ART, society and culture will collide in a powerful new exhibition.

Entitled Hydra, it has been staged by collective WIRE, founded by a group of four postgraduates studying for an MA in Fine Art at the University of Bolton.

Their work will feature alongside established artists.

Art student Gerard Young, from Radcliffe, said: “The aim of the exhibition is to present examples of the diversity of approaches within contemporary art and foster connective strands between art and society.

“We have very strong views regarding the importance of art within culture and we believe that to truly progress we must learn from the past, in both art and life.”

A total of 11 artists will be exhibiting their work at Unit 53, Upper Ground Floor, The Market Place Shopping Centre, opening tomorrow with a special preview on Saturday between 2pm and 4pm. It runs until Sunday, June 1.

Paintings, art installations, sculptures and other forms of artistic expression depict powerful images of today’s society, including the shocking increase in suicide in Greece, linked to the country’s economic crash; the nutritional crisis and mis-representation in advertising, the relationship between art and history and past and present; balance and equality in society and culture.

Mr Young, aged 43, added: “The process of art making has also become an important aspect to negate the high speed nature of our current time and the multi faceted problems we all face in life.

“Regardless of the influx of digital information in our culture, communication is still routed through wire and experienced on a physical level.”

The exhibition is the latest staged by University of Bolton students in the town.