Alive To It All

A touring group show that was inspired by a connection between childhood and adult creativity.

In the preface to the catalogue for this exhibition, Joanna Drew, who at the time was Arts Council Director of Art, quotes Baudelaire, saying genius was “nothing more than childhood recaptured at will”.

Drew continued: “The work in the exhibition seemed to have a child-like simplicity and directness. First appearances, though, are deceptive and time spent with these works can reveal a range of human experience, which no single view of a landscape or a figure could encompass.”

Works in the exhibition included Patrick Hayman’s Lady (with a friend on wheels), Gillian Ayres’ The Bonny Black Hare, Roger Hilton’s Nude and Tree, a collage by Francis Davison, Ken Kiff’s Earth Face, Paul Klee’s Hanging down, Alexander Calder’s Kiki’s Nose, and Joan Miró’s Samurai.

The exhibition was first shown at Rochdale Art Gallery, before travelling to the Serpentine Gallery and finally to the Ferens Art Gallery in Hull.