Art & Design A-level 2025 theme: Mask (2025)

Masks can disguise, protect, entertain – or terrify!

In some cultures, masks are an important element in religious ceremonies and rituals.

Masks can be physical, covering all or part of a face, or an expression we adopt to protect ourselves from the scrutiny of others and hide what we are thinking or feeling.

Masks can also hide or disguise objects and buildings (think camouflage!).

The formal qualities of masks from Africa and Polynesia were a key inspiration in the development of Western abstract art. Claudette Johnson surrounds herself with masks in a self-portrait to reclaim the often unacknowledged inspiration of African art on white Western artists.

Artists featured in this Curation:Aida Silvestri,Dexter McLean (b.1993),Barbara Hepworth (1903–1975),Atia Islam Anne (b.1962),Duncan Robertson (b.1966), unknown artist,Dianne Setch (b.1945),Pablo Picasso (1881–1973),Claudette Johnson (b.1959),Henry Moore (1898–1986),and 40 moreSee allKeith Piper (b.1960), Yinka Shonibare (b.1962), Gavin Jantjes (b.1948), Dermot Seymour (b.1956), Ella Kruglyanskaya (b.1978), Rotimi Fani-Kayode (1955–1989), Cindy Sherman (b.1954), Sunil Gupta (b.1953), Luca Carlevarijs (1663–1730), John Armstrong (1893–1973), Mónica Alcázar-Duarte (b.1977), Joy Gregory (b.1959), Edith Birkin (1927–2018), Richard Hamilton (1922–2011), Jonathan Baldock (b.1980), Sidney Nolan (1917–1992), Douglas Chowns (b.1937), Kim Simonsson (b.1974), Peter Blake (b.1932), Norman Adams (1927–2005), Evgeny Antufiev (b.1986), Robert Colquhoun (1914–1962), William Turnbull (1922–2012), The Mask Studio, Francis Bacon (1909–1992), Jason Thompson (b.1970), Lee Tribe (b.1945), Voti Thebe (b.1953), Elisabeth Tomalin (1912–2012), Osei Bonsu (1900–1977), Matthew Krishanu (b.1980), Marenka Gabeler (b.1975), Laura Ford (b.1961), Geraldine Clare Guest (b.1961), Rebecca Horn (1944–2024), Christo and Jeanne-Claude, Man Ray (1890–1976), Martin Froy (1926–2017), Gary Hume (b.1962)andFrank Stella (1936–2024)

57 artworks

Storyline Album Showcase

Sugar 2020

Aida Silvestri

Sugar & pigment ink on cotton fabric

H 65 x W 50 cm

Autograph

Cacao 2020

Aida Silvestri

Cacao & pigment ink on cotton fabric

H 65 x W 50 cm

Autograph

Kinsley 2020

Dexter McLean (b.1993)

Archival giclée print

H 45.5 x W 32.2 cm

Autograph

Surgeon Waiting 1948

Barbara Hepworth (1903–1975)

Oil & graphite on paper

H 80 x W 60 cm

York Museums Trust

Cancer c.2001

Atia Islam Anne (b.1962)

Acrylic on canvas

H 181.5 x W 91.4 cm

Gallery Oldham

'Made in Germany' Gas Mask 1997

Duncan Robertson (b.1966)

Bronze

H 25.5 x W 18 cm

Perth & Kinross Council

Untitled (Mende Mask)

unknown artist

Wood

H 42 x W 21 x D 25 cm

University of Salford

Soldiers 4 1972

Dianne Setch (b.1945)

Acrylic on paper

H 49 x W 67 cm

Leicester Museums and Galleries

Bust of a Woman (Buste de femme) 1909

Pablo Picasso (1881–1973)

Oil on canvas

H 72.7 x W 60 cm

Tate

Image credit: The Stanley & Audrey Burton Gallery, University of Leeds

Mask

unknown artist

Wood

W 15 x D 10.1 cm

The Stanley & Audrey Burton Gallery, University of Leeds

Standing Figure with African Masks 2018

Claudette Johnson (b.1959)

Pastel and gouache on paper

H 151.5 x W 122 cm

Tate

Mask 1928 (?)

Henry Moore (1898–1986)

Gneiss stone

H 21.2 x W 19 x D 8.7 cm

Tate

Helmet Head No. 3 1960

Henry Moore (1898–1986)

Bronze

H 29.5 cm

Henry Moore Foundation