YOU’VE probably been up close to them only when feeling unwell on a flight or ferry.

But a new exhibition is celebrating the humble sick bag as an art form, going on show in a phone box gallery.

Inside the Sick Bag: Curious Collections celebrates the “visual language” that the objects have developed since they started to become commonplace on aeroplanes and ferries about 60 years ago.

Procured partly from the “patrons of puke” who have uploaded hundreds to a massive online archive and partly from personal collections, the exhibition at the quirky K6 phone box gallery aims to show how design has developed over the years.

But it also looks at how artists have adopted the sick bag for their work – and includes work by cult singer Nick Cave, who wrote an entire album based on lyrics he jotted down on bags while travelling.

K6 curator Alex Batten said: “We got that one on loan from Nick Cave’s publisher – it’s part of his archive.

“There’s an online sick bag museum and I thought they would make a good exhibition for K6, especially as they’re not particularly valuable.

“And Southampton is a sort of a travel hub so it fits in here quite well.

“They act as a sort of archive of branding. Ones from the 1970s are quite garish, recent ones are a bit tongue-in-cheek and the older ones are often plainer or more simple and have more of a luxury type of look.”

Mr Batten added that the use of sick bags has declined due to planes suffering less turbulence, but many airlines are encouraged to use them for their reassuring placebo effect.

Other artists with sick bag work in the show include Lydia Leith, Emma Richardson, Nur Aida Sa’ad and Helen Snell.

Inside the Sick Bag is the first in an ongoing series of exhibitions investigating unusual collections at K6 gallery.

The gallery comprises two decommissioned phone boxes close to the junction of Castle Lane and Castle Way.

It runs a programme of four exhibitions a year, showcasing local and national artists with a focus on contemporary and conceptual art.

It is run by a team of volunteers as a non-profit entity.

Entrance is free and the phone boxes are open 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Inside the Sick Bag runs until August 27.