 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
New Upcoming Online Publication ... Loft Space Programme 2007 (Research Archives)
The Loft Space - is a temporary gallery set in a residential setting. Derbyshire the former curator of the Eggspace Gallery Liverpool, who is also involved with Red Dot Exhibitions and Transvoyeur both as a performer and visual artist has developed a project of exhibiting work in this setting. The idea of housing visual art in this setting stemmed from Psychogeography whereby the artists geographical environment becomes a place to study, explore and relay the effects on the emotions of being in the urban space. Derbyshire's When the City Speaks embraced this concept. It was whilst based at Hope University Cornerstone campus in Everton where Jo conceived the idea of When the City Speaks although the project was formulated some years before with Derbyshire's observations of Liverpool's stop the rot campaign, the changes in urban development going on in the city and changes in local economy. the local art scene and local culture that influenced the concept. The project evolved from an out of focus photograph containing the text 'World in One City'. Derbyshire argues that this phrase has a double meaning. The hybridism of modern culture, movement of people to cities particularly with free movement of people in Europe has become part of our culture representing a world in one city, yet the phrase is also somewhat arrogant and Derbyshire contextualises this demoting all cities as being 'cities in one world'. The project evolved to a production, conceived and directed by Debyshire, titled When the City Speaks: Seasons - an organic piece that has grew from previous performances in Liverpool and London. The first, explored at the View Two Gallery, Liverpool, England, and then re-examined in the socio-urban and cultural context of London. Derbyshire examined Liverpool as a World in one City through the seasons with a historical, personal and social perspective. Through collage and performance, with an interior monologue narrated by Gaynor Evelyn Sweeney, the audience were invited to participate and add to the four collaged canvases Derbyshire had prepared for the performance. Each canvas represented a season in the City. The canvases themselves originally looked like an enlarged page from a journal or a scrapbook where Derbyshire references and archives what has happened in her urban environment. Through each progressive stage the audience become part of the visual dialogue and are invited to change the canvases. With each performance the canvases are reused and again changed, regenerated as such. The work was performed during the Independents Liverpool Biennial 2006 and Live 06. Paintings produced for the Independents Liverpool Biennial 2006, had elements of Munch's Scream. Tom Tom presented a screaming head, primal in form, representative of Derbyshire Psychoanalytical studies of her immediate environment. Mind map presented a number of heads, which has been described as Christ-like and resembling a totem pole again colourful and primal in construction. Heads in the image all merged in to one, facing different directions, again the work shows the artist introspectively analysing her outside world, the many heads representing different thoughts and different feelings, hence the title mindmap. The Loft Space is a development of this work, this time with the artist. Writer and performer inviting others to display work in the residential setting highlighting the theme 'When the city speaks'. The space in the residential setting itself is being renovated so with each exhibition changes and redevelopment are evident all the time. The space because of its personal setting encourages artist and performers to show their work from a personal perspective in an urban setting. Derbyshire has invited local poet Andrew Taylor who will be the resident poet in the space who will write about each event. Those interested in exhibiting whether it be visual art, poetry or performance should contact Jo Derbyshire on 07946353251 or aprilskies1204@aol.com. In association with Transvoyeur (www.transvoyeur.co.uk).
The artists currently listed for the programme are: 21
January 2007 - 27 January 2007 28
January 2007 - 3 February 2007 04
February 2007 - 10 February 2007 11
February 2007 - 17 February 2007 18
February 2007 - 24 February 2007 25
February 2007 - 03 March 2007 4
March 2007 - 10 March 2007 11
March 2007- 17 March 2007
18 March 2007 - 24 March 200 25
March 2007 - 31 March 2007
01
April 2007 – 07 April 2007 15
April 2007 - 21 April 2007 22
April 2007 - 28 April 2007 Reviews on Parts of the Loft Space Progamme
Jo
Derbyshire in Loft Space Project ... Review of ‘When the
City Speaks – A Review’ by Artist Jo Derbyshire, Loft
Space Project, Liverpool, England.
