Liz West - H.A.P.P.Y exhibition
Dates: 13 April until 5 October 2025
Price: free
Acclaimed British artist Liz West brings a mesmerizing exhibition to the Mercer, inviting audiences to experience a dazzling interplay of light, space and reflection.
Through her art, Liz West creates playful experiences and environments that heighten our senses and positively affect how we feel. She is interested in our deep human connection to colour and light, and how they can evoke physical, psychological and emotional responses in us.
The title of this exhibition reflects Liz’s experience of Seasonal Affective Disorder (S.A.D.), a condition linked to the shorter and darker days of autumn and winter. She experiments with colour and light to create environments that inspire joy and curiosity.
At the heart of this exhibition is Our Colour Reflection, an immersive installation made of hundreds of vibrantly coloured reflective discs arranged across the floor of our 1806 Promenade Room, transforming this important space from Harrogate’s spa history into a dazzling interplay of light, space, and reflection.
For the first time in many years, the windows in this space are revealed to allow natural light to flood in, creating an ever-changing kaleidoscope of reflections. Every experience of the installation is different depending on light levels, weather, clouds and the path of the sun. As we move through the space, our perspectives shift, revealing new combinations of colour and light in an absorbing sensory experience.
In a unique collaboration, West’s work has inspired the Leeds-based electronic producer, musician and artist Cherry Seraph (the alias of Sophie Russell) to create a new sound piece which will play continuously in the gallery. Both artists explore how frequencies of sound and light can impact our emotional well-being.
In addition, the exhibition brings together for the first time West’s works on paper to showcase a collection of three-dimensional ‘concertina’ pieces and experimental drawings that reveal her instinctive and intellectual engagement with the emotive qualities of colour. The artist has also selected artworks and artefacts from Harrogate’ museum collections to reflect upon our responses to colour and light.
In conversation: Liz West, Cherry Seraph and Cherie Federico
Location: Mercer Art Gallery
Date: 28 June 2025, from 4pm to 5.15pm
Price: £10 - includes a glass of fizz on arrival ( Mercer Friends: £8; under 25s: £5)
A fascinating conversation between Liz West and Cherry Seraph. Hosted by director and founder of Aesthetica Magazine, Cherie Federico.
To book tickets visit the Ticket Source website or call the Box Office on 0333 666 3366.
