EXCEPTIONAL:

A-Level Painting from The Year That Never Was

“2020 was the strangest year. For all of us, the National Lockdown meant that our normal routines and expectations were disrupted beyond recognition. Teachers were suddenly without classrooms, students were suddenly without school. Students who had been preparing for exams for two or three years were suddenly told that these exams would not happen. It was a difficult time for everyone.

We all found our own way through. At Chenderit, remote learning enabled students and teachers to carry on with the curriculum. One of many things that we lost though was our normal way of celebrating the success of our A level cohort. This was a particularly talented bunch, and we had been so looking forward to filling The Heseltine Gallery with all the wonderful images that they had created over the duration of their A level course.

This virtual exhibition is our celebration of those individuals. The work presented documents their projects. Each student selected their own title and pursued this over a period of a year, investigating relevant artists, exploring ideas and creating their own imagery.

The exhibition is testament to their hard work and commitment. Art can be difficult at times, and frustrating, but the work here shows how wonderful it can be as well. Art is important. Artists are important. The late Education expert Sir Ken Robinson goes further when he stated,

Studying Art is not just about creating work that looks nice. It is about investigating and analysing the work of other practitioners, developing skills and understanding, learning physical processes, engaging with complex concepts, experimenting, developing ideas, overcoming problems, responding to feedback, striving for perfection. It is about patience and perseverance just as much as it is about the creation of an image.

I look at this work now and am filled with pride. I hope that these students are proud of the work that they have created, and we as their teachers are proud of the artists that they have become. We look forward to seeing how their skills and ideas will continue to develop further. The world needs artists: we need creativity and innovation, passion and intellect. These students have all shown these attributes. In the strangest of years, their work reminds us how beautiful and inspiring art can be.”

- Tom Christy, Head of Art and Design, Chenderit

Below you will see all the students involved, please click on their image to see further works by each one.