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Neil Groom Art Exhibition and Private View

07 OCTOBER 2022 - 09 OCTOBER 2022

6:00pm-9:00pm

The Department Store, Brixton
248 Ferndale Road
London
SW9 8FR

Neil Groom, the Director of Art at the Junior School since 2002 has been on sabbatical leave over the summer term working towards a solo art exhibition. This is to be held at the Downstairs Exhibition Space at ‘The Department Store’ building in Brixton from Friday 7 October until Sunday 9 October, later this year. The Private View will be held on Friday 7 October from 6pm to 9pm. Neil plans to exhibit large works on canvas and works on paper including a range of drawings and prints – many of which he has produced at school after hours.

Neil’s plan for the exhibition began during the malaise of the second lockdown which prompted him to take a risk, book a large space and commit to producing a large body of work. The working title for the show is Bloodlines; Mapping our Inheritance, with the work exploring themes of genetics, the history of anatomy, and the structures and environments in which evolution takes place within the human body.

He is also interested in the ‘accidents of reproduction’, from his own genetic point of view and that of the replication processes involved in drawing, printmaking and the uncertainties inherent in making art. Motifs throughout the artwork include molecular structures, like cells membranes, folding proteins and other ‘genetic materials’, that were inspired by a ‘science aesthetic’. These structures are then enlarged, abstracted and developed through various creative processes. Neil considers the work to be ‘pseudo-scientific’, in that they are not definitive illustrations but his interpretations of an internal, physiological space. Having had little understanding of the science behind genetics, he was inspired by regular discussions with Camille Shammas, the Head of the Science Faculty at SPS. Camille helped to reveal the wonder and interconnectedness of evolution together with parallels between scientific and artistic methodologies.

Neil’s work and weekly progress can be viewed on Instagram at @neil.groom. The Private View will be held on Friday 7 October from 6pm to 9pm. Everyone from the school community is warmly invited to attend.

Find out more about St Paul’s Arts events here

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