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Gallery celebrates 100th year with programme of exhibitions

The gallery has a series of exhibitions planned for the year <i>(Image: Towner Gallery | Inset: John Piper and Barbara Hepwood)</i>
The gallery has a series of exhibitions planned for the year (Image: Towner Gallery | Inset: John Piper and Barbara Hepwood)

The South Coast's largest art gallery is celebrating its 100th year with a range of exhibitions.

The Towner in Eastbourne has announced its 2023 programme, marking its centenary.

A spokeswoman said: "A series of major exhibitions will take audiences on a journey through the Towner collection, past and present.

"The programme will be a moment to celebrate the past 100 years of Towner but also look at the next 100, what a museum and gallery can be and who it is for."

The Argus: The Turner Gallery in Eastbourne
The Argus: The Turner Gallery in Eastbourne

The Turner Gallery in Eastbourne

The gallery will also play host to the prestigious Turner Prize for contemporary art. Notable winners in the past include Damien Hirst, Antony Gormley and Anish Kapoor.

It is awarded to a British artist for an oustanding exhibition or presentation of their work in the previous 12 months. This year's winner will be announced on December 5.

The spokeswoman said: "The world's leading prize for contemporary art will be in Susex for the first time, and the exhibition programme will have events, wrap-around engagement projects across the town, and a range of screenings, installations, public commissions, talks and intergenerational cultural moments."

Towner has a collection comprising more than 5000 artworks, from landscapes and seascapes to prints and artefacts.

The Argus: John Piper's 1936 work 'Newhaven, The Castle'
The Argus: John Piper's 1936 work 'Newhaven, The Castle'

John Piper's 1936 work 'Newhaven, The Castle' (Image: John Piper)

Until August 28, The Living Collection will be on display at the gallery in College Road.

The spokeswoman said: "The Living Collection will consider Towner’s broad and varied history of collecting and exhibiting over the past one hundred years through a selection of paintings, prints and artefacts.

"This celebratory display offers Towner and its communities the occasion to look back to appreciate the past and the opportunity to look forward, engaging with the present as we envision its future."

The Argus: Barbara Hepworth works on the plaster for her Single Form sculpture
The Argus: Barbara Hepworth works on the plaster for her Single Form sculpture

Barbara Hepworth works on the plaster for her Single Form sculpture (Image: Towner Gallery)

Sculptor Barbara Hepworth's work will also be on show. Her most celebrated sculptures will be alongside works from private collections that have not been seen since the 1970s.

For more information and a full schedule, visit www.townereastbourne.org.uk