As part of our celebration of the Newquay Monoliths Project, we curated a group exhibition, ‘Ruin Gazing’. This exhibition is now closed.

Ruin Gazing is a group exhibition of artists who make work that is inspired by place and the way that experiences, memories, stories and viewpoints alter and inform these interpretations.

The exhibition takes its name from an earlier work by artist Bridgette Ashton. In her 2016 project, Ashton invited viewers to climb a platform and observe the picturesque vistas of ruins in Portland, Dorset, from key vantage points. Viewers were then encouraged to turn away from the scene and use a ‘Claude Mirror’ (a small, dark-tinted mirror historically used by artists to frame and idealise landscapes) to view the ruins - thereby altering their experience and ultimately changing the way they look at and see a place.

Exhibiting artists:

Anna Harris
Bridgette Ashton
Charlie Franklin
Claye Bowler
Dean Knight
Joe Morris
Krissy Busviah
Oliver Raymond Barker
Robin Sullivan
Rosanna Martin
Shayla Wongwichien
Tom Sewell
Will Ward

Poster image: ‘PLINTH’ (detail) by Charlie Franklin