Air: visualising the invisible in British art 1768-2017

Abstract

'Air' explores the tradition in British art of finding inspiration in the air around us and skies above us. The book weaves its way through British art including early experiments with air and studies of clouds, to representations of breath (blowing glass, balloons) and wind instruments to flying creatures (real and imaginary) and wartime skies, before considering the physical possibilities of flight which shifted our perceptions of the landscape, as aerial photography made the view of the earth from above available to wider audiences. Contemporary work introduces new environmental issues to the narrative, making reference to climate change and air-borne disease, as well as considering air as an integral component in the process of making art, to demonstrate how air is everywhere. -- Exhibition: Royal West of England Academy, Bristol, UK (16.06.-03.09.2017).