Artwalks

Artworks in the Theatre and Gallery: The Building Rendered Inside Out
Commissioned by Milton Keynes Council and funded by the National Lottery through the Arts Council of England.


As part of Milton Keynes Council's % for Art policy and as a requirement of National Lottery funding, a percentage of the capital costs of the new Theatre and Gallery buildings was set aside for the commissioning of artwork. The international artist Edward Allington was appointed to shape the programme of commissions. He describes the project: 'This percent for art programme has been designed from the outset to commission artists to make site related works which are integral to the building, and which provide visual links relating the building to its environment. They acknowledge the way in which the building functions, and relate that which is public and exposed to that which is private and intimate'.

Inside the Theatre

Electric Sheep: Bruce Williams 2003 location
Steel and Glass
MK Theatre foyer, ground floor

This work, commissioned by Milton Keynes Council and Milton Keynes Theatre and Gallery Company, commemorates the generosity of benefactor Margaret Powell, whose trust supported the enhancement of facilities for the elderly and disabled in the Theatre, and supports Milton Keynes Council's ongoing programme of commissioning new and exciting public art works.

Margaret Powell's life as a sheep farmer and the fact that the city of Milton Keynes was built in a formerly rural area, influenced the artist's designs for the work. The sculpture features two identical images of sheep, laser-cut into both sides of a large steel structure and backed by glass. Coloured lights inside the artwork slowly fade and change, making the work clearly visible from Powell Square, as visitors approach the Theatre.



Bruce Williams was born in 1962. He gained a BA in Fine Art from Gwent College of Higher Education in 1984. He has created many large scale temporary and permanent public works of art using a variety of media including photo/reprographic techniques, broadcast computer technology, sculpture, painting and sound. His recent commissions include Concourse (1998) for Wimbledon Railway Station Forecourt, Lifespan (2000) for the Royal Hospitals Trust, Belfast, Elements (2000) for Skelmersdale and Bevis and Ascupart/Ascupart and Bevis (2000) for the City of Southampton.

Midsummer Rise and Midsummer Set: Estelle Thompson, 1999 location
Oil on aluminium
MK Theatre foyer, ground floor

Estelle Thompson's radiant panels are subtly positioned behind the main staircase of the foyer to echo the curve of the Theatre flytower and encourage visitors towards the side entrances to the auditorium. The large scale of the works invites the viewer to physically travel across them to take in the entire painting. Building up the paint in layers with a roller, wet on dry, Thompson produces oscillating stripes that blur and shift at the edges to powerful optical effect; whilst some stripes seem to recede, others almost hover above the surface of the work.

Each painting has been created for its particular space, playing against the colour scheme of the auditorium, as well as the light and shadow of each site. Estelle Thompson's work is held in many public and private collections in Britain, including the Arts Council and British Council.
For further information on the artist see www.purdyhicks.com



Moon Drawing: Alison Turnbull location
Graphite on concrete
Milton Keynes Theatre foyer, second and third floors

Alison Turnbull's monumental wall drawing is derived from a topographical map of the moon's surface made in Leipzig in 1894. The artist has used a grid system to enlarge the small engraving to 4m diameter, each grid square painstakingly drawn with pencil directly onto the concrete. This method parallels the way in which the draughtsman of the original engraving, sitting alongside an astronomer, would have plotted each crater and rise of the moon's surface onto a grid. When the work is viewed from close quarters it fragments into abstract patterning, but when seen from a distance coalesces into a whole. From outside the building the drawing is all but invisible during daylight hours, but, like the moon itself, becomes visible when lit at night. Like the time and duration of a theatrical event, the moon marks the transition from day to night. A universal symbol and poetic image, it contains references in both classical drama and contemporary popular music. Alison Turnbull is a painter with a strong interest in architectural structures, plans and maps, whose work is included in many public and private collections. She exhibited her work at MK Gallery in September 2000 and has produced a limited edition print of the moon for sale through MK Gallery

Three Doors, One Entrance: Edward Allington, 1999 location
Acrylic paint on concrete
MK Theatre foyer, second floor and rehearsal space corridor

Edward Allington's vibrant wall painting links the front and backstage areas of the Theatre, linking the public and private areas of the building. His work has a strong sense of theatricality and plays with visual illusion, employing trompe l'oeil ('a trick of the eye'), distorted perspective and oblique projection to potent effect; all is not what it seems. This preoccupation with the shifting nature of the world underlies much of his work as does his interest in memory.

