Bridgewater Community Garden
Paradise Works artist James Ackerley has collaborated with our neighbours to create an artwork for the Bridgewater Community Garden, a reclaimed green space opposite Paradise Works in Irwell Riverside. Working with neighbours and students from Salford College as part of their Princes Trust award, James designed and made the sign, planter and noticeboard to celebrate the hard work of local residents turning the overgrown site into a place where people can connect with nature and, once we are past social distancing, gather for community events.
The artwork follows on from creative activities with local residents led by PW artists Lucy Harvey, James Ackerley, Maisie Pritchard and Naomi Tattum in Autumn 2019. You can find out more about the Bridgewater Community Garden and get involved here. We caught up with James to hear about his work and how the project developed…
James, can you tell us a bit more about this?
The artwork evolved through conversations and workshops with neighbours, young people from Salford College as part of their Princes Trust volunteering and garden volunteers. Initially the Project was set up voluntarily by local residents around Bridgewater Street near the River Irwell and their activities were focused on reclaiming a patch of land, so it could be used by the community to grow, host workshops and events. I think what they’re doing is really important because there’s limited access to communal green spaces in that area – so having this kind of space is vital for the preservation and development of their community.
I wanted the workshops to be creative and engaging but also an activity that could be applied in the real world. By introducing the participants to new skills, materials and processes I hope they can develop and use them in future. Running the workshop with young people from Salford College / Princes Trust was a learning curve, especially since I had limited experience in workshop delivery. Lucy and Naomi supported me with planning and project management and PW artist Maisie Pritchard was also on hand to help host the workshops. I’m really happy with the result and we’ve received a lot of praise from the Community Garden members which is very humbling.
How would you describe your practice?
I try to be as receptive as possible, a lot of the work I make is responsive to a need, or problem that I might be dealing with. For example, when I had a small temporary studio I made small scale, modular sculptures, using cheap, leftover materials which acted as prototypes for larger future works. These works formed the bedrock of my practice, and concepts like resourcefulness, adaptability and practicality still inform my practice today. At the minute I’m thinking about how art can be useful in everyday life, so I’m making things that people can use, like furniture. I also run workshops as I’m more interested in process and materials rather than finished ‘outcome’. Through these workshops I want to pass that knowledge and experience onto others. I really like Enzo Mari’s writings – about how learning to make the objects we use everyday not only enriches our lives, but can have positive repercussions on our wider social and political autonomy.
What are your thoughts on socially engaged art practice?
I’m by no means an expert, but I’m learning something new with each project. A lot of the things I’m hoping to achieve with my work fall under socially engaged art. Recently I’ve been thinking about how my work engages people and how my ideas and creations can be passed onto others. I want my work to have a real physical impact on people’s lives, outside of the purely aesthetic or academic. Workshops and community projects like the Bridgewater Community Garden encourage collaboration and discourse between individuals and strengthens communities. It’s a very diplomatic process; as an artist it encourages me to question who my work is for and how useful it is.
Local residents and PW artists, Bridgewater Community Garden, September 2019.
Interview with Studio Award Winner Maisie Pritchard
Last September, we were pleased to welcome graduate Maisie Pritchard to Paradise Works, who joined us after winning a Studio Bursary through our annual partnership with The Manchester School of Art. A new initiative in its second year, the bursary includes a studio for twelve months in addition to mentoring.
Maisie Pritchard in her studio at Paradise Works
Former studio bursary winner and PW Marketing Assistant Gwen Evans caught up with Maisie, to discuss what she’s been up to since receiving the bursary.
How would you describe your practice?
My practice is concerned with the impracticalities existing within architectural design methods implemented within the urban environment. I am interested in how these designs often, ironically, act as a deterrent to the public using facilities, such as street furniture. Simple features for example metal spikes or dividers prevent us from using these spaces in particular ways. These elements of hostile architecture and tactical urbanism are a universal experience within the cityscape; found within both council and privately-run spaces. I am fascinated by the ways in which we can disrupt or tackle these hostile environments, through the use of social arts and sculpture.
What have you been up to since graduating?
I recently wrote to the council to ask if I could repair some neglected planters in The Northern Quarter. Since then I’ve been working on the project with Ruth (a council representative) and Jonathan Keenan (a local photographer) to green up and partially pedestrianise Edge Street. This is a slow and meaningful process, as it’s being run through the council, meaning we can’t just remove parking spaces and paint the street green! We’re slowly but surely attempting to prove that we deserve more green space and vibrancy in Manchester. I’ve also been busy running a sign building workshop with PW studio member James Ackerley for the ‘Bridgewater Community Garden’ project, located outside PW. For this project we’ve been working with young people from The Princes Trust , which is challenging but definitely useful in building my confidence and engaging with participants.
Lastly a big thanks to PW for selecting me to join their Glasgow research trip, where we visited WASPS, CCA, Tramway and more including the Baltic Street Adventure Playground which was really exciting and heart-warming. Me and Lucy definitely shed some tears. I found it pretty amazing that it not only offered physical support, but social, emotional and developmental well-being.
Sign workshop with the ‘The Princes Trust’ for the ‘Bridgewater Community Garden’ project.
‘Take a seat Prototype’ 2019 by Maisie Pritchard
‘Experimental Intervention’ by Maisie Pritchard
How has winning the studio opportunity at Paradise Works influenced your work?
