Little Cures

CONTENT WARNING: Contains nudity and discusses the topic of mental health.

John Hall, husband to Shakespeare's daughter, and Stratford upon Avon’s

physician detailed his medical treatments in his personal manuscript ‘A Little

Book of Cures’. Central to this was the theory of Humourism — the belief that all

human bodies were governed by four opposing ‘humours’. Each humour

corresponded to a different ‘temperament’. Darkest of these temperaments was

‘melancholy’. Today this word chimes with terms such as Anxiety and Depression,

which describe just some of the aspects in the vast spectrum of 'melancholy'.


Little Cures aligns past with present. Set within the hushed interior of Hall’s

Jacobean home of Hall’s Croft, forced into hibernation by the COVID-19 pandemic, this

exhibition presents the anxiety of today’s generation.


Reflecting on the COVID-19 pandemic and exploring themes including

mental health, climate breakdown, social media and the healing power of

plants, five contemporary artists’ present artworks that are held together

by a shared sense of melancholy.


In a way, each artwork becomes a ‘Little Book of Cures’ for the artist and those

with whom it resonates.

Our Time, drawing on paper, Dan Stirling

Do-for-You, digital print, Chelsea Porter

Journey to the Light (left) and Lost Fears Among Listening Ears (right), lacquer and acrylic on woodcut, Richard Woods

It Keeps Right On-a Hurtin’ , enamel on glass, Harvey Steele

Water Under the Bridge (left), I Can’t Remember Why (centre) and Homeless’(right), collages, Caitlin Hoole

Delicious Monster, acrylic on woodcut, Richard Woods

Be Mine, drawing on paper, Dan Stirling

Binge Watch the Future With Me, enamel on glass, Harvey Steele

Clarity, digital print, Chelsea Porter