SURPRISE, SURPRISE!
Curated by Cally Trench (2003)
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In 2003, Cally Trench curated SURPRISE, SURPRISE!, an exhibition of contemporary art by fifteen artists chosen specially for the pleasure and interest it would give to primary school children. Cally Trench: 'SURPRISE, SURPRISE! was an exhibition of contemporary art which focused on the surprising and unexpected. In January 2003, it toured to six primary schools in High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, U.K. where it was enjoyed by over 2,000 children and eighty teachers. All the work in the exhibition was chosen because it is surprising. Surprise brings pleasure, which is an essential starting point for looking at art. The fifteen artists come from Britain, France, America, Holland and Taiwan. 'Most schools are able to make only a few visits each year outside the school, partly because of the cost of hiring coaches and entry fees, but also due to the disruption to the normal school lessons. Relatively few such visits are made to modern or contemporary art galleries, so that children are frequently unaware of how interesting and exciting contemporary art can be. By taking this exhibition to the schools, every child in the school had a chance to visit it, and every teacher had an opportunity to use it as the basis for art and design work, and for discussion about what art is.' |
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The exhibition toured six primary schools in High Wycombe (Hamilton Primary School, Ash Hill Primary School, Beechview Middle School, Disraeli Primary School, Castlefield Primary School, and High Wycombe Church of England Primary School). The exhibition was subsequently shown at Wycombe Museum. The artists involved were Nick Bodimeade, Tineke Bruijnzeels, George Buckland, Sally Bulteel, Sylie C, Jean Davey-Winter, Kris Emmerson, Linda Francis, Alan Franklin, Hatch Jenkins, Yu-lan Liu, Boo Ritson, Lucy Soutter, Cally Trench and Imogen Welch. Thea Jourdan: Review of Surprise, Surprise! Cally Trench showed four of her early mystery boxes in SURPRISE, SURPRISE!: Black Boxes. Children, teachers and visitors were also invited to reach into Cally Trench's What is Art? Lucky Dip, and to keep what they found as a souvenir. |