I suppose I’ve naturally been drawn to collaborative projects and community commissions. The ‘Bridgewater Community Garden’ project PW has been a great opportunity in starting out in socially-engaged projects. I can really appreciate Paradise Works’ initiative to embed themselves in the surrounding community and create a permanent space for great artists! I’m very on board with that. Since graduating and being part of the PW community, I know that people are very important in my practice; I would like to sustain a strong and healthy network. I can only move forward in my practice knowing that I am benefiting others too, I think this is possible with support from PW.
Do you have any advice for recent graduates?
Apply for everything! Seize every opportunity that you come across and feel is relevant to you. This will fill in the gaps of feeling stuck or lost, and keep yourself/practice busy. It’s also great to have breaks too! A breather is necessary when graduating from art school.
Ambitions for the future?
To keep going with community/group projects. My confidence in public speaking is slowly bettering itself, I want to keep improving that. I’d also like to make a start on my public sculptures, they will start small and hopefully grow big! Eventually I would like to study an MA in social arts, maybe in Germany. Tanks!
Interview with Studio Award Winner Bridget Coderc
We’re excited to welcome graduate Bridget Coderc to Paradise Works, who joined us through our annual partnership with The University of Salford Art Collection Scholarship. A new initiative in its third year, the scholarship includes a studio for twelve months in addition to mentoring. Previous winners include Katie Mcguire and Elliott Flanaghan.
Bridget Coderc in her studio at Paradise Works.
Former studio award winner and PW Marketing Assistant Gwen Evans caught up with Bridget, to discuss what she’s been up to since receiving the scholarship.
How would you describe your practice?
I combine mediums like photography, video, performance, and spoken word to question the subject of emotional experience, memory and the body. Contextually I am interested in themes of the mundane and the everyday. Usually, my ideas come from personal experiences or from psychological theories like Donald Winnicott’s transitional object or Sigmund Freud’s the unconscious.
What have you been up to since graduating?
After being selected for the Scholarship I’ve been settling into my new studio at PW. During this time I’ve started a collaborative art project called VIEUX with friend and sound artist Lee Roberts. This experimental project combines spoken word and abstract visuals made by me, with electronic/psychedelic sounds created by Lee. The words and melancholic imagery depict and describe emotional struggle, which is paired with a dreamy melody. I’ve started a youtube channel to document our work and we're currently preparing to perform our piece as a live set.
Video still of work by Bridget Coderc
How has winning the studio opportunity at Paradise Works influenced your work?
The studio space has given me the freedom to become even more experimental and expressive. I’ve always explored different ways of going about my work, I’ve never stuck to one thing. Sometimes it can even be chaotic! But it’s this element that makes me excited every time I go into the studio. When I arrive I’ll usually set up my camcorder then begin experimenting with my body. By constantly creating and exploring, I develop a large amount of work. Like my inspiration, Burce Nauman once said “Art is everything that you produce in your studio”.
I have divided my space into three sections: performance, research and brainstorming. By having these reference points I am able to push my work further. Having a studio has been invaluable, I think it’s equally important for media and lens-based artists to have a studio space, as it is for painters or sculptors.
Do you have any advice for recent graduates?
My advice would be to sign up for as many opportunities as you can, get into collectives or establish your own, embed yourself within a studio, volunteer and meet people/creatives outside your practice as this expands your work.
Ambitions for the future?
I am planning on finding a permanent studio space, to apply for artist-in-residence programs, produce exhibitions, collaborative projects and be proactive.
Paradise Works members with Grand Union at Junction Works, Birmingham.
Research Trip to Birmingham
We were pleased to receive Arts Council England funding in 2019 to carry out organisational development research into different models of arts production spaces. As part of this, a core group of Paradise Works artists visited Grand Union and STEAMhouse to hear about 2 different models of partnership working in Birmingham.
Cheryl Jones from Grand Union, a gallery and artists’ studios complex in Digbeth, outlined how they had grown their organisation to where they are now, thanks to a small proactive board. She also discussed their commitment to engage with the surrounding community by reflecting local issues in their events and exhibition program. They recently launched ‘The Growing Project’, a community-led growing scheme working with organisations who support the vulnerably housed to improve sites across Birmingham. Its projects like this that gain support from the local community, paired with support from trustees that contributed to the Grand Union successfully securing a 3 million pound bid for a new building. A grade II listed building, Junction Works is located in Warwick Bar and is currently being redeveloped into a gallery and artist studios.
At STEAMhouse, Associate Director of Eastside Projects Ruth Claxton discussed the exciting potential in the intersection and shared workspace for arts, science, technology, engineering and maths. This project was made possible through partnerships between Birmingham City University and Eastside Projects. The first element that contributed to its longevity was the provision of workshops, with specialist equipment not easily available elsewhere in Birmingham, opening up the potential for artists to make more ambitious work. The second contributor was its focus on collaboration, which encouraged local creators to use the space as an artist hub, establishing STEAMhouse as an integral part of Birmingham’s art ecology.
“The Steam-house model is an incredible must for Manchester. Artists need more access to facilities and workshops to produce quality work. Having access and possession of these spaces can only encourage us to maintain our place.” Maisie Pritchard, Paradise Works Studio Bursary Award Winner.
To end the trip we were lucky to catch the launch of ‘The Kipper and The Corpse’ , a solo exhibition at Ikon gallery before heading off for a debrief on the train. For 2020 we’re excited to focus our attention on future-proofing what we’ve already created and establish a board at PW. We will consolidate our programme by developing the impact of our public reach, as we’re interested in the role PW plays between the artist-led and ‘mid-level’ space. We will also continue our research into the potential of shared workshop spaces and access to specialist equipment.
