Dappled Light

Dappled Light is an exhibition that brings together diverse contemporary artists within the context of the Woodgreen Village Hall and its striking figurative murals, originally painted in the 1930s. The artists use an array of materials and mediums, including sculptures, ceramics, textiles, hair, drawings and videos, bringing in fresh perspectives to this now historic but still ‘modern’ context. The artists’ imagery and ideas are kaleidoscopic, like the dappled light of the New Forest. Each work brings with it a new way of thinking and seeing, creating unexpected connections between the village hall, the New Forest and the world beyond.

Exhibiting artists are: Rachael Champion, Benjamin Deakin, Simon Lee Dicker, Alexa de Ferranti, Laura Eldret, Paul Finnegan, Louise Hall, Annabel Pettigrew, Paul Vivian and urban design/ ex-artist Jennie Savage.

More Than Ponies (MTP) public programme launched in 2020 as a contemporary art not-for-profit that seeks to reimagine and reanimate the New Forest area. Following two years of largely online activities, this is the first ‘real life’ MTP group exhibition. The Woodgreen Village Hall murals were painted in the 1930s by graduates from the Royal College of Art; the site has been chosen by MTP for its focus on people, place and the sheer potential of imagination within a rural setting.

This exhibition also marks the launch of the book 'Art and the Rural Imagination', published by MTP. Art and the Rural Imagination features writing by key academics and artists and explores how contemporary art can help to reimagine the rural as a site of contemporary thought and experience. It reflects on a diversity of issues, from post-pandemic landscapes to farming, tourism, sustainability, productivity, as well as issues of gender, sexuality and decolonisation.