An exhibition that was set to open at a popular north east art gallery just as the coronavirus hit the UK has gone into creative hibernation.

‘Practice’, a show featuring works by artists and practitioners who teach at the prestigious The Northern School of Art was due to open to the public on Saturday 21 March at Hartlepool Art Gallery.

Now the works, showcasing a diverse range of disciplines including fine art, sculpture, graphic design and typography, photography and print-making, are hanging silently behind the closed doors of the gallery until the coronavirus crisis subsides.

Prior to the closure of the gallery in the Grade II Victorian Church premises adjacent to the School’s degree and masters’ level campus in Hartlepool, staff had worked hard to install the artworks.

The exhibition stands ready and awaiting visitors when the gallery eventually re-opens.

Photos of the works in situ have now been released to give people of flavour of what lies in store when visits can resume.

Works ready to be viewed include a giant typographical artwork incorporating open source typographic called ‘TypeBase’ by the School’s graphic design degree programme leader Olivia Watson and lecturer Paul Clay, pictured below, in the Apse gallery.

The main gallery features artworks and photography by the School’s fine art and photography degree programme leaders and lecturing staff

This includes pieces by fine art lecturer and director and artist at Platform A Gallery in Middlesbrough, Dr Tony Charles’, from his signature ‘Unpaintings’ series, pictured below, that blend painting, drawing and sculpture.

Tony, pictured below, who curated the main gallery artworks said before the exhibition opened: “The Northern School of Art is renowned for its practitioners and educators who deliver the highest calibre of artistic practice within the setting of a specialist independent art school.

“This exhibition is an exciting showcase of work by artists and practitioners who have helped to cement the School’s reputation as an established provider of highly skilled graduates to the creative industries.”

Also in the main gallery are paintings by the School’s Fine Art degree programme leader Dr Jonathan Chapman, pictured below industrially-processed wooden sculptures by Fine Art technician, Katy Curran, pictured forefront in the top image, and prints by Kathryn Bell, shown above, an artist and print technician.

The programme leader of the School’s photography degrees, Jamie Macdonald, and photography lecturers Antony Chambers and Jill Cole also have a series of photographs on the walls ready for viewing.

The Northern School of Art is the only specialist provider of creative degrees and masters courses in the North East.  It is rated TEF Gold whereby students receive outstanding teaching which is of the highest quality found in the UK in both its college and university campuses.

For further details of the wide range of specialist creative degree and masters’ courses offered at the Northern School of Art’s campus in Hartlepool visit: https://northernart.ac.uk/