We’re keen to return to visit East Side Projects, especially after hearing the exciting news about their architectural partnership in a project to redevelop Birmingham’s Smithfield Market . We’re looking forward to welcoming ESP Extraordinary Ordinary People associate members to Paradise Works as part of the EOP Manchester Study Day on Thursday 19 March, the call out is now open - find out more here.
Happy Holidays from Paradise Works!
This year Paradise Works celebrated our 3rd ever Open Studios and what an-action packed three years it's been! Thank you to everyone who has supported us and our events in 2019. Here's some of this year's highlights...
Exhibitions & Events - Group shows included Buffer Zones curated by Nathaniel Pitt, Show Me Up's You Still There?, Millennialism with Will Marshall & Emily Simpson, Mission to Touch the Sun curated by K.P.Culver & William Noel Clarke, and MADE IT curated by Short Supply. For one night only we welcomed Venture Arts for Conversations Series II and Cinema Paradiso as part of HOME's Artist Film Weekender, and we were delighted to present solo exhibitions of new works from John Powell Jones, Chez Tenneson & Sam Porritt.
Artist in Residence 2019-Liverpool based artist Gregory Herbert shared new works made in response to our site on the Salford/Manchester border over Open Studios weekend.
Open Studios + The Manchester Contemporary - We were delighted to present new works from studio member Richard Hughes at this year's Manchester Contemporary. This year's Open Studios saw the launch of Paradise Works Multiples, affordable artworks from PW artists and friends, alongside the preview of Millennialism in our gallery.
New Arrivals at Paradise works - This summer we were joined by graduate award winners Bridget Coderc and Maisie Pritchard, and artists Katie Tomlinson and Nicola Elis. We were also delighted to welcome Naomi Tattum as studio manager, who has been an enormous help in shaping up the administration.
Arts Council England Funding - We are thankful to Arts Council England for support with our programme, studio improvements and organisational development activities this year. Working with arts consultants Adapt for Arts we have begun taking the next steps necessary to future-proof Paradise Works, develop our organisational structure and undertake go-and-see visits to Birmingham and Glasgow with our newly formed PW Artist Team
Congratulations to...
That's enough about us. Our proactive artist community regularly exhibit and are awarded commissions across the UK and beyond, notable achievements also include:
Artist & co-director Lucy Harvey who was the recipient of 2019 visual arts Clore Fellowship, supported by a-n.
Robin Megannity, Jez Dolan & Hilary Jack whose works were acquired by the Government Art Collection.
Louise Giovanelli, Nicola Elis, Nina Chua & Hilary Jack whose work was acquired by the Manchester Art Gallery collection.
Kieran Leach , Jack Brown and Katie Tomlinson who were selected for Castlefield Gallery and a-n' s Artists’ International Delegation 2019, Denmark.
Winter & Kurth who were selected for 'Hothouse 2019' by the Crafts Council England.
Jez Dolan who was awarded the Developing Your Creative Practice Fund- Arts Council England.
Precious Innes who was awarded a-n Professional Development Funding.
Artist in residence Gregory Herbert unveils new work for Open Studios 2019
Liverpool based artist Gregory Herbert joined us in autumn to develop new work in response to the area and context surrounding Paradise Works. We were delighted to share his residency and the sculpture produced with the public over Open Studios weekend. Read more here.
Paradise Works Open Studios 2019
Open Studios: Saturday 12th October 12-10pm + Sunday 13th October 12-4pm.
Party: Saturday 12th, 6-10pm. Featuring new exhibition Millennialism, street food, donations bar and English Disco Lovers DJ set from Millennialism artist Chris Alton.
Hangover Cure Tour: Sunday 13th October, 12.30-1.30pm, join Carly Bainbridge, Producer & Artist, for a whistle-stop tour of Paradise Works, featuring selected artists’ studios.
A community of 35 contemporary artists open their studios to the public across a weekend of exhibition, events & subversive disco at Paradise Works.
Since launching in 2017, Paradise Works has established itself as a proactive base for 35 interdisciplinary artists with a dynamic gallery and public programme. Open Studios 2019 will celebrate the group’s third year with the launch of Paradise Works Multiples, affordable contemporary art from studio artists and friends, and new exhibition, Millennialism, exploring the experience of a woke generation through new works by ten up-and-coming visual artists.
Paradise Works’ Artist in Residence 2019, Gregory Herbert will be sharing new work created during his time exploring our location on the Salford and Manchester border, nestled within a residential area on the cusp of the city’s rapid development. Off-site at The Manchester Contemporary, we are pleased to present studio artist Richard Dean Hughes who will showcase new sculptural works exploring notions of the ‘anti-romantic’.
On Saturday night, we welcome Millennialism artist Chris Alton for an English Disco Lovers’ DJ set as part of our Saturday night party. Founded in 2012, English Disco Lovers (EDL) is a multifaceted protest movement, reclaiming the ‘EDL’ acronym and drawing on disco as a site of musical resistance to contemporary iterations of fascism.
Sunday’s Hang Over Cure Tour offers a gentler opportunity to explore Paradise Works over a coffee and pastry. Join Artist & Producer Carly Bainbridge to explore the goings-on of an artists-led space, with informal talks from selected studio artists and Millennialism curators, Will Marshall and Emily Simpson.
