Unnatural Selection: Jewellery, objects and sculpture, the first British retrospective of work by Peter Chang, opens this weekend in Liverpool.

The exhibition brings a riot of colour and wild forms to the Walker Art Gallery with around 150 pieces, from British, European and American museums and collectors grouped to show themes and subjects the artist has explored throughout his career.

Peter creates precious objects from the mundane. In his early work, he used found objects, from disposable razor handles to felt tip pens, teasing them into exquisite forms. He exploits the intrinsic qualities of man-made materials, using acrylic, resin and PVC with some pieces also including small fragments of precious metals.

An array of striking jewellery includes a bracelet commissioned by the Powerhouse Museum in Sydney, Australia (2004).  The spiky projections make reference the inner workings of the body, memories of underwater life and microscopic creatures.

Practical, but totally fantastical objects, include a table (1994) from the British Council offices in Hong Kong which mixes diverse images of musical artefacts from the 50’s, oriental lacquer techniques and Japanese armour.

Surreal sculptures reflect his wide range of influences from natural shapes and forms to science fiction gadgetry and his prints and printing plates from the 1960s reveal his early interest in printing and his fascination for the relationship and interaction between colours. 

Peter, who lives and works in Glasgow, grew up in Liverpool, and began his art training in 1958 at The Art School in Gambier Terrace then continued to study at the Liverpool College of Art. He won The Liverpool Senior City Scholarship which enabled him to study etching at the famous Atelier 17, Paris, under S.W. Hayter, who also taught Picasso, Giacometti, Joan Miro.

Unnatural Selection: Jewellery, objects and sculpture is on at the Walker Art Gallery, William Brown Street, Liverpool from 15 June to 30 September 2007. Open daily 10am to 5pm.  Admission free. 

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