ART REVIEW: Island @ NGCA, Sunderland

Image: Installation view, Island: Island Life in Britain since 1945, Northern Gallery for Contemporary Art, 2022 © Sunderland Culture. Photo: Colin Davison. 

Sunderland’s Northern Gallery for Contemporary Art welcomes an extensive collection of work investigating the coast and island life in Britain since 1945. The works in the NGCA main gallery are for the most part on loan from the Arts Council England Collection which makes up the seventh in Sunderland Culture’s series of Arts Council Collection exhibitions.

Island explores numerous concerns surrounding coastal life including unemployment, social identity and environmental issues. A video piece projected onto a reproduction of a Barbadian chattel house, Between a Whisper and a Cry by Barbadian-Scottish artist Alberta Whittle can be seen in the centre of the main gallery. The projection is a comment on the lack of resources to defend against adverse climates as well as the privilege of geography. On the other hand, there are works studying the prime of British holidaying in coastal locations, seen through a selection of photographs by Tony Ray-Jones and Magnum photographer, Martin Parr.

Alongside the work on loan from the Arts Council Collection, community projects will be shown throughout until the exhibition closes in September. An artist-led community project led by Jo Howell, Dawn Felicia Knox and Tracy Thomas (Sea Change Lab) working with a group of young people living in the coastal town of Horden, County Durham will be shown in the gallery space. The project explores what their coastal identity looks like along with how we look after the coast.

Island at Northern Gallery for Contemporary Art runs until Sunday 11th September 2022.