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Caught in the corridor
Work by Czech artist Jiri Havlicek goes on show in the UK for the first time in the School of Design’s new Corridor Gallery. The exhibition, Graphica Alchymica, Cosmica & Scatologica, on the first floor of the Wool Division building is open weekdays 10-4pm until May 26.

Prof Havlicek is Professor of Art History and Theory at Masaryck University, Brno, (one of Leeds twin cities).

Jiri and Ken Hay from Leeds' school of design have been working on a series of international collaborations for 10 years which have included staff and student exchanges, and recently a big project called "Hibrida"
which was shown simultaneously in Brno and Bradford Cartwright Hall.

Jiri was formerly a member of the Czech and Belgian Surrealist Group and has works in many public and private collections across the world. His imagery deals with Ancient Jewish, Christian, Arabic and Chinese religion and mythology, and is often calligraphic in style, usually small scale works on paper - etchings, drawings or mixed technique (drawing, painting, watercolour and gilt). He also reflects influences from science fiction and technology.

Under the Communist regime, Jiri was an important figure, protecting younger artists who were unable to show their work officially, and writing catalogues for their underground art activities. Now many of his students occupy key positions in the Czech artworld as teachers, curators and artists.

Recent work involves websites and animation and sound works, and this too will be on show in the new Corridor Gallery. The show - which is the first held here - also celebrates Jiri's 60th birthday. There will be a fully illustrated catalogue with essays by Ken Hay and Czech colleagues to correspond with the show.

Photo (right): artwork by Havlicek

Bright ideas
If you, or a colleague, have helped a firm gain a competitive edge or inspired future leaders then you could win £5,000 in the University’s business initiative awards.

Academic and non-academic staff can enter, or nominate a colleague, for the awards. The judges are looking for enterprise and knowledge transfer activities which have made an impact – and not just commercial successes.

The winners will be announced at a showcase of Leeds entrepreneurship on June 15 in Parkinson Court. The event includes an exhibition of companies set up by Leeds staff, students and graduates.

For more information, see this month’s insert or http://www.campus.leeds.ac.uk/kt/enterprisingsuccess.htm

Dramatic celebration
Events leading to the foundation of Leeds’ School of Medicine in 1831 and the conflict between its founders, Charles Turner Thackrah and Samuel Smith, are the subject of a new play by Val Phelps, to mark the School’s 175th anniversary. Sawbones to Surgeons is directed by Phil Stanier and performed by school of performance and cultural industries students at the Carriageworks in Millennium Square, Leeds, between May 25-27. Tickets are £6.50 (concessions £4.50) from the theatre box office on 0113 224 3801.

For details about 175th anniversary events and medicine’s history see www.leeds.ac.uk/medicine/175 and www.leeds.ac.uk/medicine/history

Best on show
Fine art students will open their final year show 25 Degrees at the Whitehall Waterfront in Leeds city centre. The exhibition of work including painting, photography, video and ceramics is open 11-7pm and runs from June 2-8. See http://www.leeds.ac.uk/fine_art/events/2006/0602/

Student work goes on show in the School of Design’s wool division building June 5 to 10. The school will also be part of the London Graduate Fashion Show on June 6.

For further information, see http://www.leeds.ac.uk/fine_art/events/2006/0602/ and http://www.gfw.org.uk/

Record sale
Music bargains are still available as closing down sales continue at the classical music record shop on level nine of the SCR building. CDs are half price every Thursday and Friday during May - and from Monday to Friday May 22 to 26. There are also new LPs available at £1 each, regardless of their label, value and rarity.

Joyce, “Penelope” and the Body
A new book, 'Joyce, “Penelope” and the Body', is inspired by the James Joyce research group of the School of English.

The book is a collection of twelve essays from newcomers and established critics of Joyce, all of whom spoke at a conference organised by the research group in 2002. It deals with “Penelope”, the final chapter of James Joyce’s Ulysses and is the first to examine the book in relation to contemporary literary, cultural, philosophical and psychoanalytical theories of the body.

Edited by reader in modern literature Dr Richard Brown, who runs the group and co-edits The James Joyce Broadsheet, 'Joyce, “Penelope” and the Body' is published by Rodopi and is available from Union Books.

Art & revolution
The way art and sculpture reflected the changing political landscape of revolutionary France is revealed in a dramatic new exhibition which opens at Leeds City Art Gallery on May 25.

In the first decade from 1789, public sculpture - a powerful symbol of the pre-revolutionary establishment – was used in a multitude of prints that blur the boundaries between the real and the imaginary to show people interacting with sculpted figures in varied and surprising ways.

Paper, Stone, Flesh and Blood is co-curated by Valerie Mainz of the school of fine art, history of art and cultural studies and Dr Richard Williams from the University of Durham. The exhibition, put on by the Henry Moore Institute, examines the changing relationship between print and sculpture during this turbulent period.

In one print a colossal Hercules, representing the people, strangles the body of a king. In another, a bust of Louis XVI is toppled from its pedestal, while others show the destruction of royalist statues, a powerful metaphor for the toppling of the old regime.

The prints have been selected from three major French public collections, and will be on display in Leeds until August 27.