Gaining the general public’s interest in an exhibition is an issue museums and galleries have to grapple with every time a show is planned. In August, I visited Christchurch Mansion’s new exhibition, titled Ed Sheeran: Made in Suffolk, which certainly seemed to be a people pleaser.
The exhibition aimed to celebrate the international music star’s Suffolk heritage growing up in Framlingham and the importance of Suffolk to Ed Sheeran. Curated by his father, John Sheeran, and opening to coincide with Ed’s ‘homecoming’ Ipswich shows, the exhibition offered an intimate insight into his rise to fame which has appeal to both the population of Suffolk and Ed Sheeran fans alike. However, what interested me was the brilliant curation of the exhibition, managing to present fine art portraits of Ed Sheeran by Colin Davidson and a Damien Hirst, alongside Ed’s 6 year old self-portraits, family photos, and early scribbled lyrics - all as art objects worthy of equal attention. The show demonstrates the importance of having pop culture in high art contexts, as encouragement for people to visit arts institutions.
Ed Sheeran is somewhat of a musical chameleon, producing music that you can both listen to in the club and have a cry to. He is also seemingly uncontroversial, unlike a myriad of other celebrities. His most recent album, No.6 Collaborations Project shows his versatility, with collaborations with a huge range of artists from Stormzy to Skrillex to Justin Bieber. Whatever your personal opinion on Ed Sheeran’s music, it’s hard to deny he is one of the most famous musicians in the world right now. He is in fact currently the most listened to artist on Spotify. Ed Sheeran’s popularity therefore seems to be at a peak, making an exhibition on him not all that surprising. However, the choice to hold it in Christchurch Mansion, a regional museum, may seem strange when compared to similar musical retrospective exhibitions, such as David Bowie Is at the V&A Museum in 2013. Christchurch Mansion in Ipswich is a Tudor mansion, which particularly boasts the most of iconic Suffolk artists: Gainsborough and Constable. It therefore seems rather fitting that Ed Sheeran should sit alongside these Old Masters as a new artist to put Suffolk on the map. Although not actually in the main Mansion, instead in the adjoining Wolsey Art Gallery, the exhibition seemed heavily attended by local families. In many ways, this is what the exhibition is for (just like Ed’s homecoming Ipswich shows): a celebration of Suffolk talent for the people of Suffolk. Also, unlike David Bowie Is, Ed Sheeran: Made in Suffolk is free (thanks to the Suffolk’s iconic Aspall cider), further encouraging locals to view the exhibition.
The free entry also makes the exhibition accessible and increases interaction with the arts. Firstly, the exhibition means that Ed Sheeran fans, or even locals who haven’t been interested before, are drawn to visit Christchurch Mansion itself, which is also free. As much as academic art historians might look down upon ‘blockbuster’ big-name exhibitions, it is this that draws in the people, and the funding. Using the David Bowie Is exhibition as an example again, it is to date the most visited and fastest selling exhibition in the V&A’s history.
The exhibition itself was a strange mix of fine art and objects associated with Ed Sheeran’s rise to fame that, somehow, worked. Featured most prominently were portraits by Colin Davidson, and a series of tour photos by Mark Surridge, who has been documenting Ed Sheeran’s tours since his beginnings in 2011. However, one of the most strange objects to see behind the protective museum glass was Ed Sheeran’s GCSE art sketchbooks and final piece. These were the sort of objects that I could recognise, having to produce very similar things only four years ago. These were produced around the same time as Ed’s designs for his early EPs, Loose Change and Songs I Wrote with Amy, creating a strange juxtaposition between the music I’ve been listening to for years and art I’ve produced myself.
These objects were just a few of many, alongside home videos taken by Ed Sheeran’s dad, 6-year old self-portraits, a school graduation certificate voting him ‘Most Likely to be Famous’ and early posters and set lists advertising Ed Sheeran at the local pub when he was a teenager.
The childhood memoirs of Ed Sheeran progressed into the documentation of the albums that made him famous, +, × and ÷, and the original artwork behind the albums (which, for ÷, was made in the studio of Damien Hirst), setlists, and a plethora of awards. This was the climatic ending to the exhibition, as you were forced to reflect on how amazing it is that this seemingly normal teenager is now a multi-platinum selling musician.
The exhibition aimed to take you on a journey of Ed Sheeran’s 28 years and make him seem like the sort of person you might be friends with. Indeed, I imagine this was even more prevalent for the locals visiting the exhibition, who would no doubt recognise the pubs he played in, the schools he went to, and the museum project he did his art GCSE on. Although these objects are not ‘high art’, they still elicited an emotional connection (even from me as only a casual Ed Sheeran fan), in the same way great art might. The added connection with his father curating the exhibition, and featuring so many family videos and photos, made you feel like you were being privy to Ed as a person not Ed Sheeran the celebrity.
Although the exhibition was by no means a ground breaking, highbrow exploration of the history of art, I believe it demonstrates the importance of including pop culture in museum and gallery settings. For one, it encourages a wider demographic of people to come to museums and galleries, such as a young girl I saw in her Divide Tour t-shirt, smiling joyful whilst her mum took a photo of her with an Ed Sheeran portrait. It is also important for pride of Suffolk locals, celebrating the talent they have produced, which Ed reflects in his songs too- most notably in the video for Castle on the Hill, filmed in Framlingham. Although of course, as you exit through the gift shop, there is the ever-present commercialisation of art with over-priced souvenirs. Here, all the proceeds will go to charity.
I believe the exhibition was able to present ‘art’ objects as important, but still relatable, breaking down the barrier of the magical importance that surrounds objects in galleries. On walls opposite each other, you can see the self-portrait Ed created for his GSCE final piece, facing the album cover he created in the studio of Damien Hirst. There is no doubt that he has become incredibly successful, but the curation suggests that these works are, and should be, of equal value, with both being equally important to his development. Exhibitions don’t always have to be about learning, they can also just be about experience. I think museums and galleries should try to cater more to pop culture more often, exactly due to the fact that it’s popular. As amazing as Gainsborough and Constable are, Suffolk’s artistic talent has had an update, and it is engaging a whole new audience with the arts.
Ed Sheeran: Made in Suffolk running 20 August 2019 – 3rd May 2020 at Christchurch Mansion, Ipswich
Written by Emma Pearce