EPTEMBBeauty is the First Test
12 September – 25 November 2012



Private View: Tuesday 11 September 6.30 – 8.30pm
Curator's Tour: Tuesday 11 September 5.45pm

Michael Brennand-Wood, Suresh Dutt, Janice Gunner, Lesley Halliwell,
Lucy McMullen, Janette Matthews, Peter Randall Page, Ann Sutton, Laura Thomas.

This group exhibition explores contemporary craft and mathematical
concepts. It presents craft and art works that demonstrate elements of
beauty and playfulness, illustrating what may delight both crafts and
maths enthusiasts. Beauty is the First Test will reveal that craft and
mathematics are more closely bound together than many perceive and
hopes to show that the enjoyment of one can enhance the
understanding of the other.

The title of the exhibition is drawn from the renowned 1940 essay by
mathematician G H Hardy who declared:
"The mathematician’s patterns, like the painter’s or the poet’s, must be
beautiful, the ideas, like the colours or the words, must fit together in a
harmonious way. Beauty is the first test; there is no permanent place in the
world for ugly mathematics."

In many of the artworks on display, alongside the geometric shapes,
numbers and sequences are the distinctive traces of the maker's hand,
underlining that while mathematics is from nature, nature itself is not
perfectly regular or symmetrical.

Beauty is the First Test is  accompanied by a full programme of talks, workshops and family events' see our website for more info.
 
This exhibition is curated by Liz Cooper and is supported by Arts Council England.