodic Table have inspired artists over the centuries and the rich cultural legacy and associated meanings to which artists continue to respond. The concepts are presented through an exciting line-up of work by well-known national and international contemporary artists including Joseph Beuys, Tim Etchells, Antony Gormley, Heatherwick Studio, Roger Hiorns, Maria Lalić, John Newling, David Nash RA, Eduardo Paolozzi, Cornelia Parker RA, Simon Patterson, Fiona Banner, Tania Kovats, Marc Quinn, Lucy Skaer, Danny Lane, Kate Williams, Bill Woodrow RA, Annie Cattrell, Lucia Nogueira and Julia+Ken Yonetani

Periodic Tales is the first large-scale exhibition of its kind to explore the key chemical elements in the Periodic Table through a series of works. The artists have been drawn to these elements due to their cultural connotations or aesthetic power. The exhibition includes captivating contemporary pieces and historic objects. Both bring the public into contact with the chemical elements in an unprecedented and poetic way

The elements represented include gold, silver, mercury, lead, tin, copper, iron, aluminum, chromium, cobalt, uranium, neon, sulphur, calcium and carbon. Highlights include Antony Gormley’s Fuse a life- size iron man; eight works by Cornelia Parker including her flattened silverware Thirty Pieces of Silver (Exhaled) and Kate William’s Dounreay Nuclear Power Station which represents a scaled down version of the nuclear power plant, which is made from uranium glass lit from beneath.

This is the first time that artist David Nash RA will be showing his magnificent sculpture Big Black, which represents the element carbon. Nash has also produced a limited edition print run to celebrate its debut, which is available exclusively through Compton Verney’s shop.

John Newling’s new work Value; Coin, Note and Eclipse, recently acquired by Arts Council Collection, is also on display and represents Gold, one of our most precious elements. Compton Verney has also commissioned two news works for the show, a neon piece by Tim Etchells and an Annie Cattrell piece representing carbon.

This exhibition is accompanied by an innovative learning programme for schools and families which addresses both artistic and scientific concepts. The accompanying events programme has been developed in conjunction with the Department of Chemistry at the University of Oxford and the Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC).

The exhibition is accompanied by a publication entitled Periodic Tales: The Art of the Elements available in the shop at Compton Verney.

For public information call +44 (0)1926 645500, visit comptonverney.org.uk, follow @comptonverney #PeriodicTales

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Related events and activities:

Date Start time Event title and details October 3 – 13 Dec - Learning Lab Periodic Tales Step inside and you will find a Periodic table so you can see what the raw elements look like; books relating to art and science; activities about to the elements and a film showing a selection of artists in the exhibition and their studio practice. Included in exhibitions, collections and grounds admission. 10 – 13 Dec 12 noon Tour Periodic Tales Take this 45-minute tour of the exhibition and find out more about the key pieces, stories, elements and background of Periodic Tales. Included in exhibitions, collections and grounds admission. Places limited. Sign up on arrival. 13 2.30pm Science Bite Talk The Periodic Table A 30 minute talk by a PhD student from the University of Oxford Chemistry Department. Included in exhibitions, collections and grounds admission. Places are limited, no advance booking, please sign up on arrival. 22 2.30pm Talk, Tour & Tea Chemical Reactions Find out what it took to bring the Periodic Tales exhibition to life with Co- curator Penelope Sexton. Then join her for a curator's tour of the exhibition, followed by afternoon tea. Tickets: £30, Concs £28.50, Members £15. Talk, Tour and Tea includes exhibitions, collections and grounds admission, along with tea and cake in the Café. To book tickets please call 01926 645 500. 24 – 25 11am – 4pm Family Workshop ‘Live’ Element Discover the chemical elements such as colourful cobalt, fluorescent neon and smelly sulphur. Take part in activities to find about their shape, colour and how they react to other elements. Included in collections and grounds admission. This workshop has been generously sponsored by Paul Cooney in memory of Barry and Judy Henman. 29 11am – 4pm Family Activity Forest School: Charcoal Making Drop into our Forest School and join us by the campfire to discover how to make charcoal. Take your charcoal to use at our Big Draw activity. Included in collections and grounds admission. 30 6 – 9pm Museums at Night 6 - 7pm Talk Mercury - Window on the Invisible. Dr Andrea Sella a chemist who will be doing experiments and demonstrations on Mercury. 7 - 8pm Royal Society of Chemistry demonstrations for families 7 - 8pm Curator’s tour of the exhibition 7 - 8:30/9pm DJ themed set on The Periodic Table Tickets: £10, £8 and free for under 16s.

