1. SUSAN GUNN
Winner of the Sovereign
European Painting Prize
CONTEMPORARY ART INSPIRED BY GROUND BREAKING
SUSTAINABLE ARCHITECTURE
Award Winning artist Susan Gunn creates ambitious twenty metre painting named Terra
Memoria for the Enterprise Centre, the UK’s most innovative low carbon building.
LAUNCH PRIVATE VIEW 29th September 2015
6pm - 7.30pm speeches 6.15pm
PRESS PREVIEW 29th September 2015
By appointment from 11.00am
Please email Angela Macdonald:
angela.macdonald@uea.ac.uk
A 20 metre ‘low carbon’ painting installation, part of an £11.6 million low carbon project
Acclaimed artist Susan Gunn has completed a prodigious art installation for the ground-breaking
£11.6 million low carbon building project that is The Enterprise Centre, located at the University of
East Anglia campus in Norwich. The 20 metre painting installation, which took over 16 months to
complete, will span the length of the lecture theatre entrance creating a dramatic and evocative
centrepiece. This art work was commissioned by John French, Project Director for the Enterprise
Centre with a view to celebrating art in public spaces.
Press Release - 21st September 2015

2. SUSAN GUNN
Winner of the Sovereign
European Painting Prize
TERRA MEMORIA (2015)
Image: TERRA MEMORIA, INSTALLATION IN PROGRESS AT THE ENTERPRISE CENTRE
Terra: Earth, Land, Ground
Memoria: Remembrance, Memory, Recollection, Recall Time
Medium: Beeswax, linseed oil, natural earth/mineral pigments, organic glue binder & gesso on canvas
Susan Gunn comments, “I was particularly drawn to the atrium space and the natural light emanating from the
Memorial Gardens, a conservation area situated beyond The Enterprise Centre. I chose to record the idea of
offset vertical divisions in the canvas to reflect the rhythm and sway of the tree lined gardens opposite. The work
echoes the historic gardens and is a monument to nature and the ethos of the project ”
Gunn uses natural earth pigments and an authentic glue binder to make paintings that explore and develop the
material of traditionally made gesso. It is unusually resilient and fragile and used in an innovative way to create a
series of disruptions in the surface. Cracks, fissures, and accidental nuances appear in the works that rupture the
surface of the painting to the base of the canvas; they are engineered but ultimately beyond the final control of
the artist.
Historically cracks appearing in newly made gesso are regarded as defects, “entirely undesirable” according to
the art historian Ralph Mayer. Gunn welcomes these marks as distinguishing characteristics in the works,
rendering each piece unique. Her paintings evoke associating references of control and chance, they embrace
the beauty of the flawed and generate an understanding and appreciation of a new modernism, form and
aesthetic.
Ben Humphries, Director at Architype, the project’s architectural firm, praises the installation saying
“It has been straightforward, inspiring and collaborative working with artist Susan Gunn for a major art
installation to celebrate the new Enterprise Centre at the University of East Anglia.
The iconic artwork and concept mirror the ambitious remit of building an innovative low carbon and bio-renewable
building in the 21st century. The work is beautifully sympathetic to the ethos of the project, using sustainable and
natural materials to celebrate the coming together of ambition, architecture and art.”

3. SUSAN GUNN
Winner of the Sovereign
European Painting Prize
ENDS
The Enterprise Centre is open for public access Monday - Friday 9am - 5pm
For all media enquiries and further images please contact:
Susan Tyldesley
susan@dmcpr.co.uk
+44 7778 791373
DMC PR Ltd
www.dmcpr.co.uk
For press previews and interview appointments please contact:
Angela Macdonald
angela.macdonald@uea.ac.uk to attend
01603 591765
Susan Gunn
susangunn@hotmail.co.uk
077899981927
www.susangunn.co.uk

4. SUSAN GUNN
Winner of the Sovereign
European Painting Prize
PRIVATE VIEW - OPENING SPEAKER
Nichola Johnson OBE
Nichola Johnson is the former Director of the Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts at the University of East
Anglia. She is currently a visiting Professor in Art Curation at Norwich University of the Arts, chair of
the East Anglian Art Fund and a Trustee of the National Trust, Pallant House Gallery, Norwich
Cathedral Fabric Committee and the Norfolk and Norwich Festival.
Nichola has chaired the Clore Cultural Leadership Programme & the University Museums Group and
is currently chair of the Ruskin Foundation and a trustee of the Dulwich Picture Gallery and York
Museums Trusts.
EDITORS NOTES:
Collaborators
THE ARTIST: SUSAN GUNN
After graduating from Norwich University of the Arts,
Susan received international recognition when she was
awarded the Sovereign European Art Prize in 2006.
Susan Gunn has exhibited widely including exhibitions in
association with Contemporary British Painting,
Bonhams, The Fine Art Society London, Candlestar
Cultural Agency, Arts Council England, Commissions
East, Rollo Contemporary Art Gallery and, Salthouse
Church, in conjunction with the North Norfolk Exhibition
Project. She has held solo exhibitions at Norwich Castle
Museum & Art Gallery, The Gallery at Norwich University
of the Arts; and The Crypt, Marylebone, London.
She was employed as a selector and nominator for Axis
MA Graduates programme, sat on the regional Arts
Council for the East of England and was on the select
panel of judges for the Sovereign European Art Prize
2007 that was launched at the Guggenheim, Venice.
Susan has lectured at Norwich University of the Arts and
worked as a visiting tutor for Fine Art, she is also a
recurring judge for the annual Bishops Art Prize in
partnership with Norwich University of the Arts.
As an inaugural member of Contemporary British Painting, founded by Robert Priseman, Susan has
paintings in public and private collections around the world including the Madison Museum of Fine Art,
Atlanta, The Sovereign Art Foundation, Hong Kong, Norwich Castle Museum and Art Gallery,
Komechak Gallery, Chicago, and the Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts at the University of East Anglia.
Susan currently lives in Cheshire and works from her studio in Manchester.
WHAT THE CRITICS SAY:
“I think she is a very talented Artist – her paintings are incredibly beautiful objects”.
Sir Peter Blake RA - ARTIST

