Exhibition: Sussex Modernism - Retreat and Rebellion

This exhibition examines why radical artists and writers were drawn to the hills, seaside and villages of Sussex in the first half of the 20th century.

It looks at how, in the communities they created, artistic innovation ran hand in-hand with political, sexual and domestic experimentation.

Through over 120 works, the exhibition discovers intriguing connections between these enclaves of artists and the modernisms they represented.

The art and craft of Eric Gill and David Jones in the Catholic community in Ditchling is compared with the paintings and interiors of Vanessa Bell and Duncan Grant at Charleston and the surrealist collaborations of Edward James and Salvador Dalí. The unexpected network of Serge Chermayeff, Eric Ravilious, László Moholy-Nagy, Henry Moore and John Piper is revealed; despite sharing socialist ideas, they produced very different artistic output from striking architecture and sculpture to innovative photography and film.

Also included are the haunting watercolours of Edward Burra in Rye and the surrealist photos by Eileen Agar, Paul Nash and Lee Miller demonstrate the often tense relationship between artists and their environment.

Never settling, some brought unconventional ideas, others found nightmares in the most picturesque of scenes, but ultimately they challenged the idea of Sussex as an idyllic escape.