‘Hans Coper: Resurface’ will feature three murals that were all previously displayed in private UK locations: Winchester’s Worthy Down Barracks, a Yorkshire secondary school and the entrance to a London office.
The new exhibition at The Gallery at The Arc, Winchester, on Wednesday, January 22 will also feature more than 20 of Hans Coper’s pots and items that have rarely, if ever, been on public display.
READ MORE: A toe-tapping triumph: Hairspray at Mayflower Theatre reviewed
The Royal Army Pay Corps mural in its original location at Winchester’s Worthy Down Barracks (Image: Jane Coper) Accompanying these are photographs of Coper taken by his wife, Jane, in his Digswell studio, in Hertfordshire, around the time he was making the murals.
The famous German-British ceramicist fled to the UK from Nazi Germany after his Jewish father’s suicide but was arrested as an enemy alien and sent to an internment camp in Canada.
Coper returned to the UK after the Second World War, became a British citizen and went on to become one of the most influential artists of the 20th century.
The murals were a touchstone in his career. Made shortly after his first solo exhibition they heralded a new, experimental phase and were created in his new Digswell studio.
All were commissioned for buildings or spaces constructed in the 1960s.
READ MORE: Adele Roberts encourages Winchester to Race for Life with 50 per cent off entry fees
Kirsty Rodda, Visual Arts Exhibition Manager at Hampshire Cultural Trust, which manages The Gallery at The Arc, said: “Our original ambition was to have the privilege of being able to display one of Coper’s murals in our exhibition.
“We are now in the unprecedented position where we will be displaying all three.
“We could not be more thrilled that The Gallery will be the first and only venue ever to display these unique works together: when the exhibition comes to a close in March, all three murals will go their separate ways.”
The exhibition is made in collaboration with the AGC Museum in Winchester, the Crafts Study Centre in Farnham and the Coper Estate, with additional loans from York Museums Trust and private lenders.
To celebrate one of Britain’s greatest and most innovative ceramicists, a wide range of events and activities for visitors of all ages will be available throughout the exhibition run.
After-school art classes and half-term introductions to abstract art will give children the chance to air-dry their own clay pots, create cardboard and wire sculptures, as well as to create their own abstract paintings and drawings.
There will also be similar opportunities for adult courses. Full details are available at www.arcwinchester.org.uk.