Paradise Works is kindly supported by Arts Council England, Urban Splash, The Manchester Contemporary, University of Salford Art Collection & Manchester School of Art.
Studio Artists
James Ackerley, Louise Adkins, Sarah Blaszczok, Michael Branthwaite, Robin Broadley, Andrew James Brooks, Jack Brown, Nina Chua, Bridget Coderc, Chris Paul Daniels, Jez Dolan, Nicola Ellis, Gwen Evans, Olivia Glasser, Louise Giovanelli, Lucy Harvey, Richard Hughes, Precious Innes, Hilary Jack, Kieran Leach, Robin Megannity, Bren O'Callaghan, Evie O’Connor, Alyson Olson, Maisie Pritchard, Richard Shields, Lauren Steeper, Cherry Tenneson, Claire Tindale, Katie Tomlinson, Laura Weaver, Elizabeth Wewiora, Tasha Whittle, Winter & Kurth.
Paradise Works is pleased to announce their 2019 bursary graduates: Maisie Pritchard, winner of the 2019 Studio Award with Manchester School of Art, and Bridget Coderc, as part of the 2019 University of Salford Art Collection Graduate Scholarship programme
Paradise Works to represent Richard Dean Hughes at The Manchester Contemporary 2019
Paradise Works is pleased to present studio member and sculptor Richard Dean Hughes as part of this year’s contemporary art fair. Concerned with ideas of the ‘anti-romantic’, Richard’s sculptural works pair contemporary symbols with abstract representations of the coping mechanisms used as we navigate an increasingly uncertain and volatile world. Find us on Booth 102. Download portfolio here.
We are delighted to be part of The Manchester Contemporary After-show VIP Programme, welcoming international curators and collectors to our Saturday night party on Saturday 12 October, 6-10pm.
Paradise Works Graduate Studio Awards 2019
We are pleased to have Bridget Coderc and Maisie Pritchard joining Paradise Works this month as part of our annual graduate studio partnerships with the University of Salford Art Collection and with Manchester School of Art. Both artists will take part in Open Studios 2019 on the 12th and 13th of October.
Bridget Coderc
Bridget Coderc a recent Photography graduate from The University of Salford, lives and works in Manchester. Through the medium of video and performance she explores themes of emotional experience, the body and memory. Coderc employs low-fidelity technology to develop ideas that stem from psychological theories, personal experiences and self-portraiture. These are manifest in her project ‘Static Retrospective’ which draws upon Sigmund Freud’s theory of the unconscious and her fragmented memories from childhood. Within this piece she projects a VHS dance video from the early 2000s, a recorded moment which inspired her to become a dancer, making dance a central aspect of her early life. She attempts to use the archived footage to re-learn dance, but the constant interruption and layering of the video expresses her dissatisfaction and frustration. She is unable to articulate herself through this once familiar medium and the performance represents the struggle to become consciously congruent.
Maisie Pritchard
Maisie Pritchard a recent Fine art graduate from The Manchester School of Art lives and works in Manchester. Throughout her work she explores the impracticalities existing within architectural design methods, and how this deters the public from using furniture within the urban environment. She addresses socio-political issues within her work such as the current housing crisis, privatisation and community. By initiating interventions concerned with social sculpture, she aims to colonise the city with bespoke furniture that is playful yet accessible. In some instances, she has approached privately-owned spaces by merging social sculpture and gardening to install unwelcome objects such as planters. The act of giving works to the public is important to Prichard, as it is a contribution to the specific environment that she is working within. Her intention is to enliven corporate spaces, reclaim what belongs to the public and defy rules of social behaviour, as she believes these spaces should be accessible to the public.
Mesocosm by Gregory Herbert, The Trophy Room, image credit Alexander Croft
2019 Artist in Residence: Gregory Herbert
Our 2019 Artist Residency has been awarded to Liverpool based artist Gregory Herbert, who will be joining us this autumn to develop new work in response to the area and context surrounding Paradise Works. Gregory is the third Paradise Works Artist in Residence and will join us to share his residency work over Open Studios 2019, Saturday 12 and Sunday 13 October.
Gregory Herbert (B.1990) lives and works in Liverpool. Herbert is a former Director of The Royal Standard and currently studying MA Fine Art at Manchester Metropolitan University. Herbert’s recent exhibitions include ‘The Cucumber Fell in the Sand’ at Humber Street Gallery, Hull (2019); ‘Oikos Logos’, a collaborative show with Hannah Rowan and Matthew Verdon at Enclave Lab, London (2018); ‘Mesocosm’ at The Trophy Room, Liverpool (Solo Show, 2018); ‘Building your potential ecosystem, Part 1: who are you potential ecosystem partners?’, a collaborative project with Matthew Verdon at Serf, Leeds (2017); ‘Phase-shift’ Montreal, Canada (2017); and Coventry Biennial, Coventry (2017). Herbert co-curates a project entitled ‘The Offy’ with Linny Venables which looks at selling merch to sustain an artistic practice.
Find out more about previous Paradise Works Artists in Residence:
2017 - Michelle Shields’ sculptural works and objects, Organised Labour
2018 - Danielle Swindells’ short artist film, Lot 86
MADE IT North West Graduate Award Winners Announced
We are delighted to announce the winners of Short Supply's MADE IT Graduate showcase at Paradise Works this summer. Congratulations to Meghan Needham, winner of the 2019 People's Choice Award; Shelby Lloyd, selected for the MADE IT Curators Choice Award; and Saoirse Lewis, winning the Cass Art Solo Award.
