PARALLAX AF - SHOWCASE ART FAIR

A showcase art fair - Parallax AF - is taking place at La Galleria in London from 1 July and I'm pleased to say that one of our volunteers, Rosina Godwin, and a regular at our crit group, Chris Ivory have both been selected - with an image of Rosina's work being used for the invitation.

The fair involves two exhibitions of work by established and emerging contemporary artists taking place from 1-3 and 8-10 July, guest curated by Gayane Umerova, Senior Curator at the Art Gallery of Uzbekistan, Tashkent.
  
Parallax AF offer a serious platform for international and national artists to present their work to dealers and collectors without the usual commission charges and in the form of a curated exhibition.   This allows the artists to experiment and show work which may not usually be considered 'commercial'.  The aim of  Parallax AF is both to help artists promote and sell their work and to develop their career and practice.  


You can find more information about Parallax AF at:

http://www.barlowfinedrawings.com/parallaxaf.html

NATIONAL OPEN ART COMPETITION

Registration for the National Open Art Competition is now open - so I thought I'd let you know now while there are still 83 days to go until the deadline! That gives you plenty of time to think about your entry and the £40,000 worth of prizes.  

£5,000 will be awarded to the best artist in show plus there are prizes for young artists, regional artists and art photography.  The 120 best works will be showcased at Pallant House Gallery in Chichester from 3 to 15 January 2012 and will also feature in the online gallery.

This year's judges are Gavin Turk, artist; Catherine Lampert, independent curator and art historian; Lisa Wright, artist: and Francis Hodgson, the photography critic for the Financial Times and former Head of Photographs at Sotheby's, London.

Artists from around the UK can submit up to 6 works which can be drawings, paintings, original prints, art photography and wall hung installations.  So what's stopping you?

Entries can be made online and you have until midnight on Sunday 18 September to send in your images and application form.

For full details see
www.thenationalopenartcompetition.com

TOWNER ARTIST'S TALK

Installation View: Shell, 2006, Pallant House, Chichester

I'm hoping to get along to the talk coming up on Saturday 2 July at Towner by artist Susie MacMurray. I've been an admirer of her work for some time so it will be good to hear her talk about her practice.  If you're unfamilar with her work, there are some great images on her website as well as some interesting essays and reviews of her exhibitions.   

MacMurray is a Manchester based artist and it's her intuitive response to historic buildings that I particularly admire, such as her work Stratum currently on show at Islington Mill where she has filled the space with 80kg of feather down.  It was at Pallant House in 2006 that I first experienced her work when she covered the walls of the stairwell with red velvet and over 20,000 mussell shells (pictured).  Also that year, her work Echo saw the medieval church, York St Mary’s, filled with 10,000 hairnets containing strands of violin bow-hair.  The importance of materials and process to MacMurray is evident in all these labour intensive works.  There is a huge investment of time and making and so its not surprising that MacMurray is one of the six sculptors in the Compulsive, Obsessive, Repetitive exhibition which also opens on 2 July at Towner.  Another good reason as far as I'm concerned to spend the day in Eastbourne.

www.susiemacmurray.co.uk 

Towner Artist Talk: SUSIE MACMURRAY
Saturday 2 July at 1pm: £4/£3 concessions – booking is advisable as numbers are limited.
Towner
College Road
Eastbourne
BN21 4JJ
T: +44 (0)1323 434 683
F: +44 (0)1323 434 699

NEW WORK BY MIKE MARSHALL AT ARTSWAY

Mike Marshall, Controlled Burn (Video Still), 2011

Having been part of ArtSway’s New Forest Pavilion at the Venice Biennale artist Mike Marshall now has a new solo exhibition coming up at the gallery. The exhibition will feature two new video works – It Rained and Controlled Burn – and a series of new photographic works from the project A Prism Splits Light. These works continue to develop Marshall’s investigation of conditions relating to thinking, sensing and activity.

The preview on Saturday, 25 June, will also include a free gallery talk with the artist in conversation with Dan Howard-Birt (Assistant Curator, Stour Valley Arts) and Peter Bonnell (ArtSway Curator). Marshall will discuss the genesis of his project with ArtSway and Stour Valley Arts, and his exploration of the two sites of the New Forest (home to ArtSway), and King's Wood (home to Stour Valley Arts).

