Adrian Henri, The Entry of Christ into Liverpool, 1962-64; (c) A. Henri estate

5 July - 25 November 2014

Total Art at the Exhibition Research Centre (ERC), showcases Adrian Henri’s multi- faceted oeuvre from the 1960s and 1970s, a period of intense creativity and collaborative artistic endeavours. 

Henri (1932–2000) trained as a painter under Victor Pasmore and Richard Hamilton, and taught at Liverpool Art College in the 1960s. He came to prominence as one of the ‘Liverpool poets’, alongside Roger McGough and Brian Patten, in the best- selling Penguin anthology The Mersey Sound – irreverently urban and popular. Although Henri is best known as a painter and poet, this exhibition reveals him to be a pioneer of performance and collective practices in Britain and internationally, taking part in happenings in Liverpool as early as 1962, and crossing over into the world of rock with the touring band The Liverpool Scene.

Reflecting Henri’s eclecticism and insatiable curiosity, the exhibition features numerous artifacts from the Adrian Henri estate, including original paintings, collages, prints, annotated scripts and hand-made posters for happenings, objects, ephemera, rock posters, counterculture documents and correspondence, as well as rare audio and video material. Total Art at the ERC is curated by Paris-based art historian Catherine Marcangeli. A fully illustrated exhibition catalogue will appear in September 2014, published by Occasional Papers. 

Catherine Marcangeli, Curator will be leading tours of the exhibition on Saturday 5 July, Sunday 21 September, Saturday 25 and Sunday 26 October, at 2.30pm. Catherine Marcangeli, Curator and Bryan Biggs, Artistic Director, the Bluecoat will lead a tour on Sunday 6 July, 2.30pm. The gallery will be open on these weekend dates from 12 - 6pm.

Contact 0151 904 1216 for further details / See adrianhenri.com

The Exhibition Research Centre (ERC) – part of Liverpool John Moores University’s School of Art and Design – is the first academic centre devoted to the study of exhibitions, founded in 2012. Its mission is to support research in this overlooked area of study by publishing books and organising exhibitions, lectures and other public events.