Insula Ovinium
14th August – 12th September 2004
The Rockhouse Gallery, Marine Parade, Sheerness, the Coastal Study Centre, Sheerness-on-Sea, and Queenborough Guildhall, Isle of Sheppey.
Peter Ainsworth, Brigette Ashton, Georgina Batty, Kiki Benzon, Sumer Erek, Bernhard Frankel, Adam Nankervis, Wendy Lewis, David Medalla, Nicole Mollett, Charlotte Moth, Cyril Lepetit, Andrew Pomphrey, Marko Stepanov, Helen Ward, Kit Wingate, Jeanine Woollard, Mmmmm
Insula Ovinium retraced the steps of William Hogarth and his friends on his five day peregrination, in an attempt to draw parallels or indeed look at the differences between 18th century Britain and what we see around us today. Seventeen artists took part in a five day journey in mid July leaving from London by train to Rochester, then boarding a boat that took them down the Medway to Queenborough then on to Sheerness.
During and after their journey the artist made work in response to their experiences, and these works were then exhibited in three locations across the island during the summer. The accompanying publication contains an introductory essay by Hogarth’s biographer Jenny Uglow, and was launched at the British Museum alongside the original Hogarth record.
Insula Ovinium 2
1st -31st May 2005
Hogarth House, Chiswick , London.
To mark the anniversary of the 1732 peregrination, the exhibition returned to the home of Hogarth. Last summer the artists retraced William Hogarth’s Frolic to the Isle of Sheppey, and made works during a residency there. New works inspired by the journey are being exhibited alongside the original Hogarth prints within the museum.
This project was funded by Arts Council South East, Swale and Medway Estuary Partnership, and Swale Borough Council.