Surreal and uplifting art exhibition on experience of becoming disabled launched at Herbert Art Gallery
A “visually spectacular” exhibition based on an artist’s life-altering experience of becoming disabled has transformed a Coventry gallery into a surreal hospital ward.
Disabled artist Jason Wilsher-Mills MBE has brought his acclaimed exhibition Jason and the Adventure of 254 – inspired by childhood memories of the hospital ward where he learned he was paralysed – to the Herbert Art Gallery & Museum.
The surreal and uplifting exhibition, which features illustrations depicting significant episodes in the artist’s life and draws on eclectic creative influences from comic books, television and Charles Dickens, has been commissioned by Wellcome Collection.
A community open day was recently held at the Herbert Art Gallery & Museum to mark the launch of the exhibition, which will run at the city centre gallery until Sunday, October 5.
Its title refers to the exact time, 2.54pm on August 1, 1980, when 11-year-old Jason was diagnosed with an autoimmune condition which left him paralysed from the neck down until the age of 16.
At that moment, Sebastian Coe, whose vest bore the race number 254, was winning gold in the 1,500 metres at the Moscow Olympics.
The surreal coincidence is captured in one of the show’s centrepieces: a hospital-bed-bound figure watching a TV that has morphed onto Coe’s torso.
Unable to physically explore the wider world around him for five years, the artist came to inhabit an interior world filled with action heroes, TV shows, films, comics, books and his own vivid imagination.
Oversized plastic toy soldiers delivering viruses and inflatable germs hanging in the air are also among the imaginative creative choices, alongside a series of dioramas based on penny arcade machines, which act as windows into the artist’s mind, illuminating some of his childhood memories before and after his diagnosis.
Jason, who describes his work as “I, Daniel Blake meets The Beano” said: “I am so excited that the first destination of my show, after Wellcome Collection, is the wonderful Herbert Art Gallery & Museum.
“It is a fantastic space, and I have many lovely memories of visiting the gallery to see shows there previously, such as the Fred Perry exhibition in 2021.
“I feel very honoured that my ‘254’ show is now there, and I have been bowled over by the positive feedback from the people of Coventry about the work. It really feels that people are connecting with the work and the narratives behind it.
“My work is all about stories and I am so pleased that I am able to share mine with Coventry.”
Marguerite Nugent, Cultural Director at CV Life, which operates the Herbert Art Gallery & Museum, said: "Jason’s work is imaginative, emotional and incredibly engaging, and we’re extremely excited to be unveiling it ahead of a three-month stay at the Herbert.
“The exhibition is visually spectacular, thought-provoking and full of heart. We’re proud to be hosting this major commission and sharing Jason’s powerful creations and story with audiences in Coventry and beyond."