The winners were drawn from shortlisted graduate exhibitors including: Alicja Mrozowska, Beth Wise, Candice Dehnavi, Ellie Brennan, Emily Wills, Jay Mulholland, Lydia McCaig, Madeleine Ismael, Maria Ansell, Megan Needham, Oliver East, Saoirse Lewis, Sarah Gilmn and Shelby Lloyd.
Curated by Short Supply, MADE IT 2019 celebrated graduate talent from the class of 2018/2019 across the North West region. Featuring artists from The Manchester School of Art, University of Central Lancashire, University of Salford and more, the fourteen selected artists demonstrated resilience, passion and diverse skill-sets, contributing to their success as artists during their undergraduate study and beyond.
Follow Short Supply for future graduate opportunities and much more https://www.shortsupply.org/
Paradise Works Co-director Lucy Harvey announced as recipient of visual arts Clore Fellowship, supported by a-n
Artist and co-director of Paradise Works announced as part of cohort to receive bespoke professional development opportunity that seeks to develop leaders from across a wide range of cultural disciplines and sectors.
The recipient of the Clore Fellowship, Visual Arts Fellowship, supported by a-n The Artists Information Company, has been announced as visual artist and Paradise Works co-director Lucy Harvey.
The fellowship is a bespoke professional development opportunity that seeks to develop leaders from across a wide range of cultural disciplines and sectors. Harvey is part of 25 new Fellows who will embark on the Clore Fellowship this autumn.
Known for creating sculpture, installation and public works that explore the ‘function of collection and heritage’, Harvey is also co-director of Salford-based organisation Paradise Works. Last year, she was selected for the Castlefield Gallery and a-n Artists’ International Delegation to Budapest and also programmed a-n’s Assembly Salford.
In 2016 Harvey also coordinated and curated the Place + Production programme for Rogue Artists’ Studios which marked the group’s final year at Crusader Mill.
Commenting on the impact the fellowship will have, Lucy said: “Being awarded the Clore Fellowship is a hugely exciting opportunity to research and develop my understanding of sustainable cultural practice and step beyond the artist-led. The Fellowship will allow me to explore how we can more effectively embed artist-led spaces into our changing urban landscapes and identify what civic roles artist communities might embrace to better ensure that our value is understood beyond the sector.
“I am so excited to start! It is a real honour to have my work over the last 2 years at Paradise Works recognised, but the Fellowship is also really timely, giving me an incredible opportunity to take stock, develop my skill-set and establish how to future-proof our organisation, share this impact, and figure out how my creative practice fits into this.”
The other 24 fellows work across 11 different cultural disciplines, from solo workers to those in 200+ people organisations, and are based in six regions across the UK and eight countries around the world. It includes a range of artists, managers, producers, directors, entrepreneurs and policy makers.
The full list includes: Alia Alzougbi, Sona Datta, Esther Richardson, Naomi Alexander, Janine Downes, Ihitashri Shandilya, Lucy Bayliss, Lucy Harvey, Róisín Stack, Stephen Bennett, Andrew Marcus, Melissa Strauss, Sarah Bird, Kez Margrie, Putul Verma, Emily Brennan, Botumelo Motsoatsoe, Matt Wilde, Sade Brown, Lina Mowafy, Ling Zhongjiang, Eduardo Carvalho, Omeima Mudawi-Rowlings, Joycelyn Choi Oi Yee, and Refilwe Nkomo.
In addition to a-n, the other funding partners for the Clore Leadership Programme in 2019/20 are: the Clore Duffield Foundation which initiated the programme in 2004; Arts Council England, which funds the Fellowship and a range of other Clore Leadership programmes; Arts Council Ireland; Art Fund; the Arts and Humanities Research Council; BBC; Chevening Secretariat through the Foreign and Commonwealth Office; Gatsby Charitable Trust; Home Affairs Bureau of the Government of Hong Kong Special Administrative Region through the Hong Kong Arts Development Council; National Lottery Heritage Fund; National Trust; The Linbury Trust and Wellcome Trust.
Darren Henley OBE, chief executive of Arts Council England, said: “This exciting group of Clore Fellows are an impressive bunch. They’ll be the creative leaders of tomorrow, making decisions that influence the development of cultural organisations for decades to come.”
Moira Sinclair, chair of Clore Leadership, added: “Our arts and cultural sector is only able to flourish with dynamic, diverse and curious leaders; those that are ambitious, innovative and able to inspire workforces and audiences alike. I hope they grab this opportunity now and for the cultural leaders they will become.”
For more information on the 2019/20 Clore Fellowship visit: www.cloreleadership.org
Manifest at Paradise Works
Manifest Arts Festival is an artist-curated biennial festival giving visitors an insight into the wide-ranging contemporary art being produced in the North West today.
As part of the Manifest Arts Festival Salford weekend, Paradise Works will be hosting two tours featuring studio visits with selected artist members alongside an all day screening of Trinkets, a new artist film by Jack Brown in our second floor project space. The exhibition Buffer Zones, will also be open on our first floor gallery space.
