In the Peaceful Dome

About

Featuring Roderick Bisson / Sean Borodale / Fanny Calder / Edward Carter Preston / Julia Carter Preston / Dan Coopey / Philip Courtenay & Yellow House / John Davies / Jacob Epstein / Fab Lab Liverpool / Edgar Grosvenor / The Grantchester Pottery / Janet Hodgson / Nathan Jones & Scott Spencer / Juniper Press / Sumuyya Khader / Donald Lynch / Joanne Masding / Syd Merrills / Grace Ndiritu / Uriel Orlow / William C. Penn / Jo Stockham / Edmund Tan / Visual Stress

Concluding Bluecoat’s 300th anniversary year, In the Peaceful Dome brings together historic and contemporary art, new commissions and archival material, to set up conversations across time. It will trace threads that connect points from Bluecoat’s past with the present. 

"In the Peaceful Dome looks set to provide an interesting example of an art institution reflecting inwards upon itself, thus encouraging us all to remain mindful of the role of galleries as mediators, rather than simply ‘containers’, of culture" - Creative Tourist. Click here to read the full preview.

The exhibition takes the idea of Bluecoat as a continually evolving building to look afresh at some of the art it has presented, and debated, reinvigorating them by finding contemporary resonances. By addressing themes of transformation, continuity, time and time travel, it raises questions about how the past informs the future – and how the arts might adopt a more civic role.

The exhibition will also trace Bluecoat's connection to the city of Liverpool, and by extension the wider world, and how it has reflected both local and global developments through the years. Themes explored will include global trade and legacies of empire; Modernism and the fine and applied arts; artists' responses to war and gender; and the gallery as a continuing site for critical engagement. 

A highlight of the exhibition is Jacob Epstein’s Genesis, first exhibited at Bluecoat in 1931 when 40,000 visitors paid six pence to see what was at the time Britain’s most controversial sculpture. Today the sculpture requires specialist transportation to bring it to Bluecoat safely and securely. 
We're asking our visitors to play a vital part in the final exhibition of our 300th birthday year, and donate towards the substantial costs of transporting Genesis. Visit our crowdfunder website to read the full story of Genesis, and to donate.  

Other artists featured in the exhibition include Jo Stockham, who revisits her sculptures and prints exhibited at Bluecoat in 1990; and Uriel Orlow and Grace Ndiritu’s film works, which explore the reclamation of history; a reminder of Bluecoat’s philanthropic origins supported from colonial trade.