And Breathe Exploring the relationship between art and mindfulness - Manchester Art Gallery

And Breathe…
Exploring the relationship between art and mindfulness
March 2018 ​– 19 January 2020

Further information about each artwork and
transcript of audio meditations

You can download the information from this booklet at:
manchesterartgallery.org/exhibitions-and-events/exhibition/
and-breathe/

Please return this booklet to the holder after use
for other visitors to enjoy

Introduction
And Breathe…
Exploring the relationship between art and mindfulness

Manchester Art Gallery is committed to using our collections
and programmes to promote creativity, imagination, good
health and positivity for everyone that uses the gallery and the
city’s collections.

We believe that our mental and emotional wellbeing is
something that can be nurtured through interacting with art.
Taking time to savour pleasant experiences, such as looking
at art, can increase our mental wellbeing. In this space, we
invite you to slow down and connect with art mindfully,
moment by moment.

Mindfulness can help us become more aware of thoughts,
feelings and emotions, as well as our surroundings by taking
time to just pay attention through our senses. Over time,
mindfulness can bring about long-term changes in mood and
levels of happiness and wellbeing. Some scientific studies
have shown that it can significantly reduce the symptoms of

stress, anxiety and depression as well as improve our ability to
learn and be creative.

Working with communities we have explored how we could
support their wellbeing, as well as that of the public, by
creating a space that would enable this slowing down and
mindful connection to take place. The artworks and the way
they are presented were inspired by our community
participants and their responses in a series of mindfulness
sessions. Furniture, the colour scheme, height of art works,
text and audio have all been carefully selected to enhance
wellbeing. There is no right or wrong way to engage with art
but we hope that, should you choose to, your experience is
complemented by these considerations.

For the current showing of ​And Breathe…​ we have considered
the theme of care, how we care for ourselves and our
communities. To grow our understanding of the role a gallery
can play in supporting carers, we have co-curated the display
with staff from Depaul UK, a charity to help young people who
are experiencing homelessness. We have also worked with
friends of the artist Kate Davies, who had a studio at her home
in Old Trafford and had worked with us here at the gallery
teaching the ESOL programme.​ W    ​ e’re delighted to include
one of Kate’s large-scale landscape paintings in the exhibition.

Manchester Art Gallery would like to thank all of our friends
who have helped to shape this and previous versions of ​And
Breathe...

March 2018 - September 2019
Start in Manchester, Manchester Mind
Year 5 and 6 pupils from Charlestown Community Primary
School.

September 2019 - January 2020
Friends of the artist Kate Davies
Staff from Depaul UK in Greater Manchester

Share with us: #MAGAndBreathe

Spring Woodland ​c. 1935
Ivon Hitchens ​1893-1979
Oil on canvas

Ivon Hitchens is known for semi-abstract panoramic paintings
of the British countryside, particularly woodland. He would
immerse himself in such landscapes in an attempt to capture
and evoke the whole experience of being in nature, from
colour, light and movement to the sounds he was
experiencing. The writer Peter Khoroche describes Hitchen’s
approach, almost like meditative state, as an ‘alert state of
receptivity’:

‘His painting came out of a total absorption in nature and an
acute sensitization of all his senses, not only his eyes’. This
included ‘​listening​ – straining one’s ears so as to find, or feel
one’s way into the hidden nature of things – a process of
intimate understanding from within’.

Hitchens himself titled one series of paintings ​Eye Music​ and
noted in 1940, “I seek to recreate the truth of nature by making
my own song about it (in paint).”

Contemporary Art Society Gift 1977.84
Image: courtesy The Estate of Ivon Hitchens

Why we chose the painting -

"It is calming and relaxing. The colours and the way they are
softly blended, along with the natural scene convey
peacefulness.

My favourite colour is green which makes me feel attracted to
it but also the natural elements in it are something which I
associate with wellbeing."

Cathie, De Paul UK

Peter C ​ 1961
David Hockney​ 1937-
Oil on two boards

This early painting by David Hockney is a love letter to Peter
Crutch, a fellow student at the Royal College of Art, on whom
Hockney had an unrequited crush. It was painted around the
time that the artist was coming out publically as gay and
shows him at his most intimate and tender. Hockney’s letters
of the time (before the decriminalisation of homosexuality),
refer to Crutch as TMBBITW, a code he begins to spell out in
this painting in the text ‘who is the m’(ost beautiful boy in the

world). He also expressed his affection through the use of the
red heart shape.

