In September 2018 we briefly described PhD student Stylianos Spathariotis’ artwork which linked ‘Deep Eutectic Solvents, Fifty Shades of Grey and Brexit‘. We (and Stelios especially) are very proud to announce that his work, ‘Fifty Shades of Grey’, has been selected for display in the annual open exhibition at New Walk Museum.
Stelios next to his work in the New Walk Museum (Photo (c) Stylianos Spathariotis)
The piece combines the science of metal recovery with a state-of-the-nation political message. Using the cementation process (the precipitation of a noble metal when it comes into contact with a less noble one), Stylianos dissolved a variety of metal salts in an ionic liquid before brushing them onto galvanised steel. The reactions resulted in a patchwork of fifty grey deposits forming the figure of the Union Jack.
Stylianos intends for the piece to highlight the multicultural and multinational nature of Great Britain, while also promoting social equality via the uniform ‘grey’ quality afforded to both valuable and inexpensive metals.
‘Fifty Shades of Grey’ will be on display at New Walk Museum until 2nd February 2019.
For details on the process of creating ‘Fifty Shades of Grey’, Stylianos created an informative video which can be viewed here.
(Article copied from the website of the University of Leicester, see https://www2.le.ac.uk/colleges/scieng/research/centres/centre-for-materials-research/chemistry-phd-student-has-work-featured-in-local-art-exhibition)
