I have recently visited both the Ikon Gallery and the Barber Insitute of Fine Arts and found them to contain tow very different exhibitions. The Ikon was showing a collection of work by late artist Len Lye. His art spanned a variety of media, including film, paint and sculpture, and the exhibition was laid out accordingly. The paintings were shown in a basic white cube style space, the films were projected in darkened alcoves and his kinetic sculptures, which I found to be my favourite part of the exhibition, were installed in black-painted rooms with the occasional light to illuminate the quivering, dancing metal of the sculptures. I found it interesting how in a modern art exhibition it is acceptable and even beneficial to view work in circumstances such as in the dark- the sculptures would perhaps not seemed as effective and ethereal in a white space with all the lights on.
I compared this exhibition to that at the Barber Institute, which contains work by such masters as Tintoretto, Van Gogh and Manet. It is a traditional gallery in the sense that the paintings are hung close together on the walls in chronologically ordered rooms, with most of the older works in ornate gilt frames.
As our exhibition will be a contempory one with an antiquated theme (Victorian-style freak show) something to think about could be including traditional elements among the more wacky ones, such as the way we hang the paintings. A modern concept which I think is important will be the lighting so it might be time to start thinking about how we can illuminate our exhibition.

Emily