Leamington gallery packs a punch with varied programme

As part of the programme of the free talks, which run from 1pm, curatorial officer Alice Swatton will talk about the life and work of Dame Elisabeth Frink this Friday.

Alice will introduce Frink’s work on paper titled Marcassin, which is currently on loan from Exhall Grange School.

To complete this month’s programme of talks, Warwick’s poet laureate Dinah Smith will read works she has written in response to The Mission Room by LS Lowry and A Sleeper, A Nocturne, A Watcher by Simeon Solomon.

Nadia Wazera, the gallery’s events officer, said: “We hope that this spring’s Friday Focus talks will be informative and entertaining.

“There is something of interest for everybody.”

From May 3 the gallery will host the exhibition New Art For A New Age: Optimism in Post-War British Abstraction.

Ten History of Art students from the University of Warwick took part in the Young Curators Project and curated an exhibition as part of their final year. They explored the theme of optimism in post-war British art.

The exhibition will display abstract painting and sculpture from around 1960 made by artists working in both London and St Ives at that time.

Included in the show are works from the Arts Council and University of Warwick collections, which represent this optimistic new age.

Going For Gold: Celebrating Local Sporting Life will be launched on July 12 and run until October 7.

The exhibition will mark the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games in London and celebrate sporting heroes from closer to home.

Highlights will include a head guard worn by World Middleweight Boxing Champion Randolph Turpin and the Leamington Lawn Tennis trophy won by Dr Joshua Pim, who later went on to win two Wimbledon singles titles in 1893 and 1894.

To finish the year’s programme of exhibitions, the gallery will host Through Our Hands from October 18 to January 13.

This will include works by ten textile artists from various countries who approach quilting as a contemporary art form.

For more information about events at the gallery and museum call 742700 or visit www.warwickdc.gov.uk/royalpumprooms