A City's Pride
THE WORLD’S LARGEST LS LOWRY EXHIBITION
City’s Pride
Sat 8 July – Sun 10 September 2006
“It makes you look at Lowry again…as a man open to human impulse; something I’d always felt he lacked but which I now see was there all the time.” The Independent
In the Galleries this summer, you’ll find old favourites and some big surprises. Our entire collection (over 350 paintings and drawings) of LS Lowry’s work goes on display in A City’s Pride, 8 July – 10 September. This ‘must-see’ exhibition is a great opportunity for Lowry lovers, recent converts and sceptics to look again at L S Lowry.
The title, A City's Pride, reflects that the collection is a source of pride for Salford City Council since it is the local authority's funding and commitment that have ensured that it exists. Nowhere else in Britain is such a large collection of paintings and drawings housed where the artist worked and A City’s Pride provides the perfect opportunity to see all the work and that ‘special relationship’ for yourself.
A City’s Pride will be displayed in chronological order and visitors can see how he used pencil, watercolour and pastel, followed by ballpoint and felt tip pen as they became available. Lowry often drew on anything that came to hand and there are plenty of examples of his rapid drawings on scraps of paper, demonstrating the obsessive and compulsive nature of his art.
As well as familiar mill scenes, A City’s Pride will show the untypical and lesser-known side of L S Lowry’s work – portraits, seascapes and his sparse modernist drawings. The empty landscape is one of many themes that run through his work. They include studies of silver-white lakes with blue-green hills and deep valleys. He was also fascinated by the sea, producing many drawings and paintings of huge empty seas, turbulent waves and solitary ships.
Far from the ’simple man’ he claimed to be, L S Lowry was a highly complex individual and a mystery, not only to those who were closest to him, but even to himself. He was also notoriously elusive when asked to explain his work, often posing more questions than answering. For all their apparent simplicity, Lowry’s paintings are complex records, elusive, enigmatic and compelling, deeply marked by the grotesque and the uncanny; extraordinary objects that elicit different response from the wide variety of viewers, of all ages, who find his work intriguing.
The popular Meet Mr Lowry film at The Lowry provides an insight into the man behind the paintings. It includes footage of the artist at work, memories of those who knew him, and opinions of those who have studied his work.
The Lowry hosts FREE FAMILY SUNDAYS, fun family events all free of charge, taking place between 11am and 3pm on the last Sunday of every month, for the duration of A City's Pride. On Sunday 23 July there’s also a Folk Archive Free Family Fun Day (1 – 3pm) relating to our exhibition which celebrates 50 years of folk art. Free to everyone, visitors can participate in activities like vegetable sculpture making and marvel at a gurner, who will be showing off his amazing talent of facial distortion. On the plaza outside The Lowry, Snowdrop, a life size mechanical elephant, will give rides to children. Morris dancers and clog dancers will demonstrate their flair for traditional folk displays. All children will receive a stick of special Lowry rock to take home!
Since The Lowry opened, critics and the public have been re-appraising the artist and his work. Renowned for showing regularly changing exhibitions of one of Britain’s best known and best loved artists, The Lowry usually explores different facets of his work by showing only a selection of his work alongside a wide range of contemporary art from Britain and abroad. However, this ‘must-see’ exhibition, showing the entire collection is a great opportunity for both Lowry lovers and those who thought they knew him, to do the same and judge for themselves.
For more information about The Lowry, please contact Francesca Waite, Press Assistant on 0161 876 2044 or e-mail Francesca.waite@thelowry.com or Rob Allen, Press Executive on 0161 876 2024 or e-mail rob.allen@thelowry.com
Pictures are available to download from our image library www.thelowryimages.com. New users should go to the registration page first, enter your personal details and use the registration key water (lower case only) for a password to be immediately e-mailed back to you. You will then have access to exhibition images (A City’s Pride and Lowry Favourites) via the log-in page and clicking on Galleries Exhibitions.
NOTES TO EDITORS
GALLERY INFORMATION
The Lowry, Pier 8, Salford Quays M50 3AZ
Information & Box Office Telephone 0870 787 5793
www.thelowry.com
Gallery Opening Times:
Galleries open everyday 11am – 5pm (10am – 5pm on Saturdays)
Admission to the Galleries is FREE.
On arrival, visitors need an admission ticket from the Galleries Desk.
We encourage donations to support the Galleries and the care of the LS Lowry Collection.
Free Family Sundays, a series of fun family events, all free of charge, taking place between 11am and 3pm on the last Sunday of every month.
Meet Mr Lowry a 20-minute film screened during opening hours
Free ten minute talks at 12pm and 2pm every day about a picture on show
Free Gallery Guides are available from the gallery desk
Posted on Saturday, 01 July 2006 under Press Galleries Press