‘RANK: picturing the social order 1516 - 2009’

KEY STAGE 2Learning pack for use in the

gallery

This exhibition is called ‘Rank: picturing the social order ‘.

In the exhibition you will find maps, diagrams, illustrations, photographs and sculptures.

Some of the artwork was made 600 years ago, other artwork has been commissioned which means it has been created especially for this exhibition.

In the exhibition you will see examples of work by artists that show the status of someone in a visual way, by using pictures.

In the gallery look for a giant version of the illustration on the previous page. it is taken from the front cover of ‘Leviathan’, a book written by Thomas Hobbes in 1651.

Who do the think the man is?

What is the body of the man made from?

The artist has drawn a man to show the hierarchy in England at the time.

The drawing is a symbol for England in 1651. The King is the head and all the other people in the country are the body. In your body the brain in your head controls your arms and legs, in the drawing the King is the head and he controls everyone else in the county.

The artist is showing us that the King was at the top of the hierarchy in the country at that time. He had the most power and the most money. The drawing was made during the English Civil War.

The King or Queen is still called the Head of State in today’s society.

Think about the your school, and some of the words used. Head Teacher, Assistant Head, some colleges use the term student body.

Now think about how could you portray your school in a drawing of a person? How many heads would there be? What would an assistant head look like?

The school may have a hierarchy to show how much responsibility people have. What about other ways of classifying people within the school, is everyone as important as everyone else?

Can you draw the school in a way that shows how important everyone is?

Find the painting ‘The Derby Day’ by W P Frith.

‘The Derby Day’ was painted in 1875. It was the first time that an artists had shown life as it really was. At this point in time London was the world’s largest city and many people lived there, some rich and some poor.

The Derby was a horse race meeting which was open to all the people and so the painting shows us that wide range of people.

You need to look really closely at it and start to create a story in your mind which tells the story of that moment in time.

When you look at a portrait in the gallery use this questions to help you find out about the person.

•What is the person ( or persons ) wearing ?

•What do their clothes tell you about them ?

•What is the expression on the face ?

•What is behind the person ( or persons ) ?

•What are they doing?

The Victorians were very interested in how clothes showed status and Frith has created a painting with great detail in it to show the different people.

Can you see an example of someone who is very rich ?

Can you see someone or a group of people who are poor?

Can you find a boy stealing something ?

Can you find a man stealing something ?

Working in groups choose a group of figures in the painting. Look at what they are doing and how they are standing.

Now recreate the poses of the group yourselves in a freeze-frame.

As a group discuss what is happening, what is each of the characters thinking. Now decide what happens next. Form poses for what you think would happen five minutes later.

Each group can show their 2 poses in turn to the rest of the class.

With a partner choose one artwork in the gallery which you find interesting.

Draw a quick sketch of the artwork.

Think of some words which describe the artwork and write them next to your drawing.

Find another pair and tell them about the artwork you have chosen. You may also want to share this with the rest of the class.

Don’t forget to visit The Drawing Room where you can take part in some activities, and add your own artwork to our wall.

You can also tell us what your thought about the gallery and exhibition on our comments wall.

We hope you enjoyed your visit to The Northern Gallery for Contemporary Art.