Thursday 28 March 2013

Zoology Museum Easter openings


From the Curator of Museum Services at the University of Dundee:

New art acquisitions on show in the Zoology Museum at Easter

The D’Arcy Thompson Zoology Museum at the University of Dundee will re-open its doors to the public this Easter.   As well as all our amazing animals from around the world, we will also be displaying some of the latest purchases from our Art Fund grant to build a collection of art inspired by the museum’s founder, Professor D’Arcy Thompson.

Going on show for the first time in the museum will be two works by major 20th-century artists.    One is a drawing called Overflow by Wilhelmina Barns-Graham, the St Andrews-born artist famous for her abstract work in St Ives.    The other is a spiral-inspired etching by Victor Pasmore, who revolutionised art teaching in Britain in the late 1950s with his Basic Design Course, which included exercises based on D’Arcy Thompson’s work. 

More up-to-date are two prints by Andy Lomas, a special-effects director whose credits include Avatar and the Matrix films.   Lomas also creates artworks generated by computer algorithms, inspired by D’Arcy’s work on growth patterns.

Also on show will be a new version of a long-lost sculpture by Kirkcudbright-based artist Alex Flett. Flett originally made Snail as a student in 1969 but the work was destroyed.    Now he has revisited the original idea to create a new version specially for the museum. 

The museum in the Carnelley Building will be open 2-4.30pm on Good Friday and 10am-12.30pm on Easter Saturday.   Admission is free - please enter by the front door of Carnelley.