These extraordinary works by Cecily Brown, of wrecked ships, frantic and prone bodies, carefully illuminate the tensions between the past and the present. Taking inspiration from Delacroix's shipwreck paintings, as well as one of the most feted paintings in the world; Géricault's, The Raft of the Medusa, 1818–19. In her introduction to the book, Whitworth curator Dr Samantha Lackey writes, 'These extraordinary works by Cecily Brown, of wrecked ships, frantic and prone bodies, carefully illuminate the tensions between the past and the present. Of course, these drawings also push to the forefront of our minds the images we see every day on our screens, of shipwrecked refugees attempting, and failing, to make their own sea voyages.' The exhibition 'Cecily Brown: Shipwreck Drawings' was shown at The Whitworth (University of Manchester) from 12 November 2017 to 15 April 2018. AUTHOR: Jasper Sharp is the Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art at the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna, where he has been since 2011. The British-born art historian previously worked at the Peggy Guggenheim Collection in Venice and was the Commissioner of the Austria Pavilion at the 2013 Venice Biennale. SELLING POINTS: . British-born artist Brown (b.1969) has lived and worked in New York since the early 1990s . She is the daughter of legendary art critic David Sylvester and novelist Shena Mackay - and comes from a family of artists . Brown is known for combining figuration and abstraction in expressive paintings filled with movement and bold brushwork. Her style and themes evoke Abstract Expressionist artists such as Willem de Kooning, as well as Old Masters such as Goya and Rubens. However, Brown confronts these traditions from a female perspective . These shipwreck drawings not only recall iconic images from art history but call to mind the perilous crossings of migrants and refugees today . Highly evocative and pertinent to the present-day world and contemporary issues 26 colour illustrations