Steve McQueen, Charlotte (2004), Courtesy the artist and Thomas Dane Ltd 16mm film projection

Johnny Wilson enjoys the splendour of the De La Warr Pavilion in Bexhill and an intriguing exhibition that takes its inspiration from the work of Orson Welles.

Orson Welles was a larger than life figure whose production techniques for theatre and film were truly revolutionary for their time. Voodoo Macbeth at the De La Warr Pavilion, Bexhill on Sea until January 7 2007, shows the effect Welles and others had on matters of style and race in the visual arts and theatre.

In 1936 the US federal Theatre Project gave 20-year-old Welles the task of producing an all black production of Macbeth. Welles chose, on the advice of his wife, to shift the play from Scotland to 19th Century Haiti causing it to pick up the dubious moniker Voodoo Macbeth.

The relocation was a politically charged decision in the racially segregated US as Haiti had strong links to slavery.

Archive image of opening night of Orson Welles' Macbeth, New York (1936) Federal Theatre Project Collection

An indication of the fervour the play caused in New York was that 10,000 people turned up just to stand outside on the opening night. This production helped to make theatre and larger society more tolerant to blacks in positions of responsibility.

The production became famous for its dazzlingly original use of lighting and sound. Sally Ann Lycett, Head of Communications of the De La Warr explains the effect the work had on later generations of artists:

"This exhibition is about the techniques of light and dark and shadow with overlapping sound. These techniques have influenced artists and films and we are showing a number of artists who took these techniques on board."

Welles fans can enjoy a range of exhibits including original stage designs from the Macbeth show. These show his use of shadow to create tension, which became apparent in the later films he directed. His masterpiece on the perils of globalization, Citizen Kane, along with his noir classics Touch of Evil and The Lady From Shanghai can be seen on TVs on the ground floor.

To get an indication of the effect Welles had on cinema, watch the hall of mirrors scene in the latter film. Its multi-layered use of light and dark has influenced films as diverse as Enter the Dragon and The Elephant Man.

Glenn Ligon, Warm Broad Glow (2005), Courtesy the artist, Regen Projects, Los Angeles and Thomas Dane Gallery, London

The show however isn't only about Welles but showcases the works of several of his contemporaries who also helped to blur the lines between the arts. This loose and undefined movement has become known as the Expansive Frame, sharing a concern for exploring and trading different visual ideas.

Jean Cocteau is one of the names often recognised as being at the vanguard of visual experimentation in the pre war period. Stills from the set of his 1930 surrealist film Le Sang d'un Pote (The blood of a poet) can be seen on a TV with many looking more like posed photographs than scenes from a movie.

Lee Miller was a pioneer in the world of visual culture as well as breaking down stereotypes for women. The display has photos from the model-turned photographer showing members of the cast from a 1930s New York stage production. Like Welles' Macbeth they show black actors in roles usually seen as a white only preserve at that time.

Miller's use of shadows and colour also can be seen in the tongue-in-cheek work of Mitra Tabrizian. Her series of 12 photographs shot in 1986 at first appear to be stills from a 1940's film noir, but close up they are not what they seem. Far from being blonde bombshells and matinee idols the people who populate the sumptuous sets look like they work behind counters and sit next to you on the bus.

Kara Walker, 8 Possible Beginnings Or: The Creation of African-America, Parts 1-8, A Moving Picture By: Kara E. Walker (2005). Image courtesy of Sikkema Jenkins & Co.

The English artist Steve McQueen's 2005 piece entitled Charlotte shows a tightly framed close-up of the face of actress Charlotte Rampling. Somewhere between a life study and snuff movie, the five-minute film shows a finger held threateningly in front of Rampling's eye. Thankfully the finger does nothing nasty like the infamous eye stabbing scene in Luis Bunuel's Un Chien Andalou, but it does give one a real sense of unease.

The luminous red of the film as it tints the room suggests the artist is giving a wink to the infamous Redrum scene from the Shining (or maybe not). The irony that this is a black man directing a white woman as opposed to a white man directing black actors is not lost.

Perhaps the most disturbing and visually arresting piece is that by Kara Walker entitled 8 Possible Beginnings made in 2005. This 16-minute black and white video charts the African- American experience of the slave trade period using puppetry.

The black and white cut outs of human figures are taken through a series of ordeals split into eight sections. The child-like crudity of the puppets makes the scenes of homosexuality, rape and violence all the more shocking.

By deconstructing the performance so we are able to see the artist's hands and face she is letting us know that this is not an abstract work but that she herself is inextricably linked to the plight of these characters.

Phyllis Baldino Still from Mars/New York/Rome/De La Warr(2006)

Upstairs in Gallery 2 the American artist Phyllis Baldino has a specially commissioned installation entitled Mars/New York/Rome/De La Warr. As one walks into the large room the right wall shows film footage the artist took of the 2004 republican conference and a Anti-Iraq war demonstration in 2006.

On the left wall, a saturated semi-abstract image like something from an Orbital album sleeve is projected, purpose unknown. Coupled with these is the soundtrack of the original Mercury broadcast of Welles' 1938 stage play of War of the Worlds.

Alongside the exhibition, the newly refurbished Pavilion will be playing a series of Welles films in its cinema. These will include his Macbeth from 1948 and The Third Man containing his iconic portrayal of the penicillin dealer Harry Lime.

As Welles tributes go, this is a splendid affair - showing him as a figurehead of cultural and political change whose influence is still felt today.