Nocturnes brings together a group of artists who examine the experience, character and subject matter of night time. The show encompasses painting, drawing, printmaking and sculpture. Ideas of sleep, nocturnal activity and the moon are investigated alongside dream-like imagery and the strange, surrealism of nightmares. Artists use night scenes to convey a sense of strangeness, detachment, loneliness and emotional trauma, as well as peace, meditation and undisturbed beauty.
Night time for artists is often a period of intense activity; Miles Aldridge, Louise Bourgeois and Philip Guston, for example, have used this period where the world is asleep to make memorable and lasting images. It also provided artists such as Walter Sickert, Vija Celmins and David Hockney opportunities to experiment with complex printing techniques; using new processes to convey disffused light.