This heart shape, graphic stencilled lettering and
contemporary clothing show the influence of Pop Art, which
Hockney fuses with his interest in the French artist Jean
Dubuffet (1901-1985) through the use of graffiti, the stick like
figure and loose, expressive brush strokes.

Purchased with the assistance of the Victoria & Albert
Museum Purchase Grant Fund 1985.32
Image: Courtesy the artist

What the group felt about the painting -

"Initially it made me think about politics and that the character
portrayed resembled an untrustworthy politician looking smug.
However, now that I know the story behind the painting, it
makes me feel a bit sad, but intrigued - I have warmed to it."
Bethany, De Paul UK

Green Field ​2018/19
Kate Davies ​1954 - 2019
Oil on canvas

Kate Davies paints unremarkable, peripheral places.
Sometimes people are present in the landscape, at other
times merely traces, of journeys, pathways, fences or litter.
These are paintings which look for beauty in the unexpected,
the ordinary and the overlooked.
In her own words:
“When in the countryside I am often struck by the muddy,
fertile, difficult stuff I am walking through, the tangles and
mess underfoot, and the contrast with distant views and
changing light and weather. I am also interested in what links
the human with the landscape, the body, the ground, the mind,
weather, light. The selectivity of memory intrigues me as does
the possibility that two people who share the same experience
may remember it differently…

Courtesy Helen Simpson and Louise Vines
Image: courtesy the family of Kate Davies

What the group felt about the painting -
"Sitting low, in the thicket, in the thick of it... Freshness of mud,
rain and wind... Memories came flooding back, and
imagination rushes forward (her sheer physical labour on
these canvases...) To one who cared, one who cultivated and
created: thank you Kate."
Friend of Kate Davies.

Reflections​ 1954
Brian Bradshaw​ 1923 – 2016
Oil on canvas

This thickly painted industrial scene is of Rose Hill in Bolton,
Lancashire. Streets of terraced houses nestle amongst
factories with chimneys bellowing out smoke. The buildings
stand upon a hillside, and below, a canal towpath is visible. In
the foreground, a pond reflects the industrial buildings above.

Bolton born Bradshaw attended the Manchester School of Art
and eventually settled in South Africa, where he was a
Professor of Art. His early paintings were of Northern
industrial towns of the post-World War II period, reflecting
working men and women and their surroundings in
monochromatic tones. Later creating more vibrant, colourful
paintings influenced by his new home in Africa depicting the
brightness of the sun and the natural environments of the
continent.

Purchase 1954.1136
Image: courtesy the artist

Why we chose the painting -
"It makes me feel comfortable, the colour green and the water
means hope. I am reminded of families and my childhood. I'm
drawn to the smoking chimneys and the cosy warm homes,
the busi-ness of family life."
Motia, De Paul UK

Up, Down, Charm, Strange (Truth and Beauty): ​Feather
from a Wandering Albatross​ (With thanks to the British
Atlantic Survey, Cambridge) ​1997/1998
Cornelia Parker ​1956 -
Photogram Edition 5/5

These images are part of a series of six of individual feathers.
Photograms are made in the darkroom without using a
camera. The feathers are placed on light-sensitive paper and
briefly exposed to light. They appear skeleton-like against the
rich, dark background.

The series title refers to the properties physicists assign to
quarks, the elementary particles which form matter and make
up the fundamental building blocks of life.

Feathers found on our travels are generally regarded
insignificant and ephemeral, but each feather in Parker’s
series has an extraordinary tale of historical or special
significance to tell, pointing to wider concepts of time and

place, which are revealed in their sub-titles. The image works
with the title to invite the viewer into the realm of imagination.

Feather from a Wandering Albatross​ recalls the famous
albatross in Samuel Taylor Coleridge's poem ​Rime of the
Ancient Mariner​ (1798), where the bird carries numerous
associations: acting as a symbolic connection between the
natural and spiritual world, it is regarded initially as a good
omen by the sailors, but when killed by the mariner is viewed
as a mark of sin which he must carry as a burden.

