Grundy Art Gallery will host three exhibitions exploring Blackpool’s famous connection to sweet treats and bright lights this autumn, featuring special late-night openings during the Lightpool festival.
Three exhibitions will run at Blackpool’s contemporary art gallery this Autumn. Linny Venables: Sweet Factory and All Sweetness and Light, two separate but inter-connected exhibitions, will open at the gallery on Queen Street this Saturday, 24th October.
And as the gallery marks turning 115-years-old, a celebratory exhibition Collection Spotlight: Gifted will also open. This will showcase pieces that have been donated or gifted to Grundy’s collection.
Sweet Factory is a vibrant and playful project by Liverpool-based Disabled artist, Linny Venables. Her confectionary-inspired glass sculptures celebrate rich, shared histories of sweet making, working-class food traditions, and seaside culture. Drawing a line between the process of glass making (liquid sand) and sweet making (liquid sugar), this exhibition thematically links Blackpool’s golden beaches and history of rock and ice-cream making.
Linny’s sculptures will be exhibited alongside new sweet-themed artworks made by Blackpool residents and artists from the pARTnership, and social history items on loan from Showtown History Centre.
All Sweetness and Light will complement the main exhibition. Bringing together pieces from Grundy Art Gallery’s own light art collection and light-based works on loan from public and private collections, these works tell stories of class, community, and personal identity.
An added extra to Grundy’s Autumn programme will be the presentation of Blackpool Stands Between Us and Revolution, by Tom Ireland. This illuminated large-scale rendering of a quote attributed to Stanley Park’s designer Thomas Hayton Mawson, will be exhibited during the park’s ongoing Centenary year celebrations.
Cllr Lynn Williams, Leader of Blackpool Council, Cabinet Member for Tourism, Arts and Culture said:
“From the world-famous Illuminations and the neon glow of the arcades to the sparkle and shine of Strictly in the Tower ballroom, Autumn really is our season of light in Blackpool. Grundy’s latest programme brings together so much of what makes Blackpool special. Our relationship with light runs deep – like this month’s Lightpool festival and the year-round entertainment venues – so it is fantastic to see that connection explored through contemporary art.
“What I particularly love about this programme is the way it brings together light, seaside culture, working-class traditions, class, and community, while giving local people the opportunity to be part of the exhibitions themselves.”
Working with LeftCoast, Grundy hosted an open access glass-making workshop with Linny Venables over the summer. Residents and artists from the pARTnership (Grundy’s artist development project for learning-disabled artists) created sweet-themed artworks to form part of the exhibition.
Cllr Williams added:
“The Grundy is an amazing gallery and an important part of Blackpool’s cultural identity. Its collection, its contemporary programme and its growing national reputation show that our cultural offer is about more than the entertainment we are famous for.
“That combination of our proud working-class culture, our unique relationship with light and the ambitious work being shown at the Grundy is exactly why Blackpool has such a strong cultural story to tell and why we have deservedly been longlisted for UK City of Culture 2029.”
Over its 115 years, Grundy has grown its collection to more than 2,000 items. Grundy first opened in 1911 thanks to founding brothers John and Cuthbert Grundy, who gifted 33 paintings and £2,000 to start the gallery and collection. Collection Spotlight: Gifted will showcase and share the stories of some of the pieces gifted to the collection over the years.
The Autumn programme will include a number of public workshops, talks and tours, and some late night openings during Lightpool Festival. Please visit thegrundy.org for more information.
Grundy is open Tuesday-Saturday, 10am-4:45pm (last entry at 4:20pm). It is closed Sundays, Mondays and Bank Holidays. Entry is free.
The Autumn Programme exhibition runs from 24th October to 19th December, with a launch event on Saturday 24th, 2-4pm – all welcome. Grundy will also be open late night on Friday 23rd, 6-9pm, to coincide with the start of Lightpool Festival.
