ART students are celebrating the success of their debut exhibition.

Staged in the atmospheric surroundings of Bolton Parish Church, Lost Creatives features the work of a group of second year art students from the University of Bolton.

The four-day “thought provoking” To Be Lost is to Be Free exhibition in the landmark building saw the 19th century parish church provide an historic setting for the show, where all work has been created in the last three months.

The art collective said the exhibition provided popular, with a special private viewing attracting acclaimed landscape artist James Naughton and many other guests.

Artist Clinton Ajose, aged 21, said: “The preview night went really well, it was good, we had more guests than we expected.

"We chose Bolton Parish Church to display the artwork because we felt the building complemented the art work.

"It was also affordable, as we had to put the exhibition on ourselves and pay for it.”

The artwork tackled issues from the past, present and future including body culture, consumerism and surveillance — for their debut exhibition.

Mr Naughton, who is exhibiting at Bolton Museum with Naughton and Moran: Paintings of the American West, was the guest speaker.

Clinton described the exhibition as “thought-provoking and entertaining” saying there was something that will appeal to everyone.

He added: “It is quite surreal showing your work like this and it is very flattering when people are looking at it and talking about it.”

The majority of the artists are on the Art and Design Course, and the art collective says it hopes to inspire other artists to experiment and gain inspiration from the exhibition.