London - Tom Hunter has selected 36 of the freshest art and design talents emerging from University of the Arts London for an exciting, eclectic exhibition at The Arts Gallery. In it’s tenth year, Xhibit is a unique annual exhibition featuring artists before they leave art school. The work represents artists at any stage in their studies, from foundation to PhD, from a range of disciplines: fashion to etching; industrial design to photojournalism; fine art to costume. On exhibit 15 March – 13 April.

A photography graduate from London College of Communication, Tom Hunter recently made history as the first photographer to exhibit at the National Gallery.

 

Commenting on Xhibit 07 Hunter said, "I was really impressed by the standard of the Xhibit 07 entries. The work fits into the contemporary art world of today. It was great to see the range of different practices all coming together in one show. Photography felt a little isolated from other practices when I was studying, in a college and a world of its own. That's what makes Xhibit 07 so interesting for me: painting, sculpture, fashion, design, animation, ceramics and photography coming together; it opened my mind to a world of exciting possibilities. "

 

 

Highlights of the show include:

James Tye’s portraits of perspiring and bruised boxers fresh from the ring are compelling and jarringly spiritual. Tye portrays these perceived brutes as Olympian-esque athletes, both violent and beautiful.

“Cythera (After Fragonard)” demonstrates Tomas Downes’ quest to explore the artist’s ownership and interpretation of traditional Western painting traditions. This circular landscape painting forms part of his attempts to understand this relationship with reference to the themes of 18th Century French painting.

“Hamster Shredder” is Industrial Design student Thomas Ballhatchet’s humorous solution to the chore of document destruction: a hamster wheel powers the shredder’s action.

Ida Jarmoszewicz uses sculpture to examine the notion of spirituality. In “Model of Reincarnation” Jarmoszewicz employs a modern aesthetic to interpret a concept which, for her, is the most obscure and mysterious of spiritual notions.

Tamsin van Essen produces ceramics with a backwards glance at modern science from a projected hyper-intelligent future. Her pieces are inspired by particle physics, van Essen explains: “I wanted to play with the notion that today’s cutting-edge theories may one day be seen as quaint and curious museum pieces”.