The Mead Gallery will be hosting an opening party on Wednesday 18 January, 6.30pm to 8pm, to celebrate the launch of its new exhibition by DJ Simpson. Come along to find out more about the 'painter that doesn’t paint' and enjoy a glass of wine and live music provided by special guest Funki Porcini.

This will be Simpson's first major museum show in the UK since 'New' Labour' at the Saatchi Gallery in 2001. DJ Simpson is renowned for his large scale paintings which humorously reference grand works from the Abstract Expressionist canon, and the influence of painters such as Jackson Pollock and Willem de Kooning resonate playfully throughout his work. He refers to his work as 'drawing with electricity' and works with large scale laminated panels that are either pre-painted or have a bonded surface such as formica. His 'brush' is an electric routing tool, which he uses to chisel fluid, abstract lines at varying degrees, depths and widths. The end results are beautifully vibrant and energetic artworks which sit somewhere between drawing, painting, sculpture and installation.

An exciting part of the new exhibition will feature a special project gallery of abstract works from the University of Warwick Collection. It explores some of the many ways that artists have worked with abstraction and how these ideas relate to the work of DJ Simpson.

The works will change regularly over the course of the exhibition and will include pieces by Jack Bush, Ian Davenport, Terry Frost, Liam Gillick, Victor Pasmore and Bridget Riley amongst others.

Simon Fox, kindly loaning some of the works currently displayed at Warwick Manufacturing Group, says: "We were initially very sad to think we were losing these works of art from the International Manufacturing Centre. But we were pleased to know that 'our' paintings are to appear in an important exhibition and I think we'll appreciate them all the more when they come back".

The DJ Simpson exhibition will run from Wednesday 18 January until Saturday 11 March in the Mead Gallery at the Arts Centre. It will be open Monday to Saturday between noon and 9pm. Admission is free.

To find out more about events at the Mead Gallery, visit http://www.warwickartscentre.co.uk/events/mead