Gallery 1, free entry.  Open Tuesday-Sunday 11am-6pm. 

Prophet brings together the work of three artists: Esteban Igartua, originally from Lima in Peru, now based in Bristol; Georgie Hopton based in London and upstate New York, and Cornelia Parker who lives and works in London.

Georgie Hopton’s starting point is traditional still life. In her use of painting, photography and sculpture, each medium informs the other. The sculptures are rendered out of heavy material; clay, or pulped paper, this is then tamed, shaped, and coaxed to make it form the leaves and petals. The delicacy of the flowers in both the paintings, but particularly the sculptures, is lost, but delicacy is not the point. Perched atop polished plinths the contrast of the beautiful clumsiness and the classical plinth draws us to focus on their more sober intentions.

Esteban Igartua’s detailed, laboured drawings and exquisite jewel-like paintings describe a world, perhaps of the future or maybe the past. The clusters of human beings surviving on waste ground and bare hillsides are despairing. The compositions of these works are classical, yet refer to a modern scarred and torn world, a place where all human intelligence is gathered. The detail of the draftsmanship ensures that the viewer misses nothing.

Cornelia Parker’s, Chompskian Abstract, presents the artist’s interview with the renowned American linguist, philosopher, author and political activist Noam Chomsky. The work is an intimate portrait of Chomsky: the camera fixes on the detail of his face as he listens to questions and thoughtfully responds. He addresses the failings of government, corporations and the media to take responsibility for the ecology of our planet. Originally commissioned by Ikon, Birmingham in partnership with the 8th Sharjah Biennial, United Arab Emirites.