Original paintings used to create a Grammy Award-winning music video for The Beatles will go on display at Waterside in Sale later this month, as part of a new free exhibition celebrating the art of animation.
The Debutante by Lizzy Hobbs
Camera Obscura: Experiments in Animation opens on Saturday 24 October and runs until 9 January 2027, bringing together the work of three acclaimed animators – Elizabeth (Lizzy) Hobbs, Em Cooper and Leo Jamelli.
The exhibition explores how drawings, paintings, and other traditional techniques become moving images, with original artwork and animation frames displayed alongside the finished films. Highlights include five original oil paintings from The Beatles' I'm Only Sleeping music video, created by British artist and filmmaker Em Cooper. Released in 2022 to accompany the reissue of the band's Revolver album, the video was made using more than 1,300 individually painted oil paintings and went on to win Best Music Video at the 2024 Grammy Awards.
Emergence, Em Cooper
Visitors will be able to see some of those original paintings up close, including artwork featuring John Lennon's famous round glasses.
The exhibition also features work from award-winning animator Lizzy Hobbs, including original artwork from her short film The Debutante and artist Leo Jamelli, whose Spotlight on Care project uses hand-drawn animation to tell the stories of unpaid carers.
Rosy Whittemore, curator of the exhibition, said: “We have brought together three outstanding artists working at the forefront of contemporary animation.
“From Grammy-winning filmmaker Em Cooper to award-winning animator Elizabeth Hobbs and celebrated illustrator-animator Leo Jamelli, the exhibition showcases artists whose work is pushing the boundaries of the medium. Each brings a distinctive visual language and approach to storytelling, capturing emotion, memory and lived experience in ways that are both innovative and deeply human.”
Leo Jamelli ‘Spotlight on Care’
The exhibition is part of a wider programme celebrating animation at Waterside and Creative Industries Trafford, which also includes the annual Puppet Masters Animation Conference on 07 November. Families can also get involved during October half-term, with a Halloween-themed claymation workshop (sold out), where participants can learn stop-motion techniques and create their own animated ghost.
And for anyone keen to explore more of the area's animation heritage, the permanent Cosgrove Hall Films Archive exhibition is just next door in Sale Library, featuring much-loved characters from British television.
Camera Obscura: Experiments in Animation runs from Saturday 24 October 2026 to Saturday 9 January 2027 at Waterside, Sale. Admission is free, with the exhibition open Monday to Saturday, 10am-5pm.
