Event

Join us for a thought-provoking panel discussion with Ravilious-specialist James Russell, director of the Ingram Collection Jo Baring and Towner’s Head of Exhibitions and Collection Sara Cooper to discuss how specific artists, such as Eric Ravilious, provide focal points for collections.

The event will celebrate the new publication Revisiting Modern British Art, edited by Jo Baring with a text by James Russell. The talk coincides with our current exhibitions The Living Collection and Unseen, which include works by Ravilious and Paul Nash – both featured in the publication, along with Eileen Agar, Vanessa Bell, Francis Bacon, Barbara Hepworth, Margaret Mellis, Richard Hamilton and Kim Lim.

The discussion will take place from 6.00pm to 6.45pm, after which there will be 15 minutes for an audience Q&A.

The event will be followed by a book signing and the publication will be available to buy on the night for ticket holders at 20% off.

If you would like to visit the exhibitions, the galleries will remain open for ticket holders until 6pm that evening.

This event is in our cinema space on the ground floor of the building.

The cinema has an induction loop system and a large screen for presentations.

Lighting levels are low for events in the cinema apart from the stage where we use blue spotlights.

We have a budget available to make this event as accessible as possible – this can include interpretation services or other access needs we can meet to enable you to participate. If you require access arrangements, please email programme@townereastbourne.org.uk two weeks before the event date so that we can book a service if needed.

Sara Cooper is Head of Collections and Exhibitions at Towner Eastbourne, where she is responsible for the exhibition programme and for the permanent collection, including overseeing acquisitions.

Instagram: @saracooper12

Jo Baring is Director of the Ingram Collection of Modern British and Contemporary Art. Author for arts publications and a regular speaker at art institutions and galleries, Jo is the co-writer and co-presenter of the critically acclaimed podcast, Sculpting Lives. This podcast focussing on women sculptors was listed by The Royal Academy, The Guardian and The Evening Standard amongst others as one of the best arts podcasts. In 2016 she set up The Ingram Prize, a contemporary art prize that has been highlighted by The Times as a Critics Choice for Visual Arts. Jo is the editor of Revisiting Modern British Art, a new book on the period that has been highlighted as a ‘gamechanger’.

Instagram: @jobaringart

James Russell is an art historian and curator specialising in modern and contemporary British art. His exhibitions include the blockbuster Ravilious (Dulwich Picture Gallery, 2015), Peggy Angus: Designer, Teacher, Painter (Towner, 2014) Century: 100 Modern British Artists (Jerwood Gallery, 2016), Reflection: British Art in an Age of Change (Ferens Art Gallery, 2019), Seaside Modern: Art & Life on the Beach (Hastings Contemporary, 2021) and Seafaring (Hastings Contemporary, 2022). He has written more than a dozen books. The Lost Watercolours of Edward Bawden (Mainstone Press) was a Sunday Times Book of the Year in 2016.

Instagram: @jamesrussell66