BECKENHAM.- Bethlem Gallery opens Switching Perceptions, the new exhibition by artist Eleanor Minney in collaboration with Professor Liz Tunbridge and patients from the National Psychosis Unit at Bethlem Royal Hospital.

Switching Perceptions presents textiles, drawing, clay sculptures and handwriting, which explore and untangle the fragile threads of the human mind through delicate, detailed journeys into what creates a sense of self, and the relationship to psychiatric conditions. At the centre is Segment of aself, Minney’s four-metre long textile work with hundreds of hand drawn ciphers alluding to a person’s holistic sense of self on one side, and on the other, row upon row of genetic markers including the three that relate to psychotic illness.

On 16 January, in tandem with Switching Perceptions, is the preview for The Anatomy of Melancholy at The Museum of the Mind at Bethlem Royal Hospital. The Anatomy of Melancholy looks at contemporary perspectives on the seventeenth century bestseller through the prism of the Museum's art collection.

Eleanor Minney lives in Oxford, and works in Oxford and Kent. She studied Fine Art at University of Oxford (2013–17), and has a Graduate Certificate in Humanistic & Psychodynamic Counselling (Goldsmiths University of London, 2017 - 18). She is currently training in Contemplative Psychology. Solo exhibitions include Anonymous, St.Edmund Hall College Chapel, Oxford (2017) and A-X, The Dolphin Gallery, St.John's College, Oxford (2015). Selected group exhibitions include Trinity Buoy Wharf Drawing Prize, 2018-19; It's Fragile, The Dolphin Gallery, St. John's College, Oxford (2017); Art Meets Science, Radcliffe Science Library, Oxford (2015). Minney’s work is in the collections of Ashmolean Museum - Western Art Print Room, Oxford and Sir William Dunn School of Pathology, University of Oxford.

Professor Liz Tunbridge, B.Sc. M.Sc. D.Phil. is an Associate Professor in the Department of Psychiatry, Medical Sciences Division at the University of Oxford. Her research aims to understand how individual genes impact on the complex brain functions that are altered in psychiatric disorders. She believes that understanding these links will help to explain why some people respond well to treatments, whilst others do not, and will ultimately lead to new and improved therapies. She uses a wide range of experimental techniques, which allows her to study the function of these genes at all levels - from individual cells to the whole person - in collaboration with many other researchers within Oxford, elsewhere in the UK, and internationally.

Since 1997, Bethlem Gallery has worked with artists, communities and cultural venues to deliver a range of exhibitions and collaborations both on-site within the grounds of the Royal Bethlem Hospital and off-site with partner organisations. The exhibition programme focuses on developing solo exhibitions, group exhibitions, collaborative opportunities and residencies for artists who are current or former patients of South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust. Recent exhibitions and collaborations include It’s how well you bounce (2017) featuring Grayson Perry, Sara Haq and Corali Dance Company, for the Gallery’s 20th anniversary; What remains: Anatomy of the artist (2017) including work by Mr X, Michaela Ross and Olga Masleinnikova at Siobhan Davies Dance Company; Redefining Bedlam (2016) in collaboration with Wellcome as part of their curated exhibition Bedlam: The Asylum and Beyond; Behold Continues to Retreat (2015), curated by Mark Titchner including works by Paul Noble, Chantal Joffe and Anna Barriball; and Sanctuaries (for Anxiety Festival 2014 in collaboration with Gasworks) with a collaboration by Christina Kral and Mr X. Other annual exhibitions such as Bethlem Art Fair, and Unescorted, showcase work by artists who are either current or former patients of South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust, and there are also collaborations with the Bethlem Museum of the Mind and their historic collection of works by artists including Richard Dadd, Stanley Lench and Bryan Charnley.