Saturday 20 July - Tours + More
Studio Tours - 12:20pm + 2:00pm - free, just turn up [info]
Trinkets by Jack Brown - 12-5pm [info]
Buffer Zones - 12-5pm [info]
Please note, Paradise Works is accessible via 2 flights of stairs.
Buffer Zones, a group exhibition of thirteen critically acclaimed contemporary artists at Paradise Works Salford
Buffer Zones
Preview: Thursday 11 July 2019, 6:00-8:30pm, with donations bar and wood-fired pizza.
Exhibition open: 12 July – 3 August 2019, 12-5pm or by appointment.
Paradise Works is delighted to present BUFFER ZONES, a group exhibition of thirteen critically acclaimed contemporary artists, curated by Nat Pitt (Division of Labour, The Manchester Contemporary).
Exhibiting Artists: Sally Payen, Larry Achiampong & David Blandy, Edward Clydesdale Thomson, Yelena Popova, Hilary Jack, Gavin Wade, Jeremy Hutchison, Simon & Tom Bloor, James Bridle, Marco Godoy, Ella Littwitz.
Buffer Zones brings together the works of thirteen artists in a physical commentary on the geo-political, social economic and cultural impacts of borders. The audience is invited to make a precarious journey though barricades, borders and partitions to experience Buffer Zones at Paradise Works. Conceived during the United Kingdom’s attempts to leave the EU, themes of division, separation of community and physical space take the fore in this immersive exhibition.
“Space is not a scientific object removed from ideology or politics. It has always been political and strategic. There is an ideology of space. Because space, which seems homogeneous, which appears as a whole in its objectivity, in its pure form, such as we determine it, is a social product.” ― Henri Lefebvre
EXHIBITING ARTISTS
Larry Achiampong & David Blandy present Finding Fanon II from the series inspired by the lost plays of Frantz Fanon, (1925-1961) a politically radical humanist whose practice dealt with the psychopathology of colonisation and the socio-cultural consequences of decolonisation. Achiampong is based in London and has an MA in Sculpture from The Slade School of Fine Art. He is represented by Copperfield, David Blandy has an MA in Fine Art Media from the Slade School of Art and is represented by Seventeen.
Simon & Tom Bloor are artist brothers working collaboratively and based in Birmingham. For Buffer Zones they present spray-painted fences and barricades that question play, urban change and neglected space in the built environment.
James Bridle is an artist, writer, technologist and publisher working across technologies and disciplines. His artworks have been commissioned by galleries and institutions and exhibited worldwide and on the internet. His film, Flag For No Nations, first shown as a temporary installation at Ellinikón, Greece 2016 retells the history of an ill-fated satellite mission interwoven with narratives of borders, migration and another future.
Marco Godoy was born Madrid and studied Fine Arts at the Universidad Complutense de Madrid and the School of the Art, Institute of Chicago. He holds an MA in Photography from the Royal College of Art. Godoy explores the relationship between images and ideology. He searches for alternative ways in which to talk about current social and political issues through the use of video, sculpture and performance. Recent work has focused on how authority is visually constructed by those who exercise power, and the tools that we have to confront it. For Buffer Zones he presents The Distance Between Us, a film exploring the systems used to maintain value and authority in relation to migration.
Jeremy Hutchison works across performance, sculpture, text and video, he constructs situations that insert disobedience and confusion into hegemonic structures. Hutchison’s Movables Project begins with a photo showing the inside of a Mercedes car, taken by police at the Balkan border. The headrests have been torn open to reveal a person hiding inside each seat attempting to disguise themselves as inanimate objects Combining elements of marketing and high-end fashion, the work enacts an anthropomorphic fusion between the male form and the consumer product.
Hilary Jack has an MA Fine Art from Manchester School of Art and holds a TIPP Postgraduate award from Goldsmiths and the Hungarian Academy. Hilary Jacks work has an activist element and focuses on the politics of place. Her neon art work No Borders currently at Yorkshire Sculpture Park inspired this show. The quotation is borrowed from the aviator, and feminist icon Amelia Earhart whose words can be viewed through a contemporary political lens referencing issues posed by BREXIT and continuing border conflicts across the globe. For Buffer Zones Hilary Jack creates Little Britain, an intervention into the gallery exploring suburban boundaries and the divisions revealed across the UK by the EU referendum.
Ella Littwitz studied in HISK, Ghent, Belgium (2016) and received her BFA from Bezalel, Jerusalem, Israel, in 2009. Her works have been exhibited in Israel, Europe and the US. For Buffer Zones Ella presents Natural Borders, utilising a piece of eucalyptus bark found in the shape of Israel borders without the occupied territories of both Gaza and the West Bank. The Eucalyptus tree is regarded as a symbol for the failure of the JNF (Jewish National Fund) project: In the 1950’s eucalyptus trees were brought to Israel to dry a specific area of swamps, at a cost of 25 million dollars. The project unintentionally revealed peat soil, causing wildfires over the region and a significant ecological crisis.
Dr Sally Payen has an MA in Painting from The Royal College of Arts, and a practice based PhD from Universty of Brighton. Payen shows a painting The Fence and The Shadow from her series based on her exploration and research about the contested landscape of Greenham Common and the women’s peace camps and anti-nuclear protests that took place in the 1980s.
Yelena Popova studied in USSR, and is based in Nottingham, UK She has an MA in Painting, The Royal College of Art. Popova’s practice encompasses painting, video and installation. Her work is tied together by an interest in exploring the concept of balance, whether in politics, representation, or in our relationship with machines. For Buffer Zones Popover exhibits This Certifies That, a tapestry designed to mark the exit of UK from the EU.