The fragments of classical architecture included in the work are devices he often employs to signify the way in which memory can change over time. The fragments represent that which is constantly remembered and copied, sometimes accurately and sometimes in a slightly distorted form, in the same way that people retell stories and develop collective memories, all of which are warped versions of the same original event. Edward Allington is a sculptor and painter who exhibits internationally and whose work is held in major public collections. He is also a respected writer on contemporary art and culture.



Wallwork: Michael Craig-Martin, 1999 location
Laser-cut mild steel
MK Theatre foyer, ground floor

Michael Craig-Martin's work greets visitors entering from the west entrance to the Theatre and is a visual key to the function of the building. His 'drawing' in mild steel depicts three objects - a grand piano, a book and a tin of paint brushes (based on Jasper Johns' famous sculpture). Together they represent the fundamental processes underlying the creative activities produced and housed in the building: music, the written word, and the visual image. The images seem to recede as the visitor walks towards them, encouraging people to enter the Theatre foyer. Michael Craig-Martin has created growing lexicon of archetypes or 'modern essentials' which he uses within his work, each a prop of everyday life pared down to its essential form. His interest lies in the way in which we relate to our environment and he challenges our assumptions about the everyday things we think we know so well. An internationally respected artist working with sculpture, painting and printmaking, Craig-Martin is also an influential commentator on contemporary art.

Cutesy: Lily van der Stokker, 1999 location
Acrylic paint on concrete
Milton Keynes Theatre dressing room corridor (backstage)

Lily van der Stokker 's wall drawing has been created for the backstage areas of the Theatre for enjoyment by performers and staff. The public can only view this work on special tours of the Theatre.


Lily van der Stokker's work celebrates the intimate and playful aspects of everyday life. Her wall drawings typically tap into popular culture, echoing private doodles and cutting across the gravitas of much contemporary art. 'Cutesy' (1.72 x 2.47m) was created specifically for a backstage audience. Installed in a windowless corridor, her candy coloured drawing is imbued with a sense of optimism, including the text 'Nice Weather To-day'. She says, 'For me, the pieces are an attempt to make art that is not utopic, revolutionary or 'better' but something to take it easy with'. Lily van der Stokker has exhibited internationally and undertaken many commissions for private homes and public exhibitions. She lives and works in the Netherlands. For further information on the artist see www.airdeparis.com

Theatre House Curtain: Janet Stoyel, 1999 location
Stainless steel patterned with ultrasound
MK Theatre auditorium

Janet Stoyel's house curtain is on the threshold of the auditorium, between the audience and the illusion that takes place beyond. Her chameleon material changes when lit from different angles, at one moment mimicking a sheet of bronze, at another scintillating with points of light like stars in the night sky. The textile is created from finely woven steel, which is heated to create its 'oil-spill' colouring, and then patterned with ultrasound, an intense focused heat source, which burnishes the fabric, causing it to sparkle and glitter when lit. Janet Stoyel's innovative use of technologies was developed during a research degree at the Royal College of Art. She has patented this remarkable technique, used here for the first time. A respected textile artist, shortlisted for the prestigious Jerwood Prize for Applied Arts in 1998, she has also worked for the fashion world, creating fabrics for clients such as Paloma Picasso and Gucci.

Inside Milton Keynes Gallery

Gallery Information Desk and Sales Area: Rupert Williamson, 1999 location
Wood, linoleum and rubber
MK Gallery foyer

Rupert Williamson's sculptural information desk has been tailor-made for MK Gallery foyer, responding to the architecture and function of the space and welcoming visitors to the building. Its bold outline and strong colours play against the large, wave-form, deep blue wall of the foyer, and the materials employed - a mix of stained wood, rubber and linoleum - mix the traditional and contemporary in an innovative manner. The desk has been designed to fit the needs of a busy reception and includes specially considered details for ease of use by staff and visitors with disabilities. Rupert Williamson is a furniture maker who works from his studio in New Bradwell, Milton Keynes. His work is included in many public collections, including the Crafts Council and the Victoria and Albert Museum, and he has undertaken a wide range of public and private commissions, including 24 Degree Ceremony Chairs for the Open University in Milton Keynes. For further information on the artist see www.rupertdesigns.co.uk

For further information on MK Gallery see www.mkweb.co.uk/mkg

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