Surrealist Exhibition at the Hepworth

Our colleague Denise West explored the Surrealist Exhibition at the Hepworth gallery, with trepidation initially..

‘I wondered if I would enjoy the Surrealist Exhibition currently on at the Hepworth in Wakefield as I had little interest in bizarre installations and canvases splattered with colours named MY Breakfast.

However I went, and how wrong I was. It was extensive, filling at least a dozen rooms and some walls of fabric only. The first artist I encountered was the wonderful American photographer and surrealist muse of Man Ray , LEE MILLER. During a visit to Paris in 1937 she met Roland Penrose, another surrealist artist and they married, which gave her leave from earning a living and to explore the freedom in her camera work.. She photographed many of her contemporaries of the time Pablo Picasso and Joan Miro, The last two decades of her life she devoted to cooking and was well known for her dishes inspired by surrealism.

Pablo Picasso was in the exhibition too although he never officially joined the movement. His work of the 1920/30's was influenced by Surrealism and the period saw him explore themes like the unconscious, dreamlike imagery, and the expression of emotions through distorted forms and vibrant colours. He was also interested in primitivism and eroticism which he incorporated in his own style.

Another big hitter was Salvador Dali and I particularly liked his lesser known painting with a black telephones called " The Mountain Lake ". The telephone here represents the apparatus used by Britain's prime Minister, Neville Chamberlain when he negotiated with Adolf Hitler in 1938 as of that date it was still a novel instrument of diplomacy.

There were a number of pictures by Max Ernst, the prolific German artist who was the primary pioneer of the Dada movement and surrealism in Europe. His most notable works were there and I also learned he had been married to Peggy Guggenheim for four years - news to me.

I was also unaware that the Bloomsbury Group member Dora Carrington was a surrealist landscape artist where she blended the facts of visual perception with her own thoughts and fantasies. One piece was Mountain Ranges from Yegan, Andalusia 1924 showed the split in perspectives the genre was known for.

My favourite artist in the exhibition was someone I had not come across before. Mary Wykeham 1909 - 1996. She has always been an artist in the shadows but had many other careers as well.

Mary was a trainee nurse in London taking evening classes at the Slade Art School, She worked as an anti - fascist in Berlin and throughout Europe. Throughout these travels art remained a constant activity as did her deep connection to nature, with art works from the Isle of Wight the Algerian desert and the Sicilian seaside. In midlife she became a nun and embraced the convent life. Her pictures are worth looking at as she tries to reconcile surrealism and religion, two concepts that do not usually go together.

The Hepworth have just recently been given many of her works for their permanent collection’.

Denise West.

Many of you will have heard about the proposed funding cuts to Welsh heritage bodies. As a result, the Royal Commission, the National Library of Wales, Cadw, Amgueddfa Cymru—National Museum Wales and Arts Council Wales are all having to institute redundancy programmes in order to stay within budgets that have been reduced by 10.5 per cent for 2024-25.

The harm that these cuts will cause is out of proportion to the benefit to any other part of Welsh Government spending, and they will have a significant impact on our ability to undertake our work in the years ahead.

They come at a time when we had been looking forward to the publication of a visionary and inspiring Culture Strategy for Wales that acknowledges the power of culture and heritage to improve everyone’s health, wellbeing and prospects in life, as well as to generate visitor income and enhance the image of Wales internationally.

A petition was opened calling on Welsh Government to increase spending on the institutions that safeguard the heritage and history of Wales. The petition attracted over the 10,000 signatures necessary for a debate in the Senedd.

Bearing in mind that every £1 invested in the sector leads to £5 worth of economic growth, the 0.02 per cent saving made in the national budget makes little sense.

"Anyone who works in the cultural sector in Wales, whose life is enhanced by the arts, or who cares about their social, economic and health benefits, should be deeply worried by a government whose members can’t manage to grasp the critical importance of maintaining and improving state support for cultural bodies and individuals – especially at a time of economic difficulty and hardship. They should rethink their budget priorities before it’s too late."

Aberystwyth Castle. Image by A.F. Calow

University of Warwick, July 2024

The United Kingdom has a good claim to being a ‘state of the arts’, recognised around the world for its vibrant culture and heritage.

The State of the Arts report lays bare the challenges the UK now faces to maintain and enhance this – at a time when the arts are under huge pressure, but also have huge potential to transform lives, society and the economy for the better.

There have been dramatic falls in arts funding since 2010. Tax relief for the creative industries has surged, but core public funding for the UK’s Arts Councils and the BBC has fallen, and investment by local councils has plummeted. Despite high public engagement with the arts, especially post-pandemic, cultural provision has contracted and remains fragile. Arts education faces critical challenges, from unequal opportunities in early years to course closures in universities nationwide. Reduced funding and a marginalisation of the arts in English state schools has driven catastrophic declines in participation and enrolment. Employment in the Cultural Sector has been growing, but significant wage disparities and job precarity threaten the long-term sustainability of the sector and the countless benefits it brings.

This report underscores the need for better and more balanced support to ensure the vitality and accessibility of the arts for everyone, across all parts of the UK.

Funding

The UK has one of the lowest levels of government spending on culture among European nations, and was one of a small minority of countries to reduce total culture spending per person between 2010 and 2022. Between 2009-10 and 2022-23, per person in real terms:
Local government revenue funding of culture and related services decreased by 29% in Scotland, 40% in Wales and 48% in England, alongside rising cost and demand pressures on statutory services (especially social care).

The Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS)’s core funding of cultural organisations decreased by 18% to only 0.17% of total public spending per person.
The Arts Councils’ core Government funding decreased by 18% in England, 22% in Scotland, 25% in Wales and 66% in Northern Ireland.
Over the same period:
Tax relief for the creative industries increased by 649%. In 2017- 18 this investment exceeded the DCMS’ core funding of cultural organisations for the first time.
The BBC’s total public and grant funding decreased by 23%.
National Lottery grant funding for arts and heritage projects increased by 19%, but fluctuated considerably over the period and was lowest at the start of the pandemic.
The income mix of Arts Council England’s ‘National Portfolio’ changed significantly. Public funding went down by 10 percentage points, while contributed income (from private donations/ sponsorship) and earned income both went up by 5 percentage points.

Between 2009-10 and 2020-21, per person in real terms, spending on British public libraries fell by 53%

Provision

From an analysis of almost a million listed events between 2018 and 2023, many venues, producers and promoters have scaled back their operations or shut down. There was a 23% fall in the number of music, theatre, dance and comedy events in the UK.
The number of events grew by 5 percentage points in 2019, then collapsed by 91 percentage points in 2020.
The number of events increased by only 2 percentage points between 2022 and 2023, suggesting post-pandemic recovery is incomplete and yet slowing.
Across venues of all sizes, there were fewer events in 2023 than in 2018.
Between 2018 and 2019, growth in event numbers was driven entirely by small venues. In 2023 there were 24% fewer events in these venues and average ticket prices were 22% lower in real terms.
Extra-large venues saw the biggest drop in event numbers in 2020 but made the strongest post-pandemic recovery, while also increasing ticket prices as inflation rose.
The number of cinemas in the UK increased by 18% between 2014 and 2020, but has since fallen by 2% every year.
In some parts of the UK, there are significant arts engagement gaps between adults from ethnic minorities and the population as a whole. However, in Scotland arts participation (excluding reading) is five percentage points higher among ‘minority ethnic groups’.

Education

All 4 nations recognise the importance of the arts in early years, but access to quality pre-school education is unequal.
Arts education in England has experienced a significant decline, caused by funding pressures and performance measures, like the ‘EBacc’ and ‘Progress 8’, marginalising the arts in state-funded secondary schools.
The number of arts teachers in English state-funded secondary schools fell by 27% between 2011 and 2024, from 55k to 40k.
The number of hours of arts teaching in English state-funded secondary schools fell by 23% between 2011 and 2024, from 501k to 387k. Between 2013 and 2020 in England, school arts engagement among 11-to- 15 year olds fell by 23% for arts and crafts, 24% for drama, 26% for music and 29% for dance.
Since 2010 the share of GCSE entries in arts subjects has declined by 47%.
Since 2010 the share of A-level entries in arts subjects has declined by 29%.

Engagement

91% of adults in England engaged with the arts in person between October 2022 and December 2023, and 77% attended events.
88% of adults in Scotland were culturally engaged between March 2020 and March 2022, and 74% attended cultural events or places despite the impacts of the pandemic.
Arts and creative courses are increasingly at risk from a structural funding crisis in Higher Education.
Since 2021 in England, the Government has segregated arts subjects from other, ‘strategically important’ subjects in Higher Education, and imposed 50% cuts in ‘high cost subject’ funding.
71% of adults in Northern Ireland and 64% of adults in Wales attended arts events between April 2021 and March 2023.
Films and cinemas generate the biggest share of arts attendances in all four UK nations.
There are significant arts engagement gaps between disabled adults and the population as a whole. However, engagement by disabled people increased by 6 percentage points over the 2010s in England.

Further Reading

House of Lords Debate February 1st 2024. See A debate introduced by Lord Bragg.
"The creative arts generate more revenue than the life sciences and the aerospace and construction industries combined. Add the input from television, films, advertising and broadcasting and we are faced not with a charming marginal activity but with an industry ready to grow to the massive benefit of this country, commercially and educationally, and equally in areas such as health and social equity."

Letter from Howard Goodall February 1st 2024. See Byline Times letter
" Right now, there are nine million children of school age in England, and the current funding for music services that support them in school, the Hubs, get £79 million a year from government. That’s less than £9 per child, per year.
Don’t our children deserve better than this?"

People often forget that a vibrant cultural scene is seen as one element which attracts people to a location for work. This was one of the reasons the chap I spoke to in early February had brought his wife to this region. It's culture - don't knock it, it's a great magnet!

Make the arts part of UK National Renewal

The UK Government is currently reviewing all public spending from scratch.
That means by 11 June, the Chancellor will have decided whether to continue to shrink arts and culture funding until 2029, or whether to turn the tide.
The arts create happier lives and stronger communities. Now is the moment to invest in them.
The arts are not a luxury, but an essential ingredient in a healthy society. For us to thrive, the arts must too.
However, the UK has one of the lowest levels of government spending on culture among European nations. Cuts are continuing under this government: the Department for Culture, Media & Sport (DCMS) budget has already shrunk by 6% this year.
This government was elected on the promise of a decade of national renewal. Investing in the arts and culture will catalyse it. We must urge the Chancellor to:
Restore the funding removed from the DCMS budget this year by 2026-27.
Sustain real-terms growth in DCMS budgets in each year of the Spending Review period, as is planned for overall departmental spending.
Extend the Government’s commitment to growing funding for schools and local councils, both of which are vital for public access to the arts.
There is so much at risk if current levels of cultural funding continue to shrink. But imagine the renewal we could witness if they begin to grow.

https://www.campaignforthearts.org/petitions/spending-review-2025/?utm_source=brevo&utm_campaign=Petition%20announcement%20&utm_medium=email&utm_id=484