Parker is interested in the symbolic associations carried by
what appear to be ephemeral objects. Ironically the feather is
associated with lightness, with white ones traditionally
symbolic of cowardice. However, in this series she draws our
attention to their significance and association with greatness
or bravery.

Purchased through the Contemporary Art Society Special Collection Scheme,
supported by funds from Arts Council Lottery and Manchester City Galleries​
Corporate Patrons, 2003

Why we chose the photograph -

"The group from De Paul mentioned that they would like to
include some photographs in the exhibition, so we had a look
through our collection to see what would work in a mindful
looking space. We were drawn to these photograms because
of their simple peacefulness, and the fact that you have to
really look to see their beauty."

Niki, Health and Wellbeing Manager, Manchester Art Gallery

Interior ​1924
Gwen John ​1876-1939
Oil on canvas

This interior shows the top floor of 29 Rue Terre Nueve I
Meudon, Gwen John’s own residence on the outskirts of Paris.
John often painted her own sparsely furnished room, treating
her own environment as her refuge. She said ‘it seems I am
not myself except in my room.’

John uses a controlled painting method with a harmonious
blend of muted colours in a close range of tones. This
approach highlights the subtleties and gradients of colour.
The result is the effect of a diffused light illuminating her attic
room and the objects appear to be viewed through a soft veil.

She developed a quiet and contemplative approach to her art
which alludes to a meditative and interior life. John cherished
her privacy, living a solitary existence, even reluctant to exhibit
or sell her work. She mastered the expression of a mood of

quiet contemplation, and wrote to a friend ‘I may never have
anything to express, except this desire for a more interior life.’

In his book on Gwen John, ​Passion and Method, ​Christopher
Neve wrote that this degree of isolation and introspection
‘seems always to have produced a form of self-portrait,
whether or not she was painting herself.’

Charles L Rutherston gift 1925.262

Why we chose the painting -

“This is one of the smallest works in the exhibition, but for me
expresses a great deal. Gwen John enjoyed solitude,
something a lot of us seek in our frenetic lives and her work
celebrates the beautiful in the everyday. This work captures a
glimpse of a moment of peace and tranquility in a beautiful
way, focussing on the way a shaft of light illuminates her room
- something we can all take time to notice in our busy day.”
Fiona, Curator: Art & Design, Manchester Art Gallery

Zephyr ​1976
Bridget Riley ​1931 -
Linen on Canvas

This optically illusory or 'Op-Art' painting is composed of pale
yellow, blue, orange and white wavy strips of colour, which
broaden and narrow slightly to give the impression of diagonal
ripples. Bridget Riley is the foremost exponent of this style,
composing patterns and colours in such a way as to create
movement, not actually on the canvas but in the retina of the
viewer’s eye.

The title refers to Zephyrus, the Greek god of the west wind
and the personification of the warm wind that brings life after
winter, only visible in its effect on other things such as the
rustle of leaves or ripples on water. In this respect, we can
view the painted undulations as metaphors for wind pattern or
movement. Bridget Riley's titles are carefully selected and
often extend the meaning of the works; in this case they refer

to the effect or sensation produced by natural phenomena, in
referencing the immaterial but sensory movement of the wind.

Riley speaks fondly of growing up in Cornwall and views the
patterns and effects of nature as having a strong impact on
her work. However, rather than seeking to depict
straightforward representations of things or places, she seeks
to create the sensations or effects they produce.

Purchased with the assistance of the Wilfred R. Wood Bequest Fund
1977.3
Image: copyright Bridget Riley 2017. All Rights Reserved.

Why we chose the painting -

"My first response to the image is that it makes me feel happy,
it makes me smile. I am drawn to the image because of it's
movement, the curved lines give the impression of depth and I
enjoy the coloured lines that move side to side.

The more that I look at the painting, the more it reveals to me,
at the beginning I saw the seaside, deckchairs and sand
dunes, candyfloss maybe... after looking for a while I saw the
darker sessions, a desert and fire."

Paul, De Paul UK

Exposed Painting Green Lake ​2012
Callum Innes ​1962 -
Oil on linen

‘As photography freezes moments in time, so I work with time
more than anything else’ ​– Callum Innes.

Callum Innes both reveals and conceals the different
techniques that make up this abstract painting. After applying
layers of paint in a geometric form, sections of the surface are
then removed by a process referred to as ‘unpainting’. He
repeats this activity over and over again until he arrives at the
decision that the painting is finished. Rather than represent
actual things, the painting evokes the nature of things.

