Anna Atkins Refracted: Contemporary Works

In 1843 Anna Atkins began producing Photographs of British Algae: Cyanotype Impressions, the first book to be printed and illustrated using photography. Today, 175 years later, her landmark project—compelling in its fusion of science and art, its modernity, and its realization by a woman in an age marked by the feats of men—remains a touchstone for viewers and makers alike. 

This exhibition brings together a diversity of works by 19 contemporary artists whose respective practices attest to the wide reach and generative nature of Atkins’s continuing legacy.

Credit: Exhibition overview from museum website.