Cecily Brown

As a university art gallery with a collection that spans 1500 years, the past holds a very physical presence and is a constant companion in all of our work. Our commitment to the best in artistic practice of the current moment, alongside our academic investigation and curatorial exploration of the objects of the past, enables a dynamic and critical relationship to exist between the two.

These extraordinary works by Cecily Brown, of wrecked ships, frantic and prone bodies, carefully illuminate the tensions between the past and the present. Taking inspiration from Delacroix’s shipwreck paintings, as well as one of the most feted paintings in the world; Géricault’s, The Raft of the Medusa, 1818–19.