This summer Lowood arts presents eden elegy: John Darwell, Katrin Joost, John Kippin, Callum Latimer, Nicola Neate, Helen Petts, Roger Polley and John Woodman. The exhibition explores our understanding of place through the work of 8  acclaimed artist film-maker/photographer’s. It has been curated to celebrate the return of Lowood arts, with a new, exciting exhibition space.  

eden elegy consists of work never seen in Cumbria before by artists widely recognised for their contribution to the British arts scene over many decades. This is a unique opportunity to experience their work in a rural location. 

After 20 years, John Darwell, John Woodman and Roger Polley return to Lowood arts walls.

John Darwell brings a powerful new series of work ‘Aves”. We are so delighted to be bringing these extraordinary photographs to the public for the first time; John Woodman’s award-winning films ‘First Light’ and ‘November morning’ return home to Cumbria after touring the world and winning film awards in far-off places like Germany and Japan. It is inconceivable that they have not been seen here and Lowood arts is delighted to be their home premiere; Roger Polley and John Woodman’s collaborative working practice of 50 years, is once again on Lowood walls after 20 years. Their inclusion in eden elegy is to celebrate their working relationship and welcome a collection of their practice into our new Lowood arts archive, which will be announced in 2027. It’s a joy to experience their work again here in Cumbria. 

Artist film-maker Helen Petts comes to Lowood arts for the first time with ‘Space & Freedom.’ A film commissioned by Manchester City Art Gallery to explore the relationship between Li Yuan Chia and the Cumbrian Landscape. Li’s work was on our walls in 2007 and it’s an honour to be celebrating his achievements again, almost 20 years later, through the lens of Helen’s beautiful film. 

John Kippin and Nicola Neate also exhibit at Lowood for the first time, with the collaborative work ‘IN this Day and Age’. On loan from the Northern Gallery of Contemporary Art. Lowood arts are privileged to present this work to a Cumbrian audience. Both artists have a long and established artistic relationship with Cumbria and we cannot wait to see the work in the gallery. 

Katrin Joost is an international artist who has chosen to make her home in our Valley and it is an honour to show ‘Zeitfluss- River of Time’ so close to her new home about her relationship with the home of her origin and youth. 

Finally, Callum Latimer, Lowood arts artist, film-maker and co-curator, shows his film ‘Breathing” for the first time in Cumbria. This work, funded by the Arts Council England, 2020, is in part a response to a work by the late Lowood arts artist, Conrad Atkinson and his Vinyl audio work exhibited in New York in the 1980’s ‘Breathing’ explores the transience of place as murmuration’s of starlings gather before they migrate to Russia at an abandoned Royal Air Force base which defended us from the Soviet Union.  

This is a small, neat, exceptionally powerful display of work. 

eden elegy is the first of 4 exhibitions over 2 years which explores Lowood arts as much as it explores the artists, the location and the community Lowood arts will be part of. Creating a unique opportunity for the viewer to see themselves through the eyes of some incredibly talented individuals. 

‘Contemporary artist photographer/ film-makers have a gift of making something that at first looks like nothing, look like something we should have noticed.’  - Lucy Lippard. 

eden elegy presents Artwork that is created in and shown in a rural location.

Every work and artist has been chosen for a reason. The exhibition will explore Place through memory and imagination, engendering conversations between the artworks, the viewer and the space itself. Exploring the experience we have with the artwork and what we bring of ourselves to the experience.