The Fine Art Graduating students of 2021 have experienced a period of time that is so out of kilter with normality, this online ‘catalogue’ of their practice is a testament to their adaptability to new ways of working as young artists.

Our Fine Art students, work as individuals but also, crucially, come together to forge a community to critically reflect, share ideas and support each other. As part of their journey towards their degree show,  they have worked closely with professional organisations, including their current online Bloc Projects exhibition. This final ‘catalogue’ is testament to how the students have adapted to, embraced and critically engaged with how their work can be understood and disseminated beyond the physical white cube space of the art gallery.

The Fine Art cohort of 2021 have created their own understanding and response to the world. They have made work that explores a range of different ideas and material investigations from: questioning the politics of what is to be who we are in the here and now; challenging conceptual norms of institutions and personal politics. Form colour and materiality are explored as a means of understanding what and how they can relate to an individual’s personal history;  tensions and slippages of what it is to be in and respond to the space between the physical and the digital are examined. This collection of Fine Art work shows  how a broad range of  conceptual narratives, which are explored in a range of forms:  from the printed zine; to the hand held homemade movie;  the painted kiss, or 3-D sculptural collages. How this group of Fine Art students have embraced this expanded field of Fine Art demonstrates a group of young artists that are at the end of their degree, but at the beginning of many other professional creative ventures.

All of this work represents a culmination and community of individuals being resilient and responsive to the challenges of our current climate. At this point in time in 2021, where the future is up for grabs this Class of 2021 represents a group of young artists who are ready for this challenge.

Gary Simmonds is Senior Lecturer and Course Leader, BA Fine Art