The city of Lincoln will host a series of free exhibitions showcasing work from talented young artists as part of the Ballard Arts Festival, which takes places next month.
Inspired by the novels of author J.G. Ballard, the festival invites art-lovers to visit six distinctive demonstrations by students from the University of Lincoln.
The week-long festival will take place from Monday 6th – Sunday 12th May 2013 and will inhabit various locations around central Lincoln, including Stokes of Lincoln and the Sir Joseph Banks Conservatory, with displays spanning a vast variety of media, from performance, painting and sculpture, to digital and sound design.
Andrew Bracey, Senior Lecturer at the Lincoln School of Art and Design, explained: “The Ballard Arts Festival represents a really exciting part of the University of Lincoln’s Fine Art course, when second year students take over venues in the city to put on exhibitions of their artwork. This year each exhibition is also the title of a J.G. Ballard novel and new art has been made by each student in relation to the themes and ideas explored in his books.”
J.G. Ballard was an English 20th Century novelist and short story writer, who became renowned for the literary distinctiveness and dystopian modernity of his work. His best-known works include the semi-autobiographical Empire of the Sun (1984), which was later made into a film by Steven Spielberg.
Andrew Bracey said: “Ballard was selected as the uniting theme for the exhibitions as I believe his interests mirror a lot of the work that the students were making in the studios, such as entropy, dystopia and utopia, the modern landscape and the psychological effects of technological, social or environmental developments. This series of exhibitions and events promises great ambition by the students, with lots of exciting and surprising developments currently taking place in the studios ready for the festival launch.”
The artists will display their work in six venues throughout the city, with each location hosting a private viewing event to celebrate the artists and their work. For more information visit http://ballardartfestival.wix.com/ballardartfestival.