Art and design final year degree show draws the crowds

Students from the University of Wolverhampton’s School of Art are showcasing work they’ve created during the past three years of their degree studies - and it's sure to be a massive draw!

The Degree Show 2023 is free and open to the public, as well as to all alumni, students and staff, from 10.00 am until 4.00 pm Monday to Saturday until Friday 23 June. The exhibition is on display at the Wolverhampton School of Art, George Wallis Building, Molineux Street, Wolverhampton, WV1 1DT.

This year, artwork from Undergraduate students is on display from degree courses covering art, design and screen school subjects ranging from film, animation and games design, painting, photography and social practice to cutting edge design work led and informed by industry and the commercial creative world.

Adam Selvey, studying for a Photography degree, said: "My work is an amalgamation of music, art and culture.  My work mimics the punk era of the 80s and my photographs have been printed using a riso printer, so black on a colour background - it pushes the boundaries of what people might expect from a photography exhibition which is what I was aiming for. I've also made these jackets which are on display which express who I am and who I have been at various times in my life."

Scarlett Ford, studying for a Fine Art degree, said: "This piece is paying homage to the pioneering artist Ana Mendieta. She created a beautiful series of silhueta’s and this is my attempt at creating a silhueta as if she was alive today. I wanted to experiment with how would she create a silhueta with yarn? She also experimented a lot with hair, therefore I tried to have the yarn to have a wild, hair-like quality. This work is in honour of a true tour de force of her time; a vivacious and remarkable artist who I am honoured to have created an artwork about."

Work above by Lewis Ashfield (Instagram@ashfielddesign_) - Master's student in Digital and Visual Communication.

Maggie Ayliffe, Head of the Wolverhampton School of Art, said: "Students have put on a fantastic range of work that really shows their potential and ambition, and the unique thing about coming to a show like this is that no two students are doing the same projects so every piece of work is different.  You get a real feel for the range of subjects we offer here from Fine Art through to Animation, Photography and Design.

"This is a really important year for the School of Art. We are celebrating 170 years of art and design education in the city and it's testiment to our relationship with industry which has been part of our lifeblood.

"This group graduating this year started as we came out of the pandemic and they started to learn in an environment where they had to use a lot of their own initiative, they've used materials differently, and it really comes out in the work and shows how they are responding to topical issues and what's going on in the world."

For more information about courses in the Wolverhampton School of Art and Screen School, check out the University website or register for one of our forthcoming Open Days.     

Check out more information about the Degree Show on the website.