The ‘Loft Space’ project was unveiled today by Jo Derbyshire, an initiative conceived and curated by the artist. In the urban space of a house in Liverpool, once a location for the infamous ‘Bread’ television series in the late eightees and in the same area where ‘Boys from the Black Stuff’ and the ‘Liver Birds’ were filmed. A location synonymous with media, whether socio-political critique and satire on the community of the place. This is the first in a series of exhibitions to be researched and developed by the artist with other artists to contribute and respond to the space and location of the house. The opening exhibition to this programme is a collection of Derbyshire’s recent and current art research and projects, titled ‘When the City Speaks – A Review’. Derbyshire presents a collection of art, including her two large abstract expression pieces. These are faces with undertones of of Picasso-esque influence and similar the other, but in pastels, a fusion of mass of faces peering inwards and outwards of the two dimensional surface. They are described as psychoanalytical studies of form and tone and within the layers of each abstracted composition of the human face or head something different to be discovered and realised by each viewer’s perspectives. Along the peripheral of the far wall is an installation of photographs and paintings. The photographs an anthology of visual records of generations gone before. There are mixed media paintings combined, which evolved from each live art intervention in different cities of ‘When the City Speaks’. This is project where audience participation determines the evolution of the art by contributing during the live art experience. These canvases themselves become artefacts at the moment of intervention by the audience, but organic as they continue to the next urban and cultural space. Adjacent to these are a series of photographic images (documented by Tony Knox for Derbyshire) from previous incarnations of ‘When the City Speaks’. They present an archival record of the journey of the canvases in the installation and a visual understanding to the next stage of development in the context of this current project in the ‘Loft Space’. The concept of the ‘Loft Space’ and Derbyshire’s interest in urban culture takes the concept of spatiality and re-addressed the urban to the institutional constructs where the art and visual dialogue become archive and artefact. This is an immensely innovative project conceived by Derbyshire and in this first exhibition provides a thought provoking platform to the concepts of display, aesthetic form and function and art objects. I would strongly recommend a viewing to this exhibition, which runs for a week, 21January 2007 - 27 January 2007. This is by appointment only. For further information or viewing contact the artist at aprilskies1204@aol.com or 07946353251. You can view more art of Derbyshire at www.joderbyshire.co.uk. The programme for the ‘Loft Space’ continues with the following artists to explore diverse creative insights and interpretation of the space. 28
January 2007 - 3 February 2007 04
February 2007 - 10 February 2007 11
February 2007 - 17 February 2007 18
February 2007 - 24 February 2007 25
February 2007 - 03 March 2007 4
March 2007 - 10 March 2007 11
March 2007- 17 March 2007
18 March 2007 - 24 March 2007 25
March 2007 - 31 March 2007 22
April 2007 - 28 April 2007
Review
of 'On the Waterfront' by Artist Irene McLoughlin, Part Loft Space
Project, Liverpool, England.
Irene McLoughlin's photographic exhibition gives an interesting view of various ports, especially the on the banks of the Mersey taken over many years, it is clear that the changing face of the waterfront holds a fascination for her. The major point about McLoughlin's work is that it shows a very personal aspect of the Mersey, and other ports. The Mersey dock areas hold a very personal association for her, her father worked on those docks. She herself worked on the boat to and from Ireland for a time when she was a young woman. We see one picture of her standing proudly on a ferry, a famous part of Merseyside history. So as the face of Merseyside changes, McLoughlin's is drawn to record that change, especially as the work is in progress. We see the cranes changing the skyline forever. McLoughlin would describe herself as an observer, rather than an artist, she has flair, the photographs show what she considers worthy of pictorial record. Not necessarily what a more traditional photographer would submit. This fits tidily with Derbyshire's concept of When the City Speaks, as McLoughlin becomes a social historian of sorts. Included in the exhibition were photographs from various artists including Karen Henley, Rob Davies, June Rose H, Carolyn Sinclair and Jazamin Sinclair. Their work shows various cities and waterfronts that contrast against McLoughlin's images. Davies has submitted images of the Waterfront in Falmouth in contrast to Henley's photograph of Liverpool's City Centre. Movement, colour, changes and contrasts are evident in the work. There are painting elements to the exhibition. Jo Derbyshire's abstract painting and photographs also feature, depicting the waterfront and skyline in a unique light; the waterfront is ever present in Derbyshire's work. George Lund has included several paintings and drawings. His style is as colourful as it is varied, although his 'Waterfront , Mersey Docks and Harbour Board' exhibition entry (4ft x 3ft approx) from 2003 is an a fine intricately detailed work in black and white unusually. Crowded with images, the energy comes through. The rest of his work is colourful. His 'Merseylife 2007' shows the spirit and energy of this vibrant city. He captures the atmosphere, and the history of the waterfront, experimenting with alternative materials in this piece (felt pen on synthetic canvas), and has a natural affinity with the subject. Here showing the history of the Mersey in some of the many types of ships that have sailed there. This highlights the cultural diversity of Liverpool, and its spirit and energy. The 'Loft Space' curated by Jo Derbyshire continues with: 04
February 2007 - 10 February 2007 11
February 2007 - 17 February 2007 18
February 2007 - 24 February 2007 25
February 2007 - 03 March 2007 4
March 2007 - 10 March 2007 11
March 2007- 17 March 2007
18 March 2007 - 24 March 2007 25
March 2007 - 31 March 2007 22
April 2007 - 28 April 2007 For
further information contact:
Review
of 'Poetry Installation' by Poet/Artist Andrew Taylor, Part Loft
Space Project, Liverpool, England, Curated by Jo Derbyshire.
