Paintings by Malca Schotten alongside documentary photography by Barbara Laws.

The artworks presented in Pictures From An Exhibition are inspired by Malca's role as part-time gallery invigilator at The Sainsbury Centre For The Visual Arts in Norwich.

Her work shines a spotlight on the immense value of the gallery/museum experience. These are important spaces connecting people with creativity, expression, history, and each other.

‘ Art is not a luxury, it stands at the essence of our humanity. It asks for no special protections accept the right to exist’

- Salmon Rushdie

‘ The arts remain an integral part of our national life" and are "an essential part of what makes life worth living'

- Melvyn Bragg

Malca Schotten
Raised in London, Schotten is a Norwich-based artist renowned for her huge, energetic drawings. Her weighted, sculptural figures transcend the depth of paper - it is unsurprising she was taught by Anish Kapoor at the Hornsey College of Art. Schotten’s subjects have included skilled rural craftsmen, colossal suburban trees, and her personal journey through pregnancy.

Schotten has exhibited in East Anglia and across the UK including the National Portrait Gallery: John Player Portrait Award, the Prince's Foundation, Shoreditch, The Royal Academy and Kettles Yard, Cambridge.

She has work in collections in Europe and the UK.

A key feature of Schotten’s working practice is making work for public interest-focused projects which have previously been funded by Arts Council England, including I’m Not Dead Yet, The East Anglia Rural Building Trade Project and Lives in Science. Her current project spanning over the last two and a half years ‘Pictures From An Exhibition’, is a body of work in-progress conceived in the Sainsbury Centre For The Visual Arts, Norwich.

Barbara Laws

Barbara Laws is a freelance documentary photographer based in Norwich. She has over 40 years of experience photographing a wide range of events, commissions, and editorial work. For over a decade, while living in Nottingham, she documented people and life in her neighbourhood as the city was undergoing major changes. Personal documentary photography projects include travels across eastern Europe to Ukraine. She enjoys collaborating with other creatives and always looking to keep a fresh eye
on the world around.