Exhibitions at Mottisfont

Our gallery

Maud Russell made Mottisfont into a vibrant hub of artistic activity from the 1930s onwards. She invited many Modern British artists, critics and designers for long weekends of croquet and creative conversation. We continue these artistic traditions today, with changing exhibitions throughout the year and a permanent display of 20th-century artworks.

Artist and collector Derek Hill was a frequent visitor. He honoured his long friendship with the Russells by leaving a substantial collection of 20th-century art to us, on display throughout the house.

For anyone unable to access the upstairs gallery, where we hold our changing exhibitions, we have digital versions of exhibitions on iPads which are available on lower levels.

Current exhibitions in the gallery

Coming next

Resident artists

Hywel Davies 

A composer, sound artist and installation artist. His wide-ranging output includes the sound installation Test Polyphony which was installed in the Cellarium at Mottisfont from June 2013 to April 2014.

Current project: Pilgrim
 
Mottisfont is a location long associated with pilgrimage. Hywel wished to develop a new piece of music with Japanese percussion virtuoso, Kuniko Kato; to this end in 2016 and 2017 he made two journeys to Izumo in north-western Japan which is home to Izumo Taisha, the largest Shinto shrine in Japan and also a place of pilgrimage. 

Pilgrim is borne out of these experiences. The principal element of Pilgrim is a score for three instruments, first percussion including Japanese and Western instruments; second, solo voice singing text in English; and third, a wordless chorus made up of multi-tracked recordings of the singer.

The piece will be designed to run on a loop to be installed in in a purpose-built wooden pavilion (referencing the structure of Izumo Taisha) sited within the Beech Circle.  

Planned date of installation: autumn 2019

Anna Heinrich and Leon Palmer 

Anna Heinrich and Leon Palmer work in collaboration and together have a broad, cross disciplinary practice which encompasses installations, large scale projection events, films and photography. Their photo-montage wall piece Capricco can be seen in our Welcome Centre.

Current project: Anna and Leon are exploring the architectural history of Mottisfont with its many layers and modifications to create an installation specifically for the Red Room. They will use the architectural features of the room as the basis to develop an immersive installation which will take an imaginative journey through the architectural layers of Mottisfont using a combination of lighting, 3D laser scanning technology, video projection and sound. 

Planned date for installation: January 2020

Simon Ryder 

Simon Ryder initially trained as a zoologist prior to gaining an MA in Fine Art from the Royal College of Art.

Current project: Surface Tensions

Simon Ryder is undertaking a period of research on the River Test with a particular emphasis on the history and significance of Mottisfont in the development of fly-fishing. Simon is working closely with our River Keeper to represent and reimagine the river’s narrative past, present and future, to create new multi-media piece for installation in the Cellarium along with new visitor interpretation on the history of fly-fishing for the fishing hut in the grounds.

The river is an important element of Mottisfont's visitor experience and economy but the history and the care and time that goes into maintaining and managing it is probably not known to many of our visitors. The installation in the Cellarium at Mottisfont will utilise virtual reality technology to offer a new perspective on the story of Mottisfont’s relationship with the river, its management and ecology.

Planned date for installation: spring/summer 2020. You can keep up to date with the project as it develops on Simon's blog.