In October 2025, the Arts in Health group visited Tate Britain to explore two surrealism exhibitions: Ithell Colquhoun and Edward Burra.
This visit offered a rare chance to see two very different visions of twentieth-century British art side by side: from Colquhoun’s surreal, mystical and deeply personal work to Burra’s vivid paintings capturing nightlife, social scenes and the changing face of modern life.
The group was drawn to Colquhoun’s technique of drawing without conscious thought and spent some time within the gallery space with pencil and paper, drawing with eyes shut and seeing what emerged. Her ‘Automatism’ images were also admired and when back at our weekly art studio the following week, group members applied ink to paper, pressing the two sides of the paper together to create their own versions of this.
Thank you to Tate’s community team for hosting us!
If you are interested in hearing more about the work of Arts in Health, please do not hesitate to contact our team. You can email us on cnwlartsinhealth@nhs.net or visit our website.