Edward Clydesdale Thomson’s is a Scottish/Danish artist based in the Netherlands. He is a graduate of the MFA program at the Piet Zwart Institute, Rotterdam and the BArch program at the Glasgow school of Art. His practice addresses contemporary conflicts of time by rethinking and reshaping the space and conditions of his artistic production along durational lines. His work is often concerned with places and objects on the margins – physically, socially or symbolically – of outside and inside, of wild and tamed landscapes, of decoration or function.
Gavin Wade is an award-winning artist, producer and curator, and director of Eastside Projects. For Buffer Zones, Wade exhibits Europa and The Bull (After Trewin Copplestone) a billboard from 2014 as David Cameron announced the referendum after being elected in 2015. Europa and the Bull features the Birmingham ‘Bullring’ Bull a public sculpture by Trewin Copplestone surrounded by the united stars of Europe.
Address: Paradise Works, East Philip Street, M3 7LE, Manchester
Access: Paradise Works is accessible by 2 flights of stairs.
Contact & viewings by appointment: info@paradise-works.com
Further information: www.paradise-works.com
Press release dated: 20 June 2019
Jeremy Hutchison - Movables, 2017, Fondazione Prada Athens.jpg
Graduate opportunity- Short Supply
We are delighted to be working with new curatorial collective Short Supply on MADE IT: a new Open Call for graduate artists in the North West.
Graduating artists from 2018 and 2019 classes are invited to submit work for consideration by selectors and PW studio artists Bren O'Callaghan (curator, HOME Manchester) and Precious Innes (artist & curator, Show.me.up).
Shortlisted artists will be exhibited in a curated group exhibition at Paradise Works Salford, in August 2019. The show offers a Curators Choice prize of £100, for full information on how to apply please see www.shortsupply.org
Paradise Works Studio Manager
Project Role: Studio Manager
*This role has been filled, please join our mailing list to hear about opportunities to work with us.*
Term: May – October 2019 (6 months)
Commitment: 1 day per week, 6 months @ Living Wage (£9 per hour with potential to increase to 2 days funding pending)
ABOUT
Established in 2017, Paradise Works is a community of 36 artists working on the borders of Salford & Manchester. We believe that artists are an important asset in to urban development, and that the process of art-making connects the people who live, work and visit our city.
This why we aim to create a model of studio provision in Manchester that supports a unique artist community, champions the importance of artists in the city, and enables individual artists to develop the professional connections essential to a sustainable artistic career in the city they choose to call home.
In addition to supporting studio artists in developing their practice, we’ve established a dynamic public programme of Open Studios, Artist Residencies, exhibitions, screenings, off-site activities, studio visits and networking events. We have great partnerships & projects with Urban Splash, University of Salford, Manchester School of Art & Manchester International Festival.
2019 is an exciting year for Paradise Works. With support from Arts Council England, we’re able to take some time to explore how we make our organisation more sustainable by visiting other studios, working with consultants to review our business & income model, and pilot a brand-new Affiliates membership programme to grow our artist network.
The Studio Manager will develop and lead the administration and co-ordination of Paradise Works facilities. We are looking for a dynamic individual who can get involved in future-proofing one of the most exciting artist studio collectives in Manchester today. So, if you’re passionate about artist-led activity, with a strong sense of initiative and the capacity to support us with essential administration and coordination - then we’d love to hear from you. We want our organisation to represent the rich diversity of our city and would like to hear from people of all backgrounds, including BAME and/or people with disabilities.
For full details on this role and how to apply, download the project role description here.
Douwe Dijkstra: Green Screen Gringo (2016)
HOME ARTIST FILM WEEKENDER OPENING EVENT: Cinema Paradiso
Thu 29 Nov/ Doors 18.30 for 19.00 start, 21:00 finish.
£3 entry, Paradise Works, East Philip Street, Salford, M3 7LE
Welcome to Cinema Paradiso - an evening of expanded film, video and experimental sound performances to Launch HOME’s Artist Film Weekender 2018. Works by an array of international and Manchester-based artists will activate Paradise Works’ dedicated gallery and screening spaces - ranging from single channel video works, to double-screen 16mm film projections and multi-format AV performances.
Dress warm, soup provided!
Douwe Dijkstra: Green Screen Gringo (2016). Behind a green screen, a foreigner finds his way in an enchanting - and yet turbulent - Brazil. Where the streets are a stage for politics, art and affection, a gringo can only watch. The result is a mixtape-portrait of modern-day Brazil seen through the eyes of the visitor.
Rehana Zaman: Sharla Shabana Sojourner Selena (2016), sees six female narrators share personal experiences in an audition roll call, some scripted, some spontaneous. Their testimonies describe perverse scenarios where racialisation and gender dynamics inflect the encounters of each protagonist in workplace encounters, religious gatherings or sexual trysts
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Maybelle Peters: Black Skin, White Masks (1991), is a mixed media animation that uses Frantz Fanon’s book Black Skin, White Masks to respond directly to an era when children of Commonwealth Caribbean countries, who regarded themselves as British, became all too aware of their place in a post ‘80s landscape of marginalisation and racism.
Rose Butler: Kamikaze and Star Flyer (2016). Two different fairground rides visit the city centre interrupting the horizon appearing and then disappearing behind old industrial buildings and department stores. One ride turns like a clock hand whilst the other spins like a flying saucer, passengers are whooping or screaming. The work evokes questions of escape, control, voyeurism and complicity.
