Humanity is theme at Hove Museum of Creativity exhibition

It comes as the final leg of a national tour for Humanity, which initially opened at Sotheby’s Old Bond Street in January 2023 before touring to Project Ability in Glasgow during the summer.

Spokesman Matt Forbes-Dale said: “Humanity is the sixth National Open exhibition organised by the charity, which was established in 2006 to assist artists encountering significant barriers due to health, disability, social circumstance or isolation. The national call-out attracted a record number of entries by 500 artists and over half of the works on show are by artists who have never exhibited with Outside In before, many of whom have previously never exhibited at all. Images of all submitted work will also be shown alongside the 80 selected pieces.

“This year, shortlisted works were judged at the Sotheby’s show by artist Bob and Roberta Smith, following in the footsteps of previous judges including Sir Grayson Perry and Cathie Pilkington. Old Bands by Michelle Roberts was awarded first prize of a solo exhibition in 2024. Ophelia by Gail Henderson and RNLI Saves Refugees by Ian Barnes were selected as runners-up.

“There has never been a time in recent history where the theme of humanity has had such direct relevance to the world in which we are living. The challenges posed by environmental change, war, the global pandemic and the cost-of-living crisis have left us to consider what it is to be a human and how to behave humanely. Outside In artists have interpreted humanity from a wide variety of perspectives, both personal and global, and the work on show includes paintings and drawings, sculpture, ceramics, photography, film and performance pieces.

“Sussex is the birthplace of Outside In and numerous local artists have work included in the show including first-prize winner Michelle Roberts, who works with Project Art Works, a collective of neurodiverse artists and activists based in Hastings. Jiffy’s Seeing Other People is about looking, communicating and sharing ideas whilst Sophie Valeix’s collaged print Common Humanity is a reminder to be compassionate and shows the beauty and diversity of people if we could only see them on the inside during depressive episodes. David Puttick’s mixed media piece reflects on how all humans can be good or bad, depending on conditioning, and Helen Grundy’s collage The Anatomy of Rumination sees an anatomical diagram invaded by bathers, each representing a thought, and is a plea to slow down and break cycles of worry. Luc(e) Raesmith’s assemblage addresses society’s current obsession with celebrity and the selfie whilst Sarah Harris’s digital photograph Only Human is a lamentation on mortality and Samuel McGann’s plaintive Deep In Thought is a reflection on the outbreak of war in Ukraine. A mixed media installation by Jessica Starns is entitled Refrigerator Mothers, a term coined by psychiatrist Leo Kanner in the 1950s which shockingly equated autism with a lack of maternal love.”