Exhibition explores students’ “Fear of the Unknown”

A GROUP exhibition by final year college students explores the pressures they face at an important turning point in life.
Now / Fear of the Unknown, created by students at Warrington and Vale Royal College (WVRC) and on display now at Warrington Museum and Art Gallery, takes Charlie Brooker’s Black Mirror as a starting point.
Inspired by the cult TV series which examines techno-paranoia and unease about the modern world, the work explores the pressures put on students by society and themselves at this point in their artistic and academic careers.
The group of budding artists have worked as a professional collective for the project, gaining valuable work-based learning alongside their academic studies at college.
Each of them has approached the project with their own ideas, concepts and beliefs about what is the next stage of their lives.
Subjects explored include self-identity and social conformity while the work on display combines traditional and non-traditional media including interactive installations.
Rebecca Rogers, WVRC’s senior practitioner for art and design, said: “As a department we are exceptionally proud of our students and what they have achieved.
“They have worked to professional standards and time frames, and demonstrated maturity and management skills when liaising with the curator.
“They have gained valuable work-based learning experience as professional artists and received an insight into the creative world they will be progressing into after higher education and apprenticeships.”
The exhibition is on display at Warrington Museum and Art Gallery until Saturday June 15.