Mike Marshall’s new work is a co-commission between ArtSway and Stour Valley Arts, with support from the Barker-Mill Foundation.

ArtSway, Station Road, Sway, New Forest, Hampshire SO41 6BA

Preview and Artist's Talk: Saturday 25 June 2011, 2pm - 5pm (Artist Talk: 3pm) 

FREE: All Welcome

Further information can be found at www.artsway.org.uk

MA FINE ART WORK ON SHOW AT GASP

It is of course the time of year for the degree shows to take place and this week there is an exhibition of selected works from the University of Portsmouth's MA in Fine Art at GASP - Gallery Art Space Portsmouth.  The exhibition opens today and runs until Saturday 2 July, with a reception on Friday, 24 June.

Exhibition: 21 June - 2 July 2011
Preview: Friday 24 June, 6.00 - 8.00pm
GASP, Art Space Portsmouth, 27 Brougham Road, Southsea, Portsmouth, Hants. PO5 4PA
ALL OTHER TIMES BY APPOINTMENT ONLY
Contact Emma Seymour on 07745 950581 or e-mail: tattybird@hotmail.co.uk

A SAD GOODBYE TO SPACE GALLERY

Codling's residency at SPACE, 2010

In the last exhibition in its current location, the SPACE gallery is playing host to the international artist Pete Codling who is creating a giant charcoal drawing directly onto the gallery wall. A fitting end, as this building, which will be demolished in the summer along with his artwork, was actually Codling’s old studio space when he was a student at Portsmouth College of Art in the late 1980’s.
This ‘charcoal epitaph ’ is therefore a personal way for the artist to say goodbye to the building and also a way of celebrating the creativity of many artists, designers and musicians who have used this space over the last fifty years.
Codling's drawing on the main wall will be nearly ten metres by five meters with other smaller walls being included in the composition. It is inspired by classical mythology from his recent travels in the Mediterranean and will refer to Portsmouth and the history of the building. 
Codling will be working in the SPACE gallery on Winston Churchill Avenue all this week - until Friday 24 June - so why not drop in and meet him.
After this residency is complete, SPACE will continue in a variety of forms in onsite and offsite projects, until its brand new building is ready in Summer 2013. For news of what's coming up and opportunities to get involved see the website and facebook page.
http://www.facebook.com/universityofportsmouthcci
http://www.port.ac.uk/cci

EMERGENCY5 CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS

 

aspex is seeking artists for EMERGENCY⁵ -  the biennial open submission programme now in its fifth year which specifically aims to promote the work of emerging artists to a wider audience.  So if you're at an early stage in your career as an artist or perhaps in the final year of your studies then why not consider entering?  There's no theme, you can be working in any medium and you have until Monday 1 August to apply.  The lucky winner will be offered a solo exhibition at aspex with a £1000 fee plus a £1000 production budget.  

This year's selection panel is made up of: Ivan Morison, artist; Julia Alvarez, Director, Bearspace; Margot Heller, Director, South London Gallery and Joanne Bushnell, Director, aspex.  They will select up to 12 artists for a group show in September and then from this shortlist they will choose the overall winner.  Previous winners have been Karin Kihlberg & Reuben Henry, 2010; Cathy Ward & Eric Wright, 2008; Tim Machin, 2006; and Susan Collis, 2004.

So what are you waiting for?  Download all the information you need at www.aspex.org.uk and good luck!

Deadline for submissions: Monday 1 August 2011

Exhibition: 22 October 2011 – 8 January 2012

 

DIALOGUE ON LANDSCAPE AND CONSTABLE

Jonathan Parsons: Three Landscapes (detail) 2011

ARC Lead Artist, Jonathan Parsons is exhibiting this month with Abigail Reynolds in A Dialogue on Landscape and Constable at Salisbury Arts Centre. The exhibition which opens on Wednesday 22 June is a contemporary response to landscape and coincides with Constable and Salisbury, the major Constable exhibition currently on show at the Salisbury and South Wiltshire Museum.  The exhibition is curated by Judy Adam and features newly commissioned works by the artists exploring the constructed nature of landscape images, the poetics of composition and the relationships between sculptural and painterly form. The exhibition includes an ‘ambulatory’ wall piece that changes as you move past it and ‘For John Constable’, an outdoor dot-matrix text installation in Harnham Water Meadows.

