The Normal is a vivid reflection of life during the 2020 pandemic. It explores ideas about pausing the train of progress, resurgent communities, an ever-increasing proximity between humans and wildlife and the asymmetrical effects of this pandemic due to socio-economic and racial inequality.
The commissioning and production of artworks within the exhibition has championed sustainability, and there are many installations reflecting an acute awareness of the natural world, amplified by the silencing of cities and industry. Through artworks that express hope, grief, survival, violence and solidarity - it situates our lived experience within a global artistic dialogue, underscored by the need for a profound re-orientation towards planetary health following the “wake-up call” of COVID-19.
Tonya McMullan, ‘The lure of tomorrow’s harvests’ [pollen images], 2020, digital print. Image made by The Roslin Institute Bioimaging Facility. Courtesy of the artist and Talbot Rice Gallery, University of Edinburgh. Amy Balkin et al., ‘A People’s Archive of Sinking and Melting’, 2012-ongoing. New York Collection (Henry, Colburn) Courtesy of the Archive. Larry Achiampong, ‘#Captain America’s superpower is aryan privilege’ (Detention series, 2016 & ongoing) Photo: Reece Straw. Courtesy the artist & Copperfield, London.
