Exhibiting outside the Great Hall of the Wills Memorial Building was a milestone worth marking, both for the setting and for the moment it arrived in. Few venues in Bristol carry the same weight: the building’s Gothic tower and grand hall have hosted the university’s most significant ceremonies for over a century, and having two portraits on public show there placed the work in genuinely prestigious company, seen by a steady flow of staff, students, and visitors passing through one of the city’s most recognisable landmarks.
That the show went ahead safely during the COVID-19 pandemic makes it more notable still. At a time when galleries and public spaces were only cautiously reopening, staging an exhibition that met safety requirements while still giving the work a proper public audience was no small achievement. It meant the portraits weren’t left waiting for “normal” to return; they found their audience regardless, in a period when so much creative and cultural life was paused. Having two pieces shown together, rather than a single work, also gave viewers a fuller sense of the artist’s range and voice, turning a brief encounter in a busy hallway into a real moment of connection with the work.