To mark the launch of the exhibition, the artists will be in conversation with Timothy Wilcox, the curator of Constable and Salisbury, and will discuss their contemporary approach to landscape in the context of the Constable exhibition.

All attending the discussion are invited to stay on for the exhibition preview immediately afterwards.

Timothy Wilcox in conversation with Abigail Reynolds and Jonathan Parsons:  
Wednesday 22 June, 6.15pm.
Tickets: £5 BOOK NOW

A Dialogue on Landscape and Constable
Preview:  Wednesday 22 June, 7.30 to 8.30pm
Exhibition: Thursday 23 June - Saturday 30 July
Salisbury Arts Centre

Open Tuesday - Saturday 10am - 4pm depending on performance times


Exhibition tours are available for groups: call 01722 343020 or e-mail info@salisburyarts.co.uk
For further information, see www.salisburyartscentre.co.uk

SIGN UP NOW FOR THE FUTURE SKILLS FESTIVAL, PORTSMOUTH

Sinead MacManus, one of the speakers.

Have you got your tickets yet for the Future Skills Festival?  It's all about the skills creative people will need to succeed in the future and it's taking place during June and July in Portsmouth. The programme looks great and my only problem is deciding which events to attend!  I'm definitely signing up for The Art of Blogging and Social Media and I like the look of Build Your Digital Toolkit and The Art of Freeranging too!  The programme has been developed specifically for artists and creative people working in the arts, culture and creative industries and each event is being delivered by an industry expert.  They also offer great networking opportunities. 
The Festival - the first of its kind - is presented by Cibas, the creative industries business and skills development agency based at the University of Portsmouth and the fee for each event is not only highly subsidised but includes all course materials and refreshments, so it's great value for money.
Tickets for all of the events can be purchased via the University of Portsmouth Online Store at http://onlinestore.port.ac.uk/browse/product.asp?catid=30&modid=2&compid=1.

For further information and announcements, see the Future Skills Festival Tumblr at http://futureskillsfestival.tumblr.com/ and follow Cibas on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/cibastweets.

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YARD SALE AT AIRSPACE GALLERY

If you are not in the Portsmouth area - when you will of course be coming along to the Austerity Carnival at aspex - then how about going along to the 'Kiss Me Quick' Yard Sale at AirsSpace Gallery in Stoke on Trent.

YARD SALE: Saturday, 11 June 12-6pm
AirSpace Gallery, 4 Broad Street, Hanley

This is a chance to get your hands on some astoundingly priced fantastic limited edition art works by Stoke-on-Trent based artists. Join the artists for yard games and cakes, and lots to see and do. This is a not to be missed event which is being organised in order to raise funds for the exhibition 'Kiss Me Quick' which will take place in Margate Harbour Arm Gallery at the beginning of July.

There will be limited edition artists prints and one off artworks, the 'kiss me quick' zine will launch and there will be a fantastic selection of postcards available. You can also take this opportunity to get your hands on the 'Common Ground' publication, which was last year's Studio Show.

Art works on sale by David Bethell, Andrew Branscombe, Michael Branthwaite, Bernard Charnley, Anna Francis, Janine Goldsworthy, Brian Holdcroft, Kate Lynch, Behjat Omer Abdulla, Phil Rawle, Katie Shipley and Glen Stoker
www.airspacegallery.org

30TH BIRTHDAY CARNIVAL AT ASPEX

Despite these bleak economic times (including over 50% cut in our funding) aspex is determined to mark our 30th birthday on Saturday 11 June with an Austerity Carnival.
The fun will begin with the official opening by the Lord Mayor at 11am.  There will then be a range of competitions and activities which we hope will also raise some cash to go towards our programme of children's and artists' workshops and events.  There will be an opportunity for children (and adults) to create party outfits and decorate the gallery with bunting and at 2pm there will be a parade of everyone in their costumes.  arc - the artists' resource centre - will be filled with hot air for the day (not such an unusual occurrence, but this time it will be in balloons!), The Pompey Pluckers ukelele band will be performing at 1.30pm, there will be birthday cake and at the end of the day there will be aspex party bags to take home! 
We really hope you will all come along to have some fun and donate your spare change!  And if anyone would like to help out, then just let me know - email phyl@aspex.org.uk.
www.aspex.org.uk