The setting is a residential property in the south of Liverpool, with views of Liverpool's waterfront - the street which has provided the backdrop to films and TV programmes. On entering the property you are taken through the Living room with paintings by Lund and Derbyshire depicting Liverpool's waterfront. The room upstairs houses a profile of the artist and a photographic image of Derbyshire taken of one of the main roads off Liverpool's waterfront. The gallery itself is covered with Taylor's work stuck randomly to the wall. On an easel in the corner is one of Taylor's books 'Cathedral Poems'. Taylor's poetry as exhibited in this urban setting explores the layers of life and the setting of this renovated house echo's these layers of time. His poetry remembers a forgotten past that stretches from Merseyside to London. Dimensions of nostalgia, reflective memories swept into surreal visions of places, faces and past times. It encapsulates the long gone feelings of children, innocence almost like the echoes of a past within the house and the gallery itself. There is a human spirituality within the environment the poetry laments to corridors of the past. The
exhibition by Taylor runs from 04 February 2007 - 10 February
2007.For further information contact: The 'Loft Space' curated by Jo Derbyshire continues with: 11
February 2007 - 17 February 2007 18
February 2007 - 24 February 2007 25
February 2007 - 03 March 2007 4
March 2007 - 10 March 2007 11
March 2007- 17 March 2007
18 March 2007 - 24 March 2007 25
March 2007 - 31 March 2007 22
April 2007 - 28 April 2007
Review
of Peter Worthington 'Pastel Series' at the Loft Space, Curated
by Jo Derbyshire.
Peter Worthington has produced a series of pastel studies, an expression of sense and place of different locales in Liverpool, England. This collection of images imbues a sense place and affection for the subject and the vibrancy of the palette cognitive of Worthington’s optimistic empathy with the culture of the city. His creative insight and vision comparative to his energies and passions as an activist in the city of Liverpool, acting as both artists and curator to enable others. This is significantly researched and managed through his gallery, the South Bohemian, on Smithdown Road, Liverpool. The art by Worthington placed in the context of the Loft Space, a Curatorial initiative by Jo Derbyshire, combines the fundamental ethos to the concepts of art and space in an urban context. This is both in the setting of the art work and the theme in the images. From the urban constructs of this residential environment, Worthington extends the idealistic visualisations of time and place. The images are a sensitive and positive portrayal of scenes relative to the Liverpool’s waterfront, which founded the socio-economic and political history of the place and how ideologies of these have transformed in contemporary ideals to the people of the city. Gaynor Evelyn Sweeney interviewed Worthington to understand further the creative objectives in these reflective representations and his role in the art community of Liverpool: Sweeney: What is your professional background in the arts? Worthington: I am an artist, but also a curator. I see myself as someone who promotes arts in and from the city of Liverpool. To make opportunities to other artists based here. Sweeney: What inspired your collection of images at the Loft Space? Worthington: I like the use of pastels, as a rapid impression can be produced or worked. This is dependent on my response to the subject. The subject of the scenes is one I am inclined towards, as it is representative of the city of Liverpool. I have a pleasure in creating them. It may be an idealised and view point of Liverpool I am trying to capture in these expressions, but Liverpool has a diverse history, which is colourful, multicultural. Sometimes extreme, but one which has been distinct and memorable. The pastels are an easy media to express functions and feelings more innately to the subject. Sweeney: What response have you had from this exhibition in the Loft Space? Worthington: The feedback on this series of work has been a positive one. People have enquired on the scenes depicted and the vibrancy of the colours. The correlation of the art in the space has raised enquiry too from members of the public and art community who have come to view the work in the Loft Space. Sweeney: What do you think you art in the context of the Loft Space conveys? Worthington: It breaks down the conventional barriers of how art should be viewed. Changes how my own art is viewed with a more diverse audience in an urban context. I feel the work, which is intended to be a shared experience becomes a social commentary. Sweeney: What are your next professional plans as an artist and a curator? Worthington: As an artist to learn from this experience in the Loft Space and develop my art further on the ideas of alternative space art is viewed and experienced. I enjoy what I do as an artist. As a curator, my principles have always been to enable a professional platform through my gallery, but plans are in process to further extend this with courses to be available in Curatorship to the general public. This is to make art and the experience of it more accessible to general community in the city. During the transitions of the different projects and exhibitions held in the Loft Space by Derbyshire, the house itself has been undergoing