Art from the 18th century right up to the present day will be on display at The Higgins Bedford in its new exhibition, exploring the fascinating relationship between Colour and Light.
Opening this Saturday (15 February) and running until 2 November 2025, the exhibition will showcase works from The Cecil Higgins Art Gallery Collection, including iconic pieces by JMW Turner, John Singer Sargent, Sonia Delaunay, Peter Blake, and Chila Kumari Singh Burman.
A highlight of the exhibition will be the inclusion of ‘Cecil and Kali’, a vibrant work by Burman created during her residency at The Higgins in 2003. This unique piece incorporates her signature colourful accessories alongside objects from the museum’s own education collection.
Colour and Light will also feature a specially commissioned artwork by Bedford-based artist, Alison Goodyear, entitled ‘Light & Colour’. This immersive digital experience, created in collaboration with four Bedford community groups and is inspired by the works in the exhibition.
Speaking to the Bedford Clanger, Alison said: “Funding provided by the Rural England Prosperity Fund and UK Shared Prosperity Fund grants, was a great opportunity to deliver an innovative series of virtual reality painting workshops to diverse groups of people aged between 13 – 84 years old from four community groups based in Bedford.”
Alison’s collaborators produced group-made virtual abstract paintings in VR in the same immersive space, drawing on works from the internationally renowned Cecil Higgins Art Gallery Collection, at the Higgins Bedford.
“I then filmed these paintings in VR, and post-produced and scored them as a final animated film called ‘Colour and Light’ (2025), which will be installed in the upcoming exhibition. And with the help of local creative technologist, David Thatcher, we produced the Virtual Reality artworks as Augmented Reality works, where visitors to the exhibition will also be able to view the digital artwork using their own phones, via QR codes.”
The exhibition is free to attend and will be accompanied by a series of events, including tours, lectures, and a study day. A full-colour exhibition catalogue will also be available for purchase from The Higgins Bedford gift shop.
The exhibition is curated by Dr Mary O’Neill, contributing author to ‘Henry Scott Tuke’, Professor Christiana Payne, previously curator of Landscape and Imagination at Compton Verney and author of ‘Pre-Raphaelites: Drawings and Watercolours’, and Victoria Partridge, Keeper of Fine and Decorative Art at The Higgins Bedford.
The Higgins Bedford, Castle Lane, Bedford MK40 3XD | nearest parking @ Lurke Street multi-storey car park (four hours free parking every day/all day Sunday) thehigginsbedford.org.uk
