Mapping the Jurassic Coast

9 May to 27 June

A new exhibition, Mapping the Jurassic Coast, opens at Dorset County Museum on Saturday 9 May.  The exhibition draws together the work of two well-known artists, Jeremy Gardiner and Amanda Wallwork as they make connections between the landscape of the Dorset and East Devon Coastline and the artefacts and maps housed in Dorset County Museum which trace the history of this World Heritage Site.  Wallwork and Gardiner are linked by their passion for archaeology, geology and palaeontology which they use as source material for work which maps these ancient landscapes.

The discovery of dusty boxes of hand-coloured geological maps was a significant moment in this project as both artists were entranced by their beauty.  Dividing the coastline from Sidmouth to Old Harry Rocks into eleven sections, they initially selected a couple of areas on which to base their research, and walking these together and alone they have recorded their response visually.

Jeremy Gardiner's work involves a complex layering of motifs adding and stripping away parts of the wooden surface on which he works and building up layers of paint. Wallwork's plaster and paint constructions have a starker simplicity in which the layering process replicates the process of archaeology itself, her marks and lines becoming a symbolic language which speaks of an organic landscape which is continually evolving.

Funded by a small research grant from Arts Council England, and supported by the Jurassic Coast World Heritage Site Arts Programme, this project is in its early stages and the work to be shown at the Museum in May will be in the nature of a first response.   It is hoped that future research and development will be funded in order for the work to be further refined and expanded leading to a national tour which will exploit the potential of the educational programmes and raise the profile of Dorset and East Devon's World Heritage Site.  The exhibition is already scheduled to tour to the Atrium Gallery at Bournemouth University in the summer.

The exhibition will display artefacts and maps from the Museum's collection alongside the paintings giving a fascinating insight into the way these objects have been a source of inspiration for both artists.  By connecting the past with the present within the context of the World Heritage Site the work of these two artists will move all of these elements forward into the future.

Dorset County Museum is open Monday to Saturday 10.00am - 5.00pm.  Entry to the Exhibition is free.