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Arts ahead: May 9

COVENTRY EXHIBITION
What's the Meaning of This?
John Yeadon at 70
Newsroom Gallery, CET Building
Corporation St
May 18-June 15

 

IN THIS exhibition, John Yeadon looks back to his 1984 Dirty Tricks exhibition at the Herbert Art Gallery and Museum in Coventry and compares this work with his recent paintings. Dirty Tricks was a controversial exhibition of his grotesque realist, large allegorical “history paintings” which provoked both Tory outrage and acclaim from everyone else.

At the high point of Aids paranoia and gay “blame,” Yeadon's “in-yer-face” paintings challenged preconceptions of sexuality and society. This exhibition compares those paintings with his recent work and asks whether things changed. Is society more tolerant, open-minded and liberal at a time when Coventry approaches the year of City of Culture? Is it more enlightened and less provincial?

johnyeadon.com

 

LONDON PHOTOGRAPHY
Family Values: Polish Photography Now
Calvert 22 Foundation
Calvert Avenue, E2
May 25-July 22

 

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On show are works by Zofia Rydet, Jozef Robakowski, Aneta Grzeszykowska, Weronika Gesicka, Aneta Bartos and Adam Palenta.

calvert22.org

 

LONDON THEATRE
I Am of Ireland
Old Red Lion
St John Street, EC1
June 5-30

 

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For some, immigration and the border between north and south have replaced sectarianism as central issues needing discussion and, along the way, Finnegan's play explores the loss of religious faith, the disillusionment of Irish Republican ideals, the confusion of the Roman Catholic Church and the self-destruction of Ulster Loyalism.

oldredliontheatre.co.uk

 

SHEFFIELD EXHIBITION
Hope is Strong
Millennium Gallery
Arundel Gate
Until June 10

 

[[{"fid":"3493","view_mode":"inlineright","fields":{"format":"inlineright","field_file_image_alt_text[und][0][value]":false,"field_file_image_title_text[und][0][value]":false},"type":"media","field_deltas":{"1":{"format":"inlineright","field_file_image_alt_text[und][0][value]":false,"field_file_image_title_text[und][0][value]":false}},"link_text":null,"attributes":{"class":"media-element file-inlineright","data-delta":"1"}}]]With far-right parties and hate crimes on the rise, civil liberties and minority rights seem more at risk today and Hope is Strong explores the power of art to question the world we live in.

Included in the exhibition are political works by Ai Weiwei, Jeremy Deller, Conroy/Sanderson, Ashley Cook, Kate Davis, Ruth Ewan, Jamie Fitzpatrick, Mona Hatoum, Sharon Kivland, Goshka Macuga, Ciara Phillips, Keith Piper, Olivia Plender, Hester Reeve, Sean Scully and Artur Zmijewski.

Hope is Strong is part of the gallery's Protest & Activism season marking the 100th anniversary of the Representation of the People Act.

 

museums-sheffield.org.uk

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