renovation. Sweeney enquired further on the relationship of the transformations in reference to the concept of art in the Loft Space: Sweeney: How do you perceive the transitions of the renovation in the house in conjunction as the Loft Space project is happening too? Do you find a similarity either in terms of function, process and rationale of cultural expression in urban spaces? Derbyshire: I initially researched the house and found it was built by Welsh builders around 1905-1906 in the Edwardian period. I studied the arts and craft movement from the period and thought it would be good to install certain features from the period along side contemporary ones. As the Loft Space is going to be my art studio, I planned to allow people to show due to the lack of space available in Liverpool and the two projects became married together. Both projects will hopefully achieve a sense on completion as time goes on. The Loft Space is a form of social historical research in a visual art context. The renovation is this likewise but in an interior design capacity Sweeney: Do you perceive the residential space a cultural annotation in itself? Derbyshire: It is in a way using what you have got. The changes in the property market and access to buildings for exhibition as a cultural platform are now limited with the economic regeneration of the lead up to the European Capital of Culture 2008. The Loft Space of adapting a house while in process of renovation is a similar analogy to the regeneration experienced through out the city and moreover critique of concepts of cultural space for artistic expression. It fits with my research into interior design, art history and has a contemporary practicing art element. Sweeney: What are the final objectives with this project (a) in terms of the Loft Space? (b) the renovation of the house? (c) comparative analysis of the two? Derbyshire: The Loft Space will eventually become my studio and utilised in that way. It will have elements of time gone by from the Arts and Craft period. Art Deco period. I like Mackintosh’s work, so it a good thing for me to be able to do this. Furthermore, in recent years there has been a trend in DIY, so Arts and Crafts in one sense has become in vogue again with popularised goods, wallpapers, design elements, etc., available to the masses, that can be crafted by the people. I am not sure if things available today are as well made though. The overall impetus to this project is a fusion of analysing an interior design/art history/research project, i.e., renovation, and the other examining layers of When the City Speaks, which is the core theme to the Loft Space and a creative analysis of contemporary art in the city of Liverpool in an urban context. The Loft Space Curatorial project by Derbyshire continues with: 18
February 2007 - 24 February 2007 25
February 2007 - 03 March 2007 4
March 2007 - 10 March 2007 11
March 2007- 17 March 2007
18 March 2007 - 24 March 2007 25
March 2007 - 31 March 2007 22
April 2007 - 28 April 2007 Further information on the upcoming projects at the Loft Space, contact Jo Derbyshire (Curator of Loft Space Project) on aprilskies1204@aol.com or 07946353251. Viewing is by appointment (www.joderbyshire.co.uk).
Review
of 'Where We Live' by Artist June Hobson, Part of Loft Space Project,
Curator Jo Derbyshire, Liverpool, England, 2007.
The exhibition of ‘Where We Live’ by the artist June Rose Hobson, part of the Loft Space platform curated by Jo Derbyshire, presented a collection of photographs, collage and paintings. These are described by the artist as: ‘Reflections of the outer world captured … Highlighting the variety of events, and happening, available at any one time in the city. A positive portrayal of the optimism of the people’. The photographers were taken with a disposable camera. However, they have the characteristic of a pin-hole camera. The docks have a sense of isolation, as though Hobson is referencing the city under development and traces of fractured memories. A sense of desire is expressed, nostalgic, but a celebration of the new metropolitan and re-packaging of the city. Within the various art in the centre of one wall is a home-made card. This has words hand written annotated to celebrate the 800th Anniversary of Liverpool. The dominant placing of this text within the art makes a statement by the artist that she feels a sense of place and identity in this historical time of cultural transitions. The collage appears like an ideas board derived from media clippings, which relate to the changes and events happening under the banner of culture in Liverpool. There is painted a river that intervenes through the images. Hobson relates back the historical significance of the river, which was the socio-economic strong hold for the city and still holds great importance, but now more in concept. The paintings in the exhibition are of a naive style and painterly. The compositions derived from the imagination of the Hobson and embody a sense of idealism. Although in these paintings, some figurative and others abstract, there is detected notion of joy, a place of memory untouched by regeneration. During each exhibition that rotates weekly, there is a resident poet, Andrew Taylor, who I was fortunate to meet on the opening evening of Hobson’s exhibition. Taylor explained about his current research to the Loft Space and how he is analyzing this platform to express in his creative writing.
