Towner in Eastbourne welcomes a special Collection exhibition curated by Swedish artist and film maker John Skoog, in collaboration with Bjarke Hvass Kure, which opens to the public on Saturday 8 February until 4 May 2014.

In Near Dark, Skoog presents works from our permanent collection, including many of Sussex artist Eric Ravilious more well-known works as well as working sketches and colour tests, some of which are on display for the first time. This includes Ravilious’ watercolour paintings Kirby Hall Fields (1935), Ironbridge Interior (1941), and Garden Path (1934).

The exhibition will be shown alongside Skoog's solo exhibition, Redoubt, which is one of a-n’s must-see exhibition (27 Jan). This is a new film commissioned by Towner, which is a sumptuous and haunting narrative work set in the ruins of a house outside his hometown in Sweden, portraying the eccentric man who lived there until his death in 1975. Redoubt is showing in our Exhibition Gallery from now until 6 April.

During Skoog’s research visits to Towner for Near Dark, he discovered parallels between his own film practice and the works in Towner’s permanent collection.

For example his sparse Scandinavian landscape images echoing some of the collection's re-occurring historic Sussex scenes - included in the Near Dark exhibition are Edward Bawden’s Back Garden at Great Bardfield (1933) and Gertrude Hermes’ Through the Windscreen (1929). Together with Skoog’s own film Sent på Jorden (2011), which is also shown here, a disjointed story begins to unfold and characters begin to appear in the voids between the works.

This is one of the first times that Towner has worked with an artist to curate a show from our collection.

We are hosting a number of talks and film screenings to accompany Near Dark and Redoubt at Towner including a special talk with John Skoog and our curator Sanna Moore - see below for more detail.

John Skoog, artist, says: ‘Near Dark is like a detective novel in the form of an exhibition. It is about a man, Ravillious, and a place, Eastbourne. It is about the production of pictures, the colour tests, sketches and marks that make-up an image.

‘Unlike a detective novel, this story has no clear unravelling of the plot - it does not present a conclusion. Instead, Near Dark is a story about connections and feelings: a fractured narrative built up of half-finished drawings, afterthoughts, broken pieces of pottery.

‘As a visitor to the gallery, you can follow the clues presented, see the light fading, and perhaps, when you leave the exhibition, you will be lead into another narrative on the street outside.’

Emma Morris, CEO, Towner says: ‘We are delighted to be working with John on this special exhibition, which is sure to please Ravilious fans and contemporary visual arts fans alike. Near Dark gives an insight into John’s own artistic practice, as well as shows how our home-grown talent such as Eric Ravilious can influence and inspire the next generation of artists from around the globe. Enjoy the show!’