Contemporary art takes over at Coventry gallery

The season at the Coventry venue opened tomorrow yesterday with Adie Blundell’s His Dark Materials, which showcases a series of compelling yet disturbing mask-like sculptures alongside large scale detailed drawings, and is on until March 17.

Inspired by alchemy, folklore, poetry and obsessive Victorian collecting, Blundell’s work is composed of new and found objects incorpoaring keys, locks, light switches and medical equipment.

Starting on January 25, the Caught in the Crossfire exhibition looks at how artists grapple with both the brutality of war and the desire for peace.

On show will be works by John Piper, Eric Kennington and Muirhead Bone, alongside more modern examples from Banksy, Kennard Phillips and Cornelia Parker.

From March 30, Gina Czarnecki’s Wasted promises to explore the life-giving potential of ‘discarded’ body parts and their realtionships with myths, history and cutting-edge stem cell research.

The works constitute sculpture incorporating milk teeth donated by children and bones and fat from living donors.

The end products aim to be thought-provoking, challenging and produce a wealth of diverse meanings for the audience.

For more information on the season and other events and exhibitions at the gallery, visit www.theherbert.org