Further information on the upcoming projects at the Loft Space, contact Jo Derbyshire (Curator of Loft Space Project) on aprilskies1204@aol.com or 07946353251. Viewing is by appointment (www.joderbyshire.co.uk). The next series of exhibitions are: 25
February 2007 - 03 March 2007 4
March 2007 - 10 March 2007 11
March 2007- 17 March 2007
18 March 2007 - 24 March 2007 25
March 2007 - 31 March 2007 22
April 2007 - 28 April 2007 Review
of 'What You See, But Don't See' by Artists Karen Henley, Carolyn
Sinclair and Jazamin Sinclair, Part of Loft Space Project, Curator
Jo Derbyshire, Liverpool, England, 2007.
This
photographic exhibition ('What You See, But Don't see',
25
February 2007 - 03 March 2007) by Karen Henley, Carolyn Sinclair
and Jazamin Sinclair, who are well known on the Merseyside arts
scene, brings a refreshingly lively approach, both interesting,
and humorous, as well as technically clever. The venue for the
exhibition is ‘The Loft Space’ which is literally
the curators loft. This itself is an evolving ‘work in progress’
as part of Jo Derbyshire recently purchased home which is undergoing
renovation. The space changes weekly, and can be viewed as part
of a bigger project which Jo Derbyshire as an artist herself,
interested in the Arts andCraft Movement, is developing, and who
is especially influenced by Mackintosh et al.
The artists have captured the unique, and displayed it in a constantly changing venue, which lends itself to the project wonderfully. Overall a great exhibition, in an unusual venue, which Andrew Taylor, the participating poet for this project, has declared to be so inspiring that he has written lots of poetry in this space. Further information on the upcoming projects at the Loft Space, contact Jo Derbyshire (Curator of Loft Space Project) on aprilskies1204@aol.com or 07946353251. Viewing is by appointment (www.joderbyshire.co.uk). The next series of exhibitions are: 4
March 2007 - 10 March 2007 11
March 2007- 17 March 2007
18 March 2007 - 24 March 2007 25
March 2007 - 31 March 2007 22
April 2007 - 28 April 2007
Review
of ‘City, Regeneration, Redevelopment and Waste, ACEO's’
by Jo Derbyshire and Peter Worthington, Part of Loft Space Project,
Curator Jo Derbyshire, Liverpool, England, 2007. The ‘City in Regeneration, Redevelopment and Waste, ACEO’s’ was conceived in collaboration with Jo Derbyshire and Peter Worthington at the ‘Loft Space’ between 4 March 2007 - 10 March 2007. It consisted of a large collection of small ‘ACEO’s’, which are small reproductions of different local, national and international artists work.
In the environment of the ‘Loft Space’, these had been presented around the four low perimeters on white card in groups of about four with the artists names printed next to them. On one main wall, there was an installation of one image, which was shown reproduced several times from large to small on presented on an angular line of gradation. This was a visual representation of the process of taking art from its original source and the reductivism of how art is reproduced and becomes the dimensions of the ACEO’s.
To understand more the objectives to this exhibition, Gaynor Evelyn Sweeney interviewed Jo Derbyshire, who in association with Peter Worthington conceived the idea to present this mass reproduction of the art work. Sweeney: What are ACEOs? Derbyshire:
Art Cards Editions and Originals. They are 2.5 x 3.5 in miniature
cards. I think the original purpose of this art form was to share
pieces of artwork with others, while promoting the artist Derbyshire:
They are popular in the USA, but some claims are laid
to them being used from around 1996 by a Swiss artist Derbyshire:
Eddie Lyons, Alison carling, peter Worthington, John Bridson,
Jo Derbyshire and others from the South Bohemia Art Gallery. Alison
who produced the ACEO's through her printing Business Boho Dolls,
selected the work for the exhibition. My job was to make sure
they kept with them I set 'When the City speaks'. Derbyshire:
The theme surrounds the theme I set in place for everyone
when the city speaks. Images are produced in ACEO format of regeneration,
Liverpool icons like the Beatles and scenes from Sefton Park.