Bea Haut: Passage (2014), is a dual screen 16mm film performance. Crossing time and space to meet at an interstice, a point, a gap, a moment full of absence. Luminous objects of light evidence discontinuity and differing scales of field and frame.
Jenny Baines: Inflated (double) struggle (2018), is a comedic wrestling match, which at times can appear violent, tender, comical and absurd.
Karel Doing: OXO XOXO (2013), is a dual screen 16mm film shot on London’s Northbank. The film is double exposed, once during daytime, the second time during the night. The roll is screened forward and backward simultaneously, with objects and signs appearing in different guises and directions. OXO XOXO playfully dislodges the viewers standard mode of perception.
Jenny Baines: Untitled (#1 25/25 x 10/4) (2016), is a performance for two cameras simultaneously, whereby the artist runs around a tree repeatedly whilst tied to it. As the rope loops around the tree and shortens, the artist/performer moves from one frame to only appear in the other.
Andrew James Brooks & IMPATV: Die Schone Und Das Monster (2018), is a collaborative performance between IMPATV and Andrew James Brooks. An incorporation of analogue projection, live camera feeds, video synthesis, found sound, kinetic sculpture and electronic music. Exploring and subverting these elements to create new work that blurs the lines between film, performance, beauty and horror.
Raz Ullah: Beyond the Infinite Drone (2018), is a crossing to an alternate dimension, expedited by slow-motion sci-fi visuals and a live electronic score. Cyclic low frequency signals and sustained, hypnotic sine waves channel the empty atmosphere and unchanging eternity of space. An explosion of consciousness leads to rebirth and renewal.
Find our more about HOME Artist Film Weekender.
Paradise Works Open Studios 2018
OPEN STUDIOS : Saturday 13 + Sunday 14 October 2018
PARTY : Saturday 13 October, 6-10pm
Paradise Works’ vibrant community of 36 contemporary artists open their doors to the public for a weekend of open studios, exhibitions and events. The gallery previews Vanishing Point, an exhibition from Cornford & Cross curated Nathaniel Pitt, featuring site specific works from the Unrealised Proposals series, and is joined by Apparel, an exhibition from newly relocated gallery Division of Labour who join Paradise Works’ first floor.
Filmmaker, Danielle Swindells screens new works made following her 2018 Artist Residency at Paradise Works, and off-site, Kieran Leach and Precious Innes (aka Show.me.up) curate Paradise Works’ booth at The Manchester Contemporary featuring works by studio artists Robin Broadley, Louise Giovanelli, Richard Hughes and Cherry Tenneson.
Saturday night's Paradise Party hosts a Sweatbox Disco with DJ Andrew J Brooks where the obligatory donations bar will be open and street food will be available from Jordy’s Pizza. In the morning, Sunday’s Hangover Cure Tour invites visitors to hear from selected studio artists over a series of informal artist talks and refreshments.
Artists: James Ackerley, Louise Adkins, Sarah Blaszczok, Michael Branthwaite, Robin Broadley, Andrew James Brooks, Jack Brown, Nina Chua, Chris Paul Daniels, Jez Dolan, Gwen Evans, Olivia Glasser, Louise Giovanelli, Lucy Harvey, Richard Hughes, William Hughes, Precious Innes, Hilary Jack, Kwong Lee, Kieran Leach, Katie McGuire, Robin Megannity, Bren O'Callaghan, Evie O’Connor, Alyson Olson, Rosanne Robertson, Debbie Sharp, Richard Shields, Lauren Steeper, Cherry Tenneson, Claire Tindale, Laura Weaver, Elizabeth Wewiora, Tasha Whittle, Winter & Kurth.
Address: Paradise Works, East Philip Street, M3 7LE, Manchester
Opening Times: Saturday 13 October 12-6pm, Launch Party 6pm-10pm; Sunday 14th October 12-5pm.
Access: Paradise Works is accessible by 2 flights of stairs.
Contact: info@paradise-works.com
Paradise Works x Show.me.up @ The Manchester Contemporary 2018
Paradise Works is pleased to showcase selected works from the studio group as part of this year's The Manchester Contemporary over the weekend of our Open Studios. Works by studio holders Robin Broadley, Richard Hughes, Louise Giovanelli and Cherry Tenneson have been selected for our booth by PW studio members and curatorial duo Show.me.up, aka Kieran Leach and Precious Innes.
Read more.
Artist in Residence 2018: Danielle Swindells
Our 2018 Artist Residency was awarded to artist filmmaker Danielle Swindells who has been researching and developing new work at Paradise Works this summer. The AIR Programme seeks to invite artists to explore and respond to the area surrounding Paradise Works and follows 2017's inaugural residency with maker Michelle Shields (read more). See the results of Danielle's residency during our Open Studios, 13 & 14 October 2018.
Danielle Swindells (b. 1994) is an artist and filmmaker based in London. She makes work that develops observations of isolated communities and the landscape and man-made structures that contain them. Her work explores the relationship between people and place; specifically sites that are maintained on memory and nostalgia. Working with video, she uses an explorative process where a narrative emerges through her experience of place and the unfolding relationship between her and inhabitants. Swindells uses her camera and a stylistic interview approach to heighten her receptivity to the spaces she finds herself in and to foreground her position as Outsider.