3^rd & L6^th Form Artists visited Hauser & Wirth, Somerset to see Ida Applebroog’s latest exhibition...

Building on the success of last term's series of art trips to Hauser & Wirth, Somerset, we once again ventured out of the classroom. Over a fortnight period, each class had an opportunity to engage and respond to the current exhibition, with an opportunity to create their own exciting artist investigation pages to enrich their current projects.

Ida Appplebroog explores themes of power, gender, politics and domestic space over the past six decades. Across mediums of paint, drawings, sculpture and writing, Applebroog creates fragmented narratives that investigate the lives of ordinary people. She records life as it is, using images stylistically reminiscent of comics and film stills as she represents her characters in ambiguous scenarios.

Pupils participated well with Applebroog’s work, and enjoyed interacting with her multi-faceted approach. We planned a series of activities aimed at encouraging pupils to consider how they can use images to tell a story. Ida Applebroog is a prolific ‘Image scavenger’ as she collects imagery extracted from a range of sources, such as history books, magazines, films stills etc. To conclude the gallery experience, we challenged pupils to make further connections to her work by giving an emotive word to individuals with an opportunity for pupils to make associations to a drawing or painting. Over the fortnight, we have been blown away by pupils’ responses and maturity during group discussions on key themes such as power, violence, gender and storytelling.

A huge thank you to Matilda (Education Assistant at Hauser & Wirth, Somerset), and the team for making us feel most welcome. Along with all the additional support, given to help enrich our pupils experience by sharing lots of insights into the context, ideas, materials and processes behind key artworks.   

George Cole - Art Teacher

On Wednesday 2^nd March, L6^th Form Artists visited Hauser & Wirth, Somerset to visit the extremely thought-provoking exhibition on Ida Applebroog, an American artist. An artist who explores deep political and gender themes within her work, some of which radiated unsettling feelings as her work is packed full of meanings and storytelling.

The L6^th Form artists found Applebroog to be incredibly inspiring, as her alternative artistic methods sparked ideas towards our own 5-week projects. I personally saw this trip as an opportunity to broaden my horizons, and I enjoyed exploring Applebroog’s unique approach to making work. Applebroog is bold and expressive, and she challenges the viewer with her powerful combinations of imagery and interactive installations.

Agatha - L6^th Form Wellesley House

Photographs taken by King's Bruton and courtesy of Ida Applebroog and Hauser & Wirth.

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