Art At The Palatine Centre

When we first moved into the area and drove past the Lower Mountjoy Campus of Durham University along Stockton Road in Durham City, we marvelled at the architecture of the Palatine Centre. It certainly is striking, but can be marmite to some.

It is an eco friendly building designed by PH Partnership Architects who say on their website

"The building was developed with a holistic design approach to sustainability and renewable technologies. The building incorporates natural ventilation, air source heat pumps/heat recovery, water attenuation, green roofing and photovoltaics. The project was also part of the University's Green Travel Plan and site wide improvement scheme promoting cycling facilities, pedestrianisation and car reduction thus offering substantial contribution to carbon reduction."

From conception to completion it took 4-5 years. Laing O'Rourke were the builders using 200 workers, and 675,000 man-hours. It cost £50 million and opened in 2012. There is a lot of cedar wood and surprisingly there are 530 tons (that is about 160 African elephants) of structural steel. On the roof, there are Western Red Cedar Shingles (tiles, to you and me) which are durable due to natural oils. Warm in winter, cool in summer. There are solar panels and Sedum is left to grow as it is a succulent and drought-resistant

It has an 'Excellent' badge from the Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Method (BREEAM) and no doubt it will become Grade II listed when it is over 30 years old. The Palatine Centre pulls various departments together. It houses the administrative headquarters, has a café and plenty of art.

Notice how the entrance has a curious weathered feature.

A central atrium lets light flood in and has an ethereal feel.

There is a theme of various printmaking techniques used and some of the art is open to interpretation. Here are a few pieces. A vibrant frieze welcomes you in. The information board explains in Rudyard Kipling terms the 'Six Serving Men' - what, why, when, how, where and who. Who knew crystallography art was so popular!

The Sphere of Redemption by Faye Pomerance (1912 to 2001) is older than you think. It was started in 1945 with other works on the same theme and took 20 years to complete. It is made from fibreglass painted with acrylic and ink and can spin.

Some of the pieces are temporarily on show for the Student Art Prize which runs most academic years. The 2023/2024 theme was PARADISE. A burst of colour exudes from Paradise Subverted that is rubbish!

There are some well known/famous names if you wish to seek out including:

Henry Moore (1898 to 1986) Five Ideas for Sculpture 1981 Lithograph on paper.

Pablo Picasso (1881 to 1973) Le Danse des Faunes ('Dance of the Fauns') 1957, Lithograph on paper.

Damien Hirst (1965 ) Turps Banana. From myartbroker website it says:

"Turps Banana is a signed digital print in colours with screen printed glaze on wove paper produced by renowned contemporary artist, Damien Hirst. The print, created in 2011, depicts a small yellow banana, floating against a dark blue backdrop. The banana is positioned towards the bottom of the composition, giving the impression it has fallen from the centre. The bright yellow of the banana with brown highlights contrasts with the dark blue background."

Hmmmm

Gilbert and George are a duo with Life, Death From the Moderna Museet, Stockholm website they explain

"Gilbert & George developed a unique technique that enabled them to make large, complex pictures. Based on detailed sketches, negatives were arranged and exposed onto all of the photographic papers mounted together. These were in turn developed and hand-coloured one by one. It was only when all the papers had been completed, framed and reassembled that the resulting picture could be seen. This system of panels also made their monumental works easy to transport and exhibit, meaning that they could reach larger audiences. In 1988, for instance, they took their art to the Soviet Union. Their pictures now grew even larger and bolder. Symbol-laden motifs in loud colours challenged norms on sex, religion and relationships. Colour became an essential part of Gilbert & George's style, used either expressively, to set the mood, or symbolically. No matter how beautiful their pictures are, they are not intended to be aesthetic, formalistic or conceptual - their content is what matters. Oh and they are the models for the work."

Curiouser and curiouser is quite why a violin is called Down the Rabbit Hole, but it is explained.

There is even art mimicking art with a carefully placed canvas on a stairwell with its own moon!

Gwyther Irwin (1931 to 2008) created 'Super-structure' in the late 20th century and is one of 100 screen prints on paper.

The piece called 'Visual aid for Band Aid' by various artists (1985) is a Serigraph (screen printing) on paper. 104 artists signed the work around the edge. I am intrigued as there are 100 drawings so I wonder if it is the odd bits around the outside or did some artists work together? See which artist you recognise from this list that Bonhams supplied. David Hockney, Bridget Riley, Howard Hodgkin, Eduardo Paolozzi, Peter Blake, Sandra Blow, Paula Rego, Patrick Heron, John Piper, Richard Hamilton, Elisabeth Frink and Patrick Caulfield. It is one of 500 prints.

It is also worth exploring outside with a number of installations - What Lies Beneath, Cry Freedom - The Scream, Willmore Surfaces and Analemmatic Sundial.