Leamington arts space hosting new exhibition - and a closing night with poetry and music

The Blind Leading the Seers, which has been curated by Charlie Caldecott, is running at the Stoneleigh Arms Arts Space until November 8.

Visitors are being also invited to the gallery on Saturday November 7 at 6.30pm for a free to attend, closing night of music and poetry, with guest Fraser Logan – a poet known for “typing for strangers” in parks and gardens.

The free exhibition features new work by eleven artists: Sarah Pager, Louisa Mahony, Jo Casling, Dougal Kirkland, Emma Coop, Helen Goodwin, Rachel Bird, Amy Rosenthal, Rose Arbuthnott, Michael Bury and Andrew Boyd.

Each artist responds to a poem written by Charlie, which was inspired by the story of an abstract painter in Dorset who worked outdoors at night.

Using black bitumen, straw and the surrounding landscape, the painter said he let touch, instinct and the physical act of making guide the work, rather than sight alone.

Charlie’s poem imagines “the blind” leading “the seers” across a dark moor, where familiar ways of seeing and understanding begin to dissolve.

Rather than illustrating it literally, the artists taking part in the exhibition, interpret its ideas through their own practice, exploring darkness, landscape, material, instinct and the limits of perception.

The exhibition asks whether people can encounter a landscape through memory, movement, texture or imagination, and whether losing sight of the familiar might help us see differently.

Charlie Caldecott said: “I wanted to ask what happens when we stop relying on what we think we know.

“The artists have taken the poem somewhere I could never have predicted.

“For the closing night, I hope to bring Leamington’s blind, partially sighted and sighted communities together through music and poetry, so that everyone has a chance to experience the work, and the poem, in their own way.

“I am also delighted to welcome Fraser Logan to what promises to be an inspiring and heart- warming evening.”

Maddie Webb, founding director of Stoneleigh Arms Arts Space, added: “We are thrilled to welcome this inspiring collaboration between Charlie and eleven remarkable artists.

“Creativity has the power to transform people, places and communities, and my hope is that everyone who walks through our doors feels inspired to make, connect and belong.

“This exhibition and Charlie’s closing night plans embody those ideas, so please pop in during the show, and join us on the closing night to experience it for yourself.”

To attend the closing night event, email: [email protected]

For more information and opening hours, go to: https://stoneleigharms.com/