Vangeline Theater/New York Butoh Institute Announces Nerys Johnson: Disability And Practice

A new exhibition at the Laing Art Gallery will celebrate the life and work of local artist and curator Nerys Johnson(1942-2001). The exhibition explores Johnson's lived experience of rheumatoid arthritis and the subsequent impact of disability on her artistic practice. The works on display have been chosen from a large body of Johnson's work, which was donated to the Laing by the Estate of Nerys Johnson in November 2022.

As part of the exhibition, the Laing Art Gallery has commissioned Surface Area Dance Theatre, a live performance organisation that works at the interface between sign language, D/deaf culture, and dance, to develop and produce a performance to camera in response to the Nerys Johnson archive, titled Down Amongst the Plants.

Down Amongst the Plants pays tribute to Johnson's engagement with the rhythms of nature through Butoh, a form of Japanese dance. The choreographer of the performance, Vangeline, is the artistic director of the internationally acclaimed New York Butoh Institute, based in New York, USA.

Julie Milne, Chief Curator of Art Galleries for North East Museums, says: "I have long been an admirer of Nerys Johnson's work. Her jewel-like watercolours of plants are particularly fine and have the clarity and vibrancy of stained-glass windows.

"It is especially pleasing to see her work on display at the Laing Art Gallery, given her talent and the quality of her work, both as an artist who worked for many years in the North East and was formerly Keeper of Fine Art at the Gallery.

"The exhibition has been brought together by Rachel Boyd, a collaborative PhD student at Northumbria University, and the Laing Art Gallery's Assistant Keeper Amy Pargeter. Alongside the exhibition, they have commissioned Surface Area Dance Theatre and internationally acclaimed choreographer Vangeline to shed new light on Nerys' practice.

"This exhibition is bringing Nerys' work to a whole new audience, who I am sure will enjoy the work of this wonderful but underappreciated artist."

Nerys Johnson: Disability and Practice celebrates the richness of Johnson's life and work and explores how her individual artistic practice flourished with the support of her vast social network. The exhibition opens on Saturday 21 December on the first floor of the Laing Art Gallery. The exhibition is open Monday-Saturday, 10am-4.30pm. Free entry, donations welcome. More information can be found on our website here: Nerys Johnson: Disability and Practice | What's On | Laing Art Gallery

Surface Area Dance Theatre is supported using public funding by Arts Council England. Find out more about Surface Area Dance Theatre: https://surfacearea.org.uk

Find out more about Vangeline and the New York Butoh Institute: https://vangeline.com