THE University Gallery has reopened at Northumbria’s City Campus with a special event which saw the unveiling of the new Woon Gallery of Asian Art and the announcement of this year’s Woon Art Prize winner.
The gallery’s new home on the ground floor of Sandyford Building includes the new Woon Gallery of Asian Art, which houses a rare and unique collection of art worth more than £6.4m. It represents one of the most important collections of Buddhist and Asian art in the UK and includes contemporary pieces by the likes of Pablo Picasso, Damien Hirst and Andy Warhol.
The new gallery, which opened this week, has been created thanks to the generosity of philanthropist and Northumbria alumnus, Mr Wee Teng Woon and the Woon Brothers Foundation. Mr Woon said: “My brothers and I love art. We see art as having no barriers, borders or boundaries. It is the universal language and the natural expression of the human mind, heart and soul.”
The opening event also saw this year’s Woon Foundation Art and Sculpture Prize winners revealed, with Kara Chin receiving the £20,000 first prize fellowship.
The new gallery will operate alongside Northumbria’s contemporary exhibition space Gallery North and the University’s Art Collection.
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