Between the Earth and the Sky
.Extended Gallery Guide
Between the Earth and the Sky
New Adelphi Exhibition Gallery
28 January – 25 July 2025
Between the Earth and the Sky presents artworks that consider transitory places and moments we might encounter in nature: from the final moments of a sunset on the horizon, to the first droplets of rainfall after a drought, to the ebb and flow of a coastal tide. These ‘in-between’ places offer us a moment to pause and reflect on our relationship with the natural world, in all its beauty and mystery.
New acquisitions from renowned printmaker Christiane Baumgartner (presented by the Contemporary Art Society, 2023/24) sparked the theme for this exhibition; her intricate woodcut prints suspending us in the final minutes of a setting sun. Further contemporary works by Jessica El Mal, Darren Almond, Liang Yue and Mishka Henner similarly take us through rainfall, moonlight, coastal tides, and even into outer space, respectively offering thoughtful reflections on time, place, and memory.
Further works are drawn from our print collection, some not displayed for many years and newly reframed for this exhibition. Landscape artists Derek Wilkinson, Betty Connal and Phil Greenwood take us from the mist of a winter’s day to a bright sky full of cumulous clouds; and abstract artists Bridget Riley, Peter Green and Charles Bartlett explore pure colour, shape and form inspired by their natural surroundings.
In addition, new work by two of our School of Arts, Media and Creative Technology staff members explores direct relationships with local landscapes, considering the places where history, present and future might co-exist. Alex Nelu navigates the vast histories and topographies of the West Pennine Moors, and Josh Turner maps personal and existential experience onto local post-industrial and rural landscapes.
1) Christiane Baumgartner
Nordlicht – 6.08pm (2018)
Woodcut on Japanese Koso paper
Christiane Baumgartner is best known for her monumental woodcuts based on her own films and video stills, exploring themes of time, place and memory. These works are selected from a set of four prints presented by the Contemporary Art Society in 2023.
Many of Baumgartner’s prints take the form of sequences of images illustrating the same scene, captured moments apart. Nordlicht 6.08pm is from a group of works that recorded the sun setting through a wooded landscape, over a period of nine minutes; Prometheus I-III capture different views of the setting sun at the horizon. The fleeting moments of light are slowed down and captured in the time and labour-intensive process of woodcut printing: “Translating a still image into a woodcut makes the work a powerful instrument demanding an emotional, retinal and physical response. Through my selection and transformation of a single frame, I create a unique woodcut that brings experience and weight to an otherwise unexperienced moment.”
Baumgartner lives and works in Leipzig, Germany. She has exhibited extensively internationally, and her works are held in over fifty public collections including the British Museum, London and the Museum of Modern Art, New York. She is represented in the UK by Cristea Roberts Gallery, London.
2) Jessica El Mal
Spring Rain 09.12.22 (1) & (2) (2023)
Cyanotype print
Jessica El Mal is a British-Moroccan artist and curator, with a particular interest in ecology, globalisation, and migration. Her work addresses global structures of power through critical research, multidisciplinary project and collaborative approaches.
Spring Rain draws contrast between the perception of rain in Manchester – where the regular wet weather is often a cause of annoyance – and Morocco – which experiences an annual drought, worsened each year by climate change. Whilst undertaking a roof-top cyanotype printing workshop (a type of printmaking using sunlight) in Morocco, the session was interrupted by unexpected rainfall, signalling the end of the dry season. Far from a cause for frustration – as the papers became splashed with rain – the rainfall was a welcome sign, and the prints became a visual record of the raindrops.
Jessica has exhibited work in the UK and Europe including Open Eye Gallery, Liverpool, Manchester Museum, and MAMA Rotterdam. The Spring Rain cyanotypes were originally commissioned for the collaborative touring project Hybrid Futures in 2022-24, and were jointly acquired by the University of Salford Art Collection, Grundy Gallery, Blackpool, and Touchstones, Rochdale.
If you require further information about the display, please contact the Art Collection Team at artcollection@salford.ac.uk