Time-Based Media Art Exhibition Hosted by Pembroke JCR Art Collection

NEWS |

Members of College and the public alike are invited to browse the Pembroke JCR Art Gallery as an exciting new exhibition, THE ART OF OUR TIME: Time-based media art from the Julia Stoschek Collection, is hosted at Pembroke from 18th February until 11th March.

The three-week exhibition is open to the public on Wednesdays and Fridays between 12pm and 2pm, and consists of three videos shown on flat screens in the gallery, exhibited alongside some paintings from the JCR's own collection.

For Nathalie Kantaris Díaz, Chair of the JCR Art Fund Collection, this is an opportunity for the Collection to display innovative works:

‘This is the first time that we are exhibiting video works in our gallery and we think that this stunning modern space will be a great venue for it. Displaying these contemporary video works alongside the modernist and abstract contemporary paintings from our JCR’s permanent collection adds an exciting and interesting insight into the development of contemporary art and the interplay between different media and art forms.’

Sarah Hegenbart, curator of the Art Fund Collection, explains the particular significance of the Julia Stoschek Collection for Pembroke College:

‘The Pembroke College JCR Art Collection was founded in the 1940s by a mature undergraduate named Anthony Emery, whose mission was to enable students to engage with the art of their time. Yet, this is no longer the art of our time. Transforming and transporting the art collection into the future requires looking at contemporary streams, i.e. the art of *our* time. The time-based media art from the Julia Stoschek Collection serves as an inspiration for developing the rationale behind our collection strategy further’.

The opening of the exhibition was marked by a panel discussion in the Pichette Auditorium at 5pm on 18th February, featuring Dr Elisa Schaar (Oxford University), Anna Nadig (from The Julia Stoschek Foundation in Düsseldorf) and the Art Fund's very own curator, Sarah Hegenbart.

The JCR Art Fund Collection is unique as it belongs to the undergraduate students of Pembroke College. Currently, over 200 paintings, drawings, photographs and prints make up the Collection, and in the last several years the Committee has been able to direct funds into the restoration and the acquisition of pieces, with the aim to gain at least one notable work of art by a contemporary British artist every year. 

Photos: Evie Tarr