The Art Collection











The Collection: Location Level 1


The following artworks are exhibited on Level 1 of Milton Keynes University Hospital, within the main corridors and courtyard spaces. Artworks include those by locally renowned artists Tomas Gregorson, Diana Winkfield and Lesley Bonner and not forgetting our resident camel (sculpture!)


With over 450 works in The Collection we are working on sharing as many online with you as possible.

Browse Level 1 below ︎︎︎


Mark





Sculpture | Level 1

Anthony Abrahams


Figure with Bird, 1997, Bronze, Anthony Abrahams


‘Figure with Bird’ was made by constructing a wood and steel armature, covering it in plaster, and then casting in bronze. Texture is very important to Anthony's sculptures. His works show the marks of how they were made: chisel marks, scratches and the evidence of construction are preserved.



Perhaps because bronze – which is strong and doesn’t decay, but still shows all the delicate marks of construction - it can represent both human strength and frailty.

'Figure with a Bird' was recently relocated to the entrance to the 'Forget Me Not' baby memorial garden. Because of where it is, some think the figure with her slightly rounded belly is pregnant.



Anthony Abrahams (b.1926) studied at the University of Cambridge, where he read English, and then went on to study painting at the Anglo-French Art Centre in London. He is known for his distinctive figurative sculptures.


More from the hospital’s Art Collection displayed on Level 1︎︎︎


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Stacey Allan, Paper Care (2017) paper cut collage. 
© Milton Kenyes University Hospital Art Collection


Stacey Allan

Works on Paper  | Level 1


More recent additions to the varied collection at the hospital include the Paper Care Series by Stacey Allan, commissioned to celebrate the hospital’s 30th anniversary in 2017.



Stacey used intricate paper cutting and illustration to depict the uniforms and roles of the NHS hospital staff such as the artwork above which depict theatre staff, a Doctor and a ward clerk. Ten designs were created in total, which can be seen displayed together near the main x-ray department. 



More from the hospital’s Art Collection displayed on Level 1︎︎︎


Mark





Painting | Level 1

Bill Billings



4 Horseman of the Apocalypse, 1990s Photo credit: Milton Keynes University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, art collection courtesy of @around_and_about_ MK

The ‘4 Horsemen of the Apocalypse’ is believed to have been painted on an old door.


The unusual title could suggest that the work is about the end of the world – brought on by global warming. We do know that Bill was concerned about taking care of our environment and recycling. The bright hot sun implodes, with the four pale blue swirls representing the four horsemen of war, famine, pestilence and death. However, without looking at the title it is often read in completely the opposite way – as a cheery painting of a sunny day! 

This piece was donated by Jon and Emma Gregory in 2010. Emma Gregory is the daughter of local sculptor Ernest Bottomley, and you can see one of his sculptures in the waiting room at the Treatment Centre in the hospital.

You may know his triceratop dinosaur sculpture in Peartree Bridge. In keeping with Bill's rebellious nature it was built without formal permission in 1979. This was his third dinosaur sculpture – the ones at Netherfield and Bleak Hall were destroyed after complaints. This angered Bill, going against his hope for the new town as a place where anyone could create new things. Milton Keynes mythology says that Bill used to sleep in the belly of the dinosaur while he was creating it to protect it! The dinosaur has been repainted many time over the years.



Bill Billings (b.1938, London). He moved to Milton Keynes in 1974 to work on the building sites for the new town.

In 1986 he was awarded an Honorary Degree from the Open University and received an MBE in 2000 for his work as an inspiring artist working with communities in Milton Keynes.

Bill died in 2008, his last project was the Secret Garden in Wolverton.




More from the hospital’s collection displayed on level 1︎︎︎

Mark




Sculpture | Level 1

Lesley Bonner



All or Nothing, Lesley Bonner


‘All or Nothing’ is a relief carved into wood, currently the only work of its kind in the collection.


The intricacy of the technique and the delicacy of the feathers seem at odds with the material and the patterned angular forms in the rest of the image. The symbolism perhaps a metaphor for the balance between architecture, nature and art within Milton Keynes, that the artist was working so closely with, on public sculptures across the New Town during the 1970s and 80s.

In the same corridor as All or Nothing you can also see work by other artists from the Silbury Art group – Alexandra Leadbeater and Diana Winkfield.

About the Artist

A member of the Silbury Art Group, based at Westbury Farm, Milton Keynes, Lesley is best known in Milton Keynes for her public artworks, often created in collaboration with the local community.

In the 1970s and 1980s, she was one of the Community Visual Artists for the Milton Keynes Development Corporation. She worked on many art projects with local communities on the new estates, particularly around the Beanhill area.

Lesley worked on the sculpture of the Tin Man with Liz Leyh, resident artist for Milton Keynes Development Corporation and creator of the Concrete Cows. When the iconic concrete cows were beheaded (as one of a long list of 'pranks' they have endured over the years), Lesley was called in to rebuild them, and continued to be called on to look after them for years until sturdier replicas were made by fellow hospital collection artist Bill Billings.  

In 1979 she worked with Beanhill residents and volunteers in Milton Keynes to create concrete toadstools sited on that estate.

A few years later Lesley was commissioned to create the giant Griffin in the Eaglestone play area.

Other artists from the Silbury Group whose work features in the hospital collection are Alexandra Leadbeater, Diana Winkfieldand Simon Tipping.


Lesley Bonner 

(B.1954) In the 1970s and 1980s, Lesley was one of the Community Visual Artists for the Milton Keynes Development Corporation.

Lesley was a member of the Silbury Art Group, based at Westbury Farm, Milton Keynes.



More Artworks displayed on Level 1 ︎︎︎
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Arts for Health Milton Keynes
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Eaglestone
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Arts for Health Milton Keynes is the working name of MK Arts for Health charity number 1107625  company number 05137693