There are miniature photographs alongside miniature painting prints Derbyshire:
Peter did not curate but I asked Alison Carling who works at the
south bohemia gallery to get some ACEO images together they also
asked me for some images of various Liverpool scenes and I know
artist like John and Edie had various images of Liverpool Icons Derbyshire:
The common them was Liverpool and how we see it and what we would
put in a trading card/small piece of art, which essentially what
ACEO's are. I went for photographs of regeneration and change,
Alison went for urban landscapes, Peter included some of his pastels
of the city, Eddie and John used cultural icons as their imagery.
They work together as these various layers of Liverpool and Liverpool’s
culture are presented. Derbyshire:
They are small affordable pieces of art and each one essentially
is a limited edition print 1-50 so they are collectable Derbyshire:
It does not really but no one else seems to be using
them as a collectables in the city at the moment although in the
states and on the internet there are websites set up about them.
I know the MA By Creative Practice Class who will have their exhibition
in South Bohemia on 25th May this year will be utilising ACEOs
as a marketing tool and a limited edition run of 12 will be printed
and on sale on the opening night so I think they will catch on. Derbyshire:
Positives we have a resident poet who is publishing a book of
his poems that come from this, people like the alternative type
of space. Negative is that I feel people in art circles in the
city are either becoming apathetic or elitist and not many people
form the Liverpool art scene have visited the space yet on a positive
note again some Liverpool a students have and I have had visitors
from London, Japan, Edinburgh, Leeds, Italy and the USA. People
have also come along as they are aware of my website and the Transvoyeur
website and we are getting visitors from the local music scene,
writing scene, more so than local artists. People like the space,
because it is different and true to the residential setting, it
is not just a house housing art as a renovation project incorporating
elements of around 1905 when the house was built is going on,
and that was a lot of research on my part. Derbyshire: I would definitely plan it differently but with any project things never go according to plan. We will see though, watch this space. I am proud of the fact it has been a truly independent piece not funded by anyone, not rich benefactor in the background, no people in the know who have championed the whole exhibition and it has run successfully without this to me that epitomises the idea of when the city speaks it is like lifting the layer off a part of everyday life that can be ignored or forgotten but is very much there The idea behind the ACEOs was interesting and how art can be available and distributed in terms of socio-economic structures of a place, making it accessible and affordable to the broader social groups in society. This is a re-invention to the function of the image in terms of mass marketing too. The reduced art comparable to how iconic images, such as Mona Lisa by Da Vinci, Monet’s flowers, etc., are reproduced on an array of consumer items. In terms of curatorial relationship to the nature of the Loft Space, it would have been interesting to see the mass reproduction of the art images correlated more with the theme and parameters of the space, as the presentation imbued more a commercial platform with the regimental lines of small collections around the perimeter. Further information on the upcoming projects at the Loft Space, contact Jo Derbyshire (Curator of Loft Space Project) on aprilskies1204@aol.com or 07946353251. Viewing is by appointment (www.joderbyshire.co.uk). The next series of exhibitions are: 11
March 2007- 17 March 2007
18 March 2007 - 24 March 2007 25
March 2007 - 31 March 2007 22
April 2007 - 28 April 2007
Review
of Nietzsche's Urbanised Icon at the Loft Space, Liverpool, England,
Collaboration by Tony Knox and Gaynor Evelyn Sweeney, Curated
by Jo Derbyshire, 18 March 2007. Andrew Taylor, the artist in residence at the Loft Space Programme (Liverpool, England), curated by Jo Derbyshire, reviews the Nietzsche's Urbanised Icon exhibitions of Tony Knox and Gaynor Evelyn Sweeney: Sweeney and Knox's collaboration is both interesting and thought provoking. Using the gallery in an interesting way – its white walls are used sparingly, to provide the visitor with the sensation of space. Knox,
using photographs taken on successive Remembrance Sundays, of
war 'heroes' honouring their fallen comrades brings a sense of
loss to the fore. The most striking image is of a wheelchair bound
veteran, sat next to a youngster (who I presume to be his Great-Grandson),
who share regimental colours. Knox further utilises the space
with the continuation of the theme of the photographs, using lettering
installed at a right angle, on the fresh white walls that reads: Sweeney known largely for her 'live art', has developed a strong counter position to Knox's photographs in the shape of 'Portrait of a Tin Soldier', a sculpture mounted onto a blank canvas. The sculpture, made from recycled metal thread with cotton, highlights the former position of the tin soldier in society and its disposability. In this context, allied to Knox's images of the War veteran, the tin soldier becomes a symbol of war alongside the attendant position of victorious hero. Sweeney shows the fragility of the memory of war (we are after all, 60 plus years on from the end of World War II) by displaying photocopied images of the piece, scattered around the base of the sculpture. Though the sculpture is reclaimed metal – the metal given a second chance, the paper copies will eventually return to organic matter. By
choosing understatement in this exhibition, the two artists have
allowed visitors the space and time to interact in a respectful
manner. I found the exhibition to be moving and thought provoking.