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November 6 2.30pm Talk Geometry: The hidden chemical element? Renowned Inorganic Chemistry Professor Andrew Goodwin from the University of Oxford will talk us through how and why chemistry is the art of combining elements in order to produce useful compounds, relating to the Periodic Tales exhibition. He will also consider what matters more – how we use the elements? Or is their shapes, properties and how we arrange them that are more important? Tickets: £25, Concs £23.50, Members £10. Includes exhibitions, collections and grounds admission. To book tickets please call 01926 645 500. 10 2.30pm Science Bite Talk The Transition and post Transition Metals A 30 minute talk by a PhD student from the University of Oxford Chemistry Department. Included in exhibitions, collections and grounds admission. Places are limited, no advance booking, please sign up on arrival. 15 11am Family Event Mad Science Day Be amazed by the crazy demonstrations by Mad Science. Take part in our hands-on experiments at our pop-up lab and add your own personal touch to our Art-Science project! Included in collections and grounds admission. 19 2.30pm Talk, Tour & Tea The Auspicious Metal Join Morgan Jones, Chinese collection expert and Penelope Sexton, Curator, for a talk on the use of copper alloy and the technology of Chinese bronzes in relation the Periodic Tales exhibition. Followed by a tour of the exhibition and afternoon tea. Tickets: £30, Concs £28.50,Members £15. Talk, Tour and Tea includes exhibitions, collections and grounds admission, along with tea and cake in the Café. To book tickets please call 01926 645 500. December 4 2.30pm Talk All that glisters: The chemical elements in culture In this talk Hugh Aldersey-Williams, Co-Curator of Periodic Tales will give an overview of the ideas behind his book and the exhibition, and artist John Newling (one of the artists using gold in the exhibition) will consider some of the processes and situations that have evolved through his practice, included the ecology of materials that is embedded in the language of his work. Tickets: £25, Concs £23.50, Members £10. Includes exhibitions, collections and grounds admission. To book tickets please call 01926 645 500. 5, 6, 12, 13 11am Special Event Winter Weekends 8 2.30pm Science Bite Talk The Actinoids, Nobel Gases, Alkaline Earth Metals and Other Non-Metals A 30 minute talk by a PhD student from the University of Oxford Chemistry Department. Included in exhibitions, collections and grounds admission. Places are limited, no advance booking, please sign up on arrival.

3 For press information contact Sam Skillings T: 01926 645 541 E:[email protected] Press release

Notes to editors Compton Verney - Compton Verney’s 2015 season is Saturday 14 March – Sunday 13 December 2015 - The Gallery is open Tuesday – Sunday, 11am – 5pm - Admission to this exhibition is £15.00 Adults, £13.50 Concessions, £3.00 Children, £30.00 Family (2 adults and up to 4 children). Under 5s are free. Admission includes entry to the exhibition, the six permanent collections and 120 acres of parkland at Compton Verney. [These prices include a Gift Aid donation] - For tickets and information see www.comptonverney.org.uk or call 01926 645500 - Daily 45 minute exhibition tours take place at 12 noon and are included in admission. No advance booking. Please sign up on arrival.

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Image information

For high resolution copies of any of the following images, please email: [email protected]

 All credit lines are correct in accordance to agreements with lending institutions and copyright holders and must be used in full.

 All images are supplied at 300 dpi, approx. 3-4 MB and approx. 10/11cm in height or width. Please contact us if you require a larger image.

 In agreement with copyright holders all images may not be cropped, flipped or have text laid over them without prior permission.

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Cornelia Parker, Thirty Pieces of Silver (Exhaled) cake stand, 2003, 30 Heatherwick Studio, Billet 1: Extrusion 9, 2009 silver plated items crushed by 250 ton industrial press, metal wire, © Image Peter Mallet © Image Courtesy the Artist and Frith Street Gallery, London

Antony Gormley, FUSE, 2011, Cast iron, David Nash, Nature to Nature, 1990, Photograph by Stephen White Charcoal on paper, framed with charred ash 2014 © Image Courtesy White Cube © Image Courtesy of the Artist

Eduardo Paolozzi, Tin Head - Mr Cruikshank, 1950 Marc Quinn, The Etymology of Morphology, 1996 © Tate, London 2015 © Tate, London 2015

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Roger Hiorns, Nunhead, 2004, Arts Council Collection, Southbank Lucy Skaer, Black Alphabet (After Brancusi), 2008, Centre, London © Roger Hiorns. All Rights Reserved, DACS 2015 © Photographs by Andy Keate, image courtesy of the Artist

John Newling, Value; Coin, Note and Eclipse, 2011-2012, Ken + Julia Yonetani, Crystal Palace: the great exhibition of the works Arts Council Collection, Southbank Centre, London © The Artist of industry of all nuclear nations (United Kingdom), 2013 © Photographs by Catherine Brossais, images courtesy the Artists

7 For press information contact Sam Skillings T: 01926 645 541 E:[email protected]