The act of subtraction is crucial to Innes. It is the visible trace
of gestures made by a turpentine-soaked brush to dissolve the
image rather than one laden with paint that provide the
picture’s key details. Here, ‘unpainting’ is more important than
painting. It removes the painting’s past. It places the focus on
what is absent. It leaves a ghostly presence of what is not
there.

Purchased with the aid of a donation from Dr. Geoffrey Nicholson
2014.112

Image: Courtesy the artist and Frith Street Gallery
Photography Heidi Kosaniuk Innes.

Why we chose the painting -

"I can't fully explain why, but there is a warmth to this
painting... it looks like it would be lovely to touch. I love green
and I find it a comforting colour, I would be happy to have this
up in my living room.

The black rectangle catches my attention first, because it's so
stark, almost like a black hole. The green rectangle opposite
then seems to almost sit above it. Somehow the four
rectangles seem to suit each other."

Imelda, De Paul UK

Up, Down, Charm, Strange (Truth and Beauty): ​Feather
that went to the South Pole (In the sleeping bag of Sir
Ranulph Fiennes on his trip across Antartica)​ ​1997/1998
Cornelia Parker ​1956 -
Photogram Edition 5/5

These images are part of a series of six of individual feathers.
Photograms are made in the darkroom without using a
camera. The feathers are placed on light-sensitive paper and
briefly exposed to light. They appear skeleton-like against the
rich, dark background.

The series title refers to the properties physicists assign to
quarks, the elementary particles which form matter and make
up the fundamental building blocks of life.

Feathers found on our travels are generally regarded
insignificant and ephemeral, but each feather in Parker’s
series has an extraordinary tale of historical or special
significance to tell, pointing to wider concepts of time and

place, which are revealed in their sub-titles. The image works
with the title to invite the viewer into the realm of imagination.

Feather that went to the South Pole​ is taken from the sleeping
bag used by Sir Ranulph Fiennes on his Antarctic expedition.
It is almost a relic, providing an entry point for us into the
experience, as well as reminding us of the warmth it provides
to help make such exploration possible.

Parker is interested in the symbolic associations carried by
what appear to be ephemeral objects. Ironically the feather is
associated with lightness, with white ones traditionally
symbolic of cowardice. However, in this series she draws our
attention to their significance and association with greatness
or bravery.

Purchased through the Contemporary Art Society Special Collection Scheme,
supported by funds from Arts Council Lottery and Manchester City Galleries​
Corporate Patrons, 2003

Why we chose the photograph -

"I find this image to be delicate, gentle and ghost like, it makes
me think of serenity, solace and hope. I am drawn to the
contrast of the white on the black background. When you look
closer you can see the details, the feather is not immaculate, it
has strands missing. After I had been looking for a while I saw
a female figure, in a long evening dress."

Motia, De Paul UK

Audio meditations

The following pages are transcripts of the free mindful audio
guides available at the exhibition entrance. The audios range
from 1 minute to just over 7 minutes in length.

You can listen to the audio meditations through your phone or
mobile device by scanning the codes on the freestanding wall
in the exhibition or you can access them here:
http://audio.manchesterartgallery.org/andbreathe-audio-guide/

If you require headphones please ask at our reception desk on
the ground floor.

Introduction (1.45)

Exposed Painting Green Lake ​by Callum Innes

Mindfulness is a simple form of meditation that involves us
being aware of our thoughts, feelings and emotions as well as
our surroundings, moment by moment. A typical mindfulness
meditation consists of paying attention to one of three things -
your breathing, physical sensations in the body or a sensory
experience and bringing your attention back whenever the
mind starts to wander.

Over time, mindfulness can bring about long-term changes in
mood and levels of happiness and wellbeing. Some scientific
studies have shown that it can significantly reduce the
symptoms of stress, anxiety and depression as well as
improve our ability to learn and be creative.

In these short audio guides we invite you to notice when your
mind has drifted away from looking at the painting and gently
escort your attention back. If your mind wanders off once or
one hundred times during this process, it doesn’t matter. It’s
the returning of our attention that counts. So do this as many
times as necessary. Stop, look at the painting in front of you,
notice colour, textures, shapes, light and shadow - and when
your attention drifts away, which it inevitably will, notice that
this has happened and gently escort it back to the painting. To
looking. To begin again.

