“Whalers” – Richard Lees
“Whalers is a print re- imagining of Moby Dick as a story about human greed, toxic masculinity and the fatal consequences of waging war on nature – spoiler alert, in Melville’s book, the white whale sinks the whaling ship, killing all but one of the crew. Drawing directly on the life or death environmental crisis we now face, my prints depict some of the dark forces that have brought us to this cliff edge as well as the inevitable human tragedies that follow.
Whalers has been inspired by many things: Burton Constable’s commemoration of Herman Melville’s bicentenary; the references in Moby Dick to Hull, Whitby and Burton Constable; Yorkshire’s Whaling heritage, particularly Hull and Whitby. But at the heart of Whalers is my belief that humanity’s ruthless exploitation of nature can only end tragically.”
Touring Yorkshire in 2022, Whalers can be seen at Burton Constable, Whitby’s Pannett Art Gallery, Hull Central Library and York College. Based in Hull, Richard Lees began designing and printing posters for Rock Against Racism in the late 1970s. He has toured solo exhibitions throughout the UK to galleries in London, Edinburgh, Manchester, Hull, York and now Whitby.
The exhibition is at the Pannett Art Gallery in the beautiful Pannett Park from 17th May– 10th July 2022. The gallery is open 10am – 4.30pm Tuesday – Sunday. Last admission is half an hour before closing.
The safety of our visitors is tremendously important to us and therefore hand sanitiser available at the entrance and in the gallery. Visitors are encouraged to wear a mask.
Admission to the gallery is Free.
Opening times may be subject to change, please check before visiting.