Further information on the upcoming projects at the Loft Space, contact Jo Derbyshire (Curator of Loft Space Project) on aprilskies1204@aol.com or 07946353251. Viewing is by appointment (www.joderbyshire.co.uk). The next series of exhibitions are: 18
March 2007 - 24 March 2007 25
March 2007 - 31 March 2007 22
April 2007 - 28 April 2007
Exhibition and Artist Information ...
Review
of Loft Space Programme (18 March 2007 - 24 March 2007) of:
The recent exhibition in the Loft Space Programme, curated by Jo Derbyshire, were two projects that explored the concept of urban space through the artists different practices. The artists were Rob Davies (Visual Artist) and Laura Baxter (Performing Arts/Actress). Davies presented a piece which combined live art and his practice of drawing/mark making, which he titled ‘Social Commentary on Urban Space, Place Within’. His work was developed in a live art context and site-specific. He intrinsically produced a series of studies in response to the loft space he occupied. Through the creative process of mark-making and illustration his objective was to capture the essence of the urban space, the community, demographics and socio-cultural constructs.
Baxter chose the title from the origins of ‘When the City Speaks’ by Derbyshire (2006), as a core theme to her research in the work she produced for the project. She combined her own creative insight prior to this exhibition and visited and explored the nature of environment, both inside and outside the house in the socio-urban spaces. From the onset of the title, ‘When the City Speaks’, she re-contextualised the meaning of this and to the socio-cultural objectives of the Loft Space Programme. The fundamental relationship being a place of people, lives and experience. One of memory and residue in the nature of the space. Baxter did a series of live art performances, which were ephemeral, and the end product a collection of photographs that were exhibited in the loft space. These images were combined with autobiographical references and a soundworks of a narration, both which explicate her own experiences of moving to the city and to be in the ‘Bread’ house (television sitcom from 1980-90s), where the Loft Space Programme is founded. Both Davies and Baxter did cultural critiques of the urban space and from their investigations realised site-specific work researched and inspired from the socio-urban, cultural and historical parameters imbued at the venue. Each involved direct intervention in the production of the new work presented through their independent practices and creativity and with an element of comparative experiences of society as a whole in everyday experiences of places we inhabit. The final work by both artists in an exhibition context of the urban space were shown in two locations of the house. Baxter’s collection of memories and narration was contained in the loft space. Davies work was placed into the front room on the first floor around the perimeter walls, where a chair and pencils remained. Baxter’s work is an autobiographical experience of the urban space were members of the audience who viewed the art could relate and share in her encounters captured through the various media. In contrast, the images produced by Davies were more informal. Additional art from previous exhibitions are within different parts of the house, such as the art from Nietzsche's Urbanised Icon by Tony Knox and Gaynor Evelyn Sweeney and others. The transitions of art in the urban space of the house as each project and exhibition evolved within the programme is analogous to the transience of a living space and cognitive of a home, where lives are lived and memories made, with objects of residue and artefact shifted by time and motion. Further information on the upcoming projects at the Loft Space, contact Jo Derbyshire (Curator of Loft Space Project) on aprilskies1204@aol.com or 07946353251. Viewing is by appointment (www.joderbyshire.co.uk). 25
March 2007 - 31 March 2007 22
April 2007 - 28 April 2007
25
March 2007 - 31 March 2007 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
