Recovery and art come together in new Wolverhampton exhibition - PICTURES

The Collectivism Recovery Exhibition has been a multi-disciplinary art exhibition which was put together as a collaborative effort by Recovery Near You, Hope into Action Black Country, Service User Involvement Team, Good Shepherd Ministry and alumni artists from University of Wolverhampton.

The exhibition at the Lighthouse Cinema and Arts Centre in Wolverhampton featured artwork of a range of styles and mediums and which were created by both professional and amateur artists, a number of whom have suffered from addictions and are in recovery, thanks to the help of the agencies who run the exhibition.

Alongside the artwork were portraits of service users and their stories, as well as a selection of video interviews of some of the artists with work on display.

The exhibition, which was funded by a grant from Creative Black Country, has been visited by a number of local dignitaries, with Mayor of Wolverhampton Cllr Claire Darke meeting artists, service users and members of staff on Wednesday, September 25.

Cllr Darke was full of praise for the exhibition and the work that has been produced.

She said: “I think it’s really good and has a lot of talent in it. It also has a great expression of lives and recovery and I think there are some great stories that go along with the art.

“I’ve spoken to a lot of artists and they’ve got a real kick out of being creative and how its helped them through their recovery, but its also very expressive art and it demonstrates their feelings and worlds and I think it’s really revealing actually.”

GALLERY: Take a look at the exhibition launch

Matt Lay was helped by Recovery Near You for his alcohol addiction and took to creating a vermin character as a way of demonstrating how his addiction exists and how he deals with it.

That artwork has been displayed as part of the exhibition, something that means a lot to Matt.

He said: “It means a lot to myself personally, as in I’m not hiding away from what I’ve been and where I am now and it actually makes me feel proud of myself to be able to be within this and show off what I’ve drawn for my own personal benefit

“If it can help one person through not reading a book, but by doing something like this and come up with ideas like what I came up with, then it can work with other people as well and that would be brilliant.”

The exhibition was a long-term project to set up and put together by the different agencies and for Kate Penman, curator of the exhibition, it has been a real labour of love.

She said: “It was a massive labour of love and it had to be for the hours it took to bring everything together and I think it’s also because you’re working with people who you love as well, which makes it a lot easier.

“Giving everyone a platform to exhibit the work they’ve done is incredibly important and, also, that art work deserves it, it merits it, as there is some very good art in the exhibition. Everything is done to a professional standard because their honesty with their testimonies and stories means they deserve the best platform to demonstrate their work.”

To find out more about Collectivism, go to www.crowdfunder.co.uk/collectivism-1