| NEWS
You
Say Tomato, I Say Tomato.
Currently
On
Unit
9, Swan Meadow Industrial Estate Wn3 5BD Wigan, United Kingdom
North By North Western, (NXNW) is the
Wigan Festival of Art, Music & Literature, founded in 2006.
It is a collection of over 15 local creatives who share the ambition
to push forward and pioneer Arts in the Borough.
Wigan
artist member Jane Fairhurst New
show
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Jane
Fairhurst
24th July – 5th September
Gallery Oldham
Cultural Quarter
Greaves Street
Oldham
OL1 1AL
Tel: 0161 770 4653
Open:
Monday – Saturday 10am-5pm
Sunday 10am-4pm
‘For over a century artists have used found objects,
everyday items not normally considered as art, to inspire
new transitions in their work. |
In
this exhibition Jane Fairhurst exploits the availability of mass-produced
children’s toys to explore themes of current affairs, global
politics and the environment.
Placing
a new twist on the traditional children’s toy box, the artist
uses brightly coloured toys to create mixed media sculptures and
as subject matter for paintings. Darkly entertaining, the artworks
play on different emotions creating an exhibition that is both
humorous and sinister.
www.galleryoldham.org.uk
News
Elizabeth Smith
 |
Knit One, Purl One: Contemporary
Knitting and Crochet Gallery
Four 1 May – 4 July 2010
Art
Gallery
Touchstones Rochdale
The Esplanade
Rochdale
Lancs
OL16
1AQ
Telephone: 01706 924492
Elizabeth
Smith
Though
I Sang in my Chains Like the Sea |
This
exhibition brings together artists working in contemporary knitting
and crochet. Exploring traditional crafts through innovative materials,
concepts and techniques the exhibition features site specific
installations, a knitted animation and loans from public and private
collections.
The
exhibiting artists are: Anita Bruce, ArtYarn,
Karl-Christian Geleff, Sophie Horton, Rachael Matthews, Claire
Platt, Freddie Robins, Elizabeth Smith, Sally Spinks and Shane
Waltener.
A recent resurgence of traditional craft has meant that knitting
and crochet have enjoyed a huge increase in popularity. The
range of materials has become easier to obtain and technological
advances have allowed both natural and synthetic fibres to become
more widely available.
Through
its accessibility and affordability, the relative ease, satisfaction
and mobility of knitting is an attraction for some. For others
it is a rebellion against mass market culture, a creative way
to express individuality or a retreat from a technology saturated
society. Whatever the reason for the revival, formerly neglected
domestic arts are being eagerly embraced.
Rochdale has a long historic link with the woollen trade due to
the plentiful supply of fleeces from the surrounding hill farms.
This is reflected in the Rochdale Borough’s coat of arms
which depicts the fleece of a sheep. For centuries the Rochdale
area had been dominated by woollen manufacturing.. The Industrial
Revolution in the eighteenth century transformed many handicrafts.
With the use of machinery, small scale producers were finding
it increasingly difficult to earn a living. Through the invention
of steam power, mills soon began to appear in the area which started
the beginnings of the cotton industry leaving the woolen trade
behind. Since then knitting has been linked to domesticity and
usually associated with creating functional garments for the body
or home.
Bringing together a selection of contemporary artists, many different
forms of knitted and crocheted textiles are included in this exhibition,
showing how traditional crafts are being explored through innovative
materials, concepts and techniques. In the gallery space Shane
Waltener‘s Another World Wide Web, knitted in elastic, has
been installed highlighting the architectural features of the
ceiling, drawing the viewer’s attention to features that
might otherwise be overlooked.
Elizabeth Smith’s work Though I Sang in my Chains
like the Sea suspended from the ceiling and trailing to the floor
in muted shades of felted Shetland wool and mohair loop yarn is
a contemplative piece referencing the sea and its organic forms.
Freddie Robins’ pieces Forewarned and Forearmed, on loan
from Nottingham Castle Museum collection, play on the words ‘fore’
and ‘four’, with four knitted sleeves in each piece,
distorting the idea of knitting something wearable and questioning
physical normality.
Other artists include Rachael Matthews who brings her Relics of
an Awesome Picnic complete with rug, Karl-Christian Geleff’s
steel wool knitted child-size jumper playing on the idea of opposites
and Anita Bruce’s delicate, crocheted specimens of marine
life based on the drawings of Ernst Haeckel.
An animation for Canadian band ‘Tricot Machine’ made
using knitted stills by Lysanne Latulippe is on display together
with some of the stills and another unusual use of knitting can
be heard in ArtYarn’s Knitting Orchestra.
