'Quentin Blake: As Large as Life' comes to The Herbert, Coventry, July-November 2013

Friday 26th July 2013


This exhibition brings together nearly 60 works for hospitals which Quentin has produced since 2005.
Four series are featured in the show, encompassing work directed at a range of ages. 'Our Friends in the Circus', a series from 2008 showing elderly circus performers in action, is for an older adults' mental health ward at Northwick Park Hospital in London; 'Ordinary Life in Vincent Square' (2010) shows people of all walks of life engaged in everyday activities, and was commissioned for a clinic which specialises in treating patients with Eating Disorders; 'Welcome to Planet Zog' shows young people and aliens experiencing the hospital environment (for the young people's mental health centre in Harrow, 2007); and 'Mothers and Babies underwater' is a look at some of the works produced for the new maternity hospital at Angers, in France, which opened to the public in October 2011.   All the works on display are giclee prints - digital copies - enlarged to almost life size in some cases, shown in the same style of frames as they appear in their hospital settings.

The exhibition is organised by Compton Verney in association with the House of Illustration. The Herbert Art Gallery and Museum is the latest venue to host the exhibition in a UK tour which is due to run until 2014 - and has already attracted thousands of visitors while on tour all over the UK.

The show is at The Herbert Art Gallery & Museum, Coventry: 27 July - 3 November 2013.  For more details, visit the Herbert's website: http://www.theherbert.org/whats-on/events-exhibitions/quentin-blake-large-life.

Related links: A preview of the exhibition appeared in the Coventry Telegraph in June 2013 [http://www.coventrytelegraph.net/whats-on/find-things-to-do/sir-quentin-blakes-touring-exhibition-4729475]

Exhibition tour dates, 2013-2014
The Harley Gallery, Welbeck, Worsop, Notts: 13 November 2013 - 12 January 2014
Hall Place & Gardens, Bexley, Kent: 29 March - September 2014 (TBC)