Preview: Journey in Colour @ The Bowes Museum, Barnard Castle

Journey in Colour is an exhibition inspired by the extraordinary colours of  The Bowes Museum to emphasise the importance of colour in art. Taking place from 18th June to 30th October, it offers and offers visitors an opportunity to see a vivid display of 80 historic and new artworks.

Curators David Bramston and Ye Li, with designers and artists from China and the UK, examined the colours of the Museum’s paintings, ceramics, silverware and furniture from the Renaissance to the 19th century and from this, contemporary artworks were created.

The exhibition encourages examination of colour theories – such as an awareness and use of colour spectrums – used by artists over centuries. It features a computer-controlled light installation, designed by David Bramston and design collective TECHxARTISAN to illustrate how colour reacts, as well as a second Bramston installation, inspired by the clobbered vases of the Museum’s collection and crafted by the winner of TV’s The Great Pottery Throw Down, Matt Wilcock that pay tribute to the Museum’s founder Joséphine Bowes and the artists whose work she admired.

David Bramston adds: “Colour is fundamental to design yet so often overlooked. It’s the characteristic that people respond to instinctively. Throughout the Museum there are extraordinary examples of colour contrasts from the fashions of Yves Saint Laurent and Empress Eugenie to religious icons and the geometric monochromatic tiles of the entrance hall.

On my first visit, I came upon its Jingdezhen porcelain vases and kneeling figures from the same Chinese province and era. Working alongside the Museum’s Keeper of Ceramics, Dr Howard Coutts, and colleagues in China, it’s been a privilege to examine so many objects and reinterpret the colours used by decades of artists to create new artworks for everyone’s enjoyment.”

Tickets can be booked via The Bowes Museum website.