The Butterfly Effect

Featured artists: Mohamed Bourouissa, Vanley Burke, Jakki Carey, Mona Casey, Rita Donagh, Kimathi Donkor, Geoffrey Dudley, Richard Hamilton, Barbara Hepworth, Huang Xu, Thomas Humphries, Hew Locke, L. S. Lowry, Jock McFadyen, Norah McGuinness, Tim Mara, Aidan Moesby, C. R. W. Nevinson, Ana Maria Pacheco, Eduardo Paolozzi, Mark Power, Dante Gabriel Rossetti, Yinka Shonibare, Carol Rhodes, George Shaw, Andrew Tift.

Our lives have been altered in the face of the pandemic, accelerating fundamental change to our social, cultural and working experience. The Butterfly Effect invites us to reflect upon this era of rapid transformation by reconsidering a diverse selection of art through a new pandemic lens.

Meteorologist Edward Lorenz’s ‘butterfly effect’ theory asserts how the formation and pathway of a weather event in one place at one time can be influenced by the butterfly flapping its wings at a different, distant location several weeks earlier. The metaphor of something so delicate, expresses how our local and global worlds are fundamentally linked.

Co-curated with seniors from MAC’s Culture Club, the exhibition brings to life a variety of artistic visions from the historic to the contemporary, taking us on a reflective journey inspired by this tumultuous time. The selected artworks explore human interaction, social movements, our relationships with each other and the urban and rural landscape. As we think about how these artists have represented change in an often-complex world, we ask if opportunities for social and cultural renewal can emerge out of the crisis.

Special thanks to Birmingham Museums Trust; Rugby Art Gallery and Museum; The Lowry Collection, Salford; The New Art Gallery, Walsall; Sunderland Museums and Winter Gardens; Wolverhampton Art Gallery; Worcester City Art Gallery.

New works by artists Mona Casey, Aidan Moesby and Andrew Tift have been commis-sioned by MAC for this exhibition.

The exhibition has been led by curator Rachel Bradley.

The Butterfly Effect, Midlands Arts Centre, 2021. Photo by Tegen Kimbley.