This is the art of mindfulness.

Meditation 1​ ​(1.09)

Zephyr ​by Bridget Riley

Art can inspire a lot of thoughts in our minds, very often when
we look at a painting our mind immediately tries to make
sense of it. What does it mean?, we might ask ourselves. Who
painted it and why? Analysing, interpreting, critiquing; in other
words thinking about it.

Of course, there is no right or wrong way to experience art but
in this short mindful practice I invite you to simply be with the
artwork. Looking, noticing it, savouring this experience of
sitting in this gallery, looking at this painting, in this moment.

And for however long you choose to sit here asking yourself
the question: what can I notice about this painting? What can I
notice about this experience.

Meditation 2​ ​(2.45)

        ​ y David Hockney
Peter C b

Starting at the top and working your way clockwise around the
painting, I invite you to take a moment or two to look and
notice what you see.

Simply taking the time to really notice, taking it all in.

And whatever speed you did this, what’s it like now to go back
to the top and begin again, only this time looking more slowly
than before.

Attending to each area of the artwork.

Noticing the different brushstrokes.

Marks, lines, smudges and impressions. These act as a
record of the movement of the artist.

Wide, broad sweeping brush strokes. Fine lines and thick
ones.

Smooth contours and jagged spikes. Where can you notice
these?

As we bring this short practice to a close, I invite you to sit or
stand and spend some more time looking and noticing
textures and lines in this painting. Taking your time, savouring
this experience.

Meditation 3 (7.07)

         ​ y Gwen John
Interior b

When we’ve done mindfulness sessions here at Manchester
Art Gallery something that comes up again and again from
people is this idea of not having enough time to practice
mindfulness. Finding it difficult to fit it in an already busy and
demanding day. Time is something many of us feel short of,
modern life can be over-stimulating and challenging and we
might, quite understandably think to ourselves: I don’t have an
extra ten minutes a day to meditate! And even if I did have an
extra ten minutes a day I would spend it with my family,
catching up with friends or meeting a work deadline. Taking
ten minutes for ourselves may, for some, feel self-indulgent or
even just impossible to achieve.

However, mindfulness is a technique that can be applied to
everyday moments, actions, to things we are already doing.
So instead of feeling the pressure to create yet more time to
practice, we gently encourage people to experiment with
taking a more mindful approach to the things that they already
do.

Something I like to do in my mindfulness practice is what I like
to call ‘mindful moments’. Little moments throughout the day
that I bring a few seconds of mindful awareness to. These are
everyday, ordinary events. But just for a few seconds at a time
they become a little bit more mindful.

The painting ​Interior​ by Gwen John reminds me of one of
those moments. We notice a table draped with a white
tablecloth on top of which are some objects. A tray or is it a
newspaper, a tea cup and of course, a little brown teapot.

What we’re looking at here is an ordinary and familiar
domestic scene. And it is within these very ordinary everyday
moments that we can bring mindfulness.

So perhaps the next time you sit at a table like this, what
would it be like to take just a few seconds to notice shadows
or reflections of light on the objects on the table, like we see
here on the brown teapot. Little specks of light.

As you pour hot tea from the pot, noticing the sounds as the
liquid hits the cup, the different tones and colours of the tea - ,
the rise of the steam, the scent of the tea leaves. Perhaps
placing your hand on the side of the cup, noticing the
temperature through your sense of touch.

Lifting the cup, as you bring it up to your mouth, noticing the
weight, it’s heaviness and the way our fingers feel wrapped
around it. Noticing the sensation of the steam as we draw it
closer to our lips. And finally as we take that first sip, the taste.

And by doing this we bring a little moment of mindfulness into
an action that we were already going to do. They can be a few
seconds at a time but these little pockets of pause throughout
the day have been proven to gently reduce stress. And we
didn’t have to calve out the time to do it, somehow find more

time in our already busy day, we simply applied mindfulness to
things that we already do.

When you leave the art gallery today maybe you could think of
other everyday activities that you do that you might be able to
do just a bit more mindfully. Stopping, slowing down, bringing
your full awareness to the sensations of the experience even if
it’s just for that first taste of tea.