5. SUSAN GUNN
Winner of the Sovereign
European Painting Prize
“Susan’s painting’s radiate a special and divine kind of presence. A soothing, sophisticated
atmosphere to be around. On first viewing Susan Gunn’s paintings every argument and reason I’d
formulated over the past four decades was seduced, overturned, reversed; which speak of the powers
of her wonderful art, of it’s utter rarity. They are like chants or minimalist music, hypnotic, cathartic;
releasing one’s own inner visions on never knew were present. They are somehow pure, quietly
charged - they are zen, releasing agent of mood and memory. They are not backdrops, stage sets or
screens but mysterious and cathartic presences. Beautiful, very female, they quietly envelope. No
modish assault on the senses here or urge to shock - something high is at work.”
Dr Colin Self - ARTIST
For more reviews/critics please click here or visit www.susangunn.co.uk
• http://www.wantoday.com/interiorsblog/susan-gunn-commissioned-to-paint-low-carbon-
frieze-for-the-enterpris
• http://www.contemporarybritishpainting.com/wordpress/?page_id=2720
• http://www.nua.ac.uk/susan-gunn-exhibition-opens-gallery-nua/
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9P-e-jgSXus
• http://www.robert-priseman.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/Susan-GunnThe-
Beauty-of-Imperfection-2013.pdf
THE ENTERPRISE CENTRE - BACKGROUND
This is a building which is deeply rooted in its surroundings. The commitment to using indigenous
materials such as reed, clay, nettle, hemp and flint, coupled with a focus on utilising local suppliers,
contractors and craftspeople, gives the Enterprise Centre a real sense of identity and enhances its
connection to East Anglia. Together these materials have been merged with the most current
sustainable technologies and techniques to create this truly remarkable building which will play a
valuable role in driving forward innovation in sustainable architecture in the future.
While the timber frame and straw cladding have been specified to reduce embodied carbon and
promote the use of renewable materials, the bold, crisp and contemporary design has been
influenced by strong and confident modernist lines.
The Adapt Low Carbon Group has created The Enterprise Centre, which will be the UK’s greenest
commercial building meeting the highest BREEAM rating as well as the Passivhaus standard. Adapt
brings together a broad range of expertise and builds on the widely acknowledged successes of the
University of East Anglia’s (UEA) business activities in the low carbon sector. The Group is delivering
EU projects worth over £75m with the backing of the European Regional Development Fund. It also
offers consultancy to businesses, which are looking to save money through reducing their impact on
the environment. Any profit is returned to UEA through gift aid. The University of East Anglia, Norwich
Research Park, European Regional Development Fund, BBSRC, BRE and New Anglia Local
Enterprise Partnership have funded the Enterprise Centre. For more information, please visit http://
www.adaptlowcarbongroup.co.uk
The University of East Anglia (UEA) was founded in 1963. It has played a significant role in
advancing human understanding and in 2012 the Times Higher Education ranked UEA as one of the
10 best universities in the world under 50 years of age. The university has graduated more than
100,000 students, attracted to Norwich Research Park some of Britain’s key research institutes and a
major University Hospital, and made a powerful cultural, social and economic impact on the region.
Turquoise have been closely connected to the Adapt Low Carbon Group for a number of years. Their
sponsorship of the central art installation at the Enterprise Centre celebrates the many leading edge
innovations in low carbon design that have been incorporated into the building, together with their
proud association with the UEA, SCVA and the Low Carbon Innovation Fund which they manage.
This art work was commissioned by John French, Project Director for the Enterprise Centre with a
view to celebrating art in public spaces. This commission reflects the values intrinsic to the

6. SUSAN GUNN
Winner of the Sovereign
European Painting Prize
architecture and the low carbon mission of the project. It was co-sponsored by Ali Naini, director of
Turquoise International together with the Adapt Low Carbon Group.
ARCHITYPE
Architype was formed 31 years ago, and has a distinct vision and emphasis on sustainability. From
the outset its architecture has embraced low carbon, elegant and non-complex design. Passionate
about reduced energy use and user functionality in buildings, Architype has earned its position as one
of the UK’s leaders in the Passivhaus movement delivering several Passivhaus schemes in the edu-
cation sector. The practice has taken a bold step and is now designing to Passivhaus on a number of
cross sector projects which includes ecclesiastical, industrial, commercial and residential schemes.
Architects Journal winner of ‘Sustainability’ award 2015 & ‘Passivhaus Trust’ award 2015. For more
about Architype’s involvement in the project, please visit: http://www.architype.co.uk/project/the-
enterprise-centre-uea/

7. SUSAN GUNN
Winner of the Sovereign
European Painting Prize
Image: ARTIST’S STUDIO - WORK IN PROGRESS
Image: IDEAS - WORK BOARD

8. SUSAN GUNN
Winner of the Sovereign
European Painting Prize
Image: DETAIL - TERRA MEMORIA, WORK IN PROGRESS