Sophie Horton’s flashing three dimensional drawing features
in the exhibition itself and she has also created a specially
commissioned piece Front Cover inspired by camouflage linked to
an object on display in the Museum. Also look out for flying ducks
on the staircase by Claire Platt from her series In Flight. The
artists featured in the exhibition have taken knitting and crochet
to another level, a valid art form in its own right, rather than
just a functional handicraft.
The
annual Wigan and Leigh Open exhibition
returns to the gallery from 13 March - 17 April 2010.
News
NXNW
are holding a one off event Illuminate at the Turnpike Gallery,
Civic
Square, Leigh 6th March from 7.30pm - 9.30pm.
a unique evening of experimental new media, light installation,
interactive works and sound. the event is an appetiser before
the North by North Western Arts Festival in Wigan from the 6th-10th
August.
www.nxnwfestival.co.uk
The You say tomato, I say tomato'
NXNW Exhibition Wigan 2010
We are planning an exhibiton
about the nature of dialogic disagreement. Our proposition is
that in this context misunderstanding occurs due to failures in
communication rather than fundamental differences in opinion.
Such malfunctions within conversations result from conflicting
learnt definitions of words and differing conceptions of their
meaning.
We are looking for works that engage with semantics in spoken
language in order to explore and demonstrate the above ideas.
In light of the above please consider the following statement
in regards to your own work...
"Every conversation is a game, every player has their own
rules."
We are looking for completed works or proposals for new or relevant
work by Friday 12th feb.
[Video, audio, performance, spoken word]
Please
send an artist's CV
and your proposals, including links to past works and if available
by email to:
nathalie.boobis@nxnwfestival.co.uk
If you have completed work, please post your artist's CV and DVD
Pals, CDs or relevant documentation of performances to: Anna Smith,
Flat 3, 5 Mauldeth Road West, Manchester, M20 3WB
Anna
Smith
Chairman & Arts Co-ordinator
anna.smith@nxnwfestival.co.uk
NEWS
The
annual Wigan and Leigh Open exhibition
returns to the gallery from 13 March - 17 April 2010.
Giving you the chance to see work by local professional
and amateur artists, students and children. If you would like
to exhibit in this year's exhibition download a copy of the Entry
Form here, or call the gallery office on 01942 404469 to request
a copy.
NEWS
: New
Show at the Turnpike Gallery in Leigh
Araam: Breathing Space
16 January - 27 February 2010
Including
a drop-in workshop for families.This exciting exhibition includes
sculptures by Halima Cassell and paintings and animations by Zarah
Hussain, which fuse together diverse cultural influences, drawing
upon the beauty of Islamic geometry, African pattern work, and
exploring each artist's Asian heritage.
Everyone is welcome to attend, and the exhibition continues until
27th February.
The gallery is open Monday - Friday 10.00am - 6.00pm,
and Saturday 9.30am - 3.30pm.
Angers
Twinning Festival
The
exhibition of Wigan based artist are showing in France Elizabeth
Smith and Dorothy
Spain, Marcia
Alcock
in Angers, for WBAN news.
22nd August) at Espace Welcome, until the end of September.
From 1st October to 4th November it will be at Gare SNCF d'Angers.
It's call 'Recent Work (from Wigan)'.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Angers Twinning Committee
would like to invite you to their next event which will be in
the Derby Room at 7.30pm on Wednesday 24th September. The exhibition20th
anniversity, of course, forms part of the evening, and will be
accompanied by a presentation of a DVD about Angers/Wigan, including
the recent trip. Atherton Photographic society have also made
a slide show for the event.
There will be wine and refreshments.
Leigh
and Wigan Artists Open
15 March - 26 April
Images
by Tony Knox
Open
15 March - 26 April
Leigh and Wigan Artists Open is a celebration of the diversity
of current artistic practice in the borough featuring over 180
artist from professional
artists from the wigan artist network and okey studios
to amateur artists, living or working in the borough of Wigan
top left image is the work of the Late Geeta Rao featured Jane
Fairhurst, Tony Knox, Steven Heaton, Elaine Bennet, Mike Fahey,
Elizabeth Smith, David Stanley, Dorothy Spain,etc
The exhibition opened on Saturday 15th March to 26th
April.
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Unbound at the Turnpike
Unbound
at the Turnpike
which
features Elizaberth Smith work
'I sang in my chains like the sea' ,alongside work by Caroline
Broadhead,
Maxine Bristow and Susie MacMurray.
All the work is newly commissioned and site specific.
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