Creating the countryside: the rural idyll past and present

Abstract

The rural idyll is a powerful force in the British national imagination. This highly original and vibrant study will examine how key moments in art history have shaped the concept of the idyll and how artists today continue to access and challenge this concept. It makes a significant contribution towards redressing the under-represention of the rural as an arena of critical inquiry in contemporary art. In addition to the new scholarship on the rural idyll by academic experts from a wide range of disciplines (encompassing the spheres of art history, contemporary art, poetry, literature, rural history, agriculture, and everyday life) it includes interviews with contemporary artists who are working with the rural in innovative ways. -- Exhibition: Compton Verney, Warwick, UK (18.03.-18.06.2017).