Sunday 15 November 2015

Open Studios

I will be opening up my studio - number 29 on the second floor this weekend.

Yorkshire Artspace Open Studios 2015

Yorkshire Artspace Open Studios

20th – 22nd November 2015
Friday 5.30 – 9pm, Persistence Works
Sat & Sun 11am – 4pm, Persistance Works, Exchange Place & Manor Oaks

Discover something special at Yorkshire Artspace Open Studios.

Whether you’re looking to buy a special Christmas present, enjoy a day with the family, top up your culture levels or simply treat yourself, try Yorkshire Artspace Open Studios this November.

Spread across three sites, over 150 studios will be showcasing and selling the work of ceramicists, jewellers, designers, painters, metalsmiths, furniture makers, book binders, photographers, film makers, sculptors, glass makers, illustrators, printers and textile artists!

There’ll be plenty to stimulate your creative appetite with FREE demonstrations and workshops, including Raku firing and lantern making. Download the Situate app to see what's what and who's where, and plan your trip in hand!

Pop-up cafés are set to deliver well-earned treats, with Motore Café bringing cakes and coffees to Persistence Works, Tea with Percie providing refreshments at Exchange Place Studios and The Rhubarb Shed serving healthy local produce at Manor Oaks Studios.

So come along and treat yourself, we all look forward to welcoming you!

Download the Situate app for your FREE guide to Open Studios 2015

FREE workshops and activities across the weekend

Addresses and Opening Times

Friday 20th Nov.
5.30pm-9pm
Persistence Works, 21 Brown Street, Sheffield, S1 2BS

Sat 21st & Sun 22nd Nov.
11am-4pm
Persistence Works, 21 Brown Street, Sheffield, S1 2BS
Exchange Place Studios, Exchange St, S2 5TR
Manor Oaks Studios, 389 Manor Lane, Sheffield, S2 1UL

Monday 9 November 2015

See my review of Going Public on The State of the Arts website: http://www.thestateofthearts.co.uk/features/going-public-international-art-collectors-in-sheffield-by-madeleine-walton/

Going Public: International Art Collectors in Sheffield by Madeleine Walton

NOVEMBER 6, 2015 BY MADELEINE WALTON

Sol LeWitt, Serial Project. Image courtesy of Pace Gallery.

Going Public: International Art Collectors in Sheffield showcases superb exhibits from four leading European private collections. Highlights from the dslcollection, the Cattelain Collection, the Marzona Collection, and the Sandretto Re Rebaudengo Collection are currently on display in the SIA Gallery, the Site Gallery, the Millenium Gallery, the Graves Gallery, and Sheffield Cathedral. Madeleine Walton finds herself in the Cathedral on a Thursday morning; a group of toddlers, also looking around, add a surreal nature to what seems such an unlikely art space…

Filling the Cathedral
Across the main nave I can see a spectacular banner by Goshka Macuga: Plus Ultra, which illustrates the ever-present issue of migration. It shows a boatload of people off the coast of Europe while politicians look on indifferently to their plight.

Beyond the banner, shines Cerith Wyn Evans’ circular suspended neon work illuminating the way to the altar. And to the right, Pae White’s huge tapestry Still Untitled alters the structure of the cathedral as smoke appears to cascade outward.

Two screens show Douglas Gordon’s A Divided Self(I and II), evoking R.D.Laing’s influential writings on mental health: they show two disembodied arms wrestling with one another. While on the other side of the nave, Marthe by Berlinde de Bruyckere is an unsettling sculpture reminiscent of crucifixions and flagellations.

Fiona-Tan-Saint-Sebastian-2001 Courtesy the artist and Frith Street Gallery and Fondazione Sandretto Rebaudengo, Turin

FionaTan, Saint Sebastian 2001. Image courtesy of Frith Street Gallery and Fondazione Sandretto Rebaudengo, Turin

In Fiona Tan’s powerful two-screen piece Saint Sebastian we see the faces of Japanese women taking part in an initiation ceremony. Steely-eyed faces fill the screens as their determined concentration shows them releasing arrows to an unseen destination.

I cannot enter the Chapel of the Holy Spirit but in the far corner I see Jake & Dinos Chapman’s Cyber Iconic Man. The distance increases the power of the image as does the altarpiece behind, with the twelve apostles.

Don’t miss Your Hidden Sound by Micol Assael in the crypt. The sound of a bird trapped in Assael’s studio amplifies our personal fears of being trapped in such a claustrophobic and windowless space. And as you leave the cathedral listen out for Susan Philipsz’ sound piece There is Nothing Left Here.

Art and people successfully animate the cathedral to create an impressive exhibition and if you can only make it to one of the five venues that make up this citywide exhibition this is the one to visit.

Dada in the Graves Gallery
It can sometimes feel a bit of a climb to the Graves Gallery but it’s worth it to see the magnificent avant-garde collection there: original works by Marcel Duchamp, André Breton, Man Ray, Kurt Schwitter and many more is a real treat.

My personal favourite from this extensive collection of Dada and related works is a work by Sophie Taeuber-Arp from 1920 entitled simply Dada, the striking shapes and vibrant colours remind me of works by Sonia Delaunay. The collection’s posters, photographs, books, magazines and art works of the Dada period give a fascinating insight into a movement that changed art irrevocably and gave birth to the contemporary art seen in the other three venues.

Looks Conceptual in the Millenium Gallery

Dan Flavin. Monument for V.Tatlin 1969-70 Courtesy the artist and DACS

Dan Flavin, Monument for V.Tatlin 1969-70. Image courtesy of DACS.

In the Millennium Gallery I see a contemporary collection in a white box gallery. The star of the collection Wielandstr 18, 12159 Berlin 2011 by Do Ho Suh, takes centre stage but is now cordoned off, despite the catalogue entreating me to walk through the work. When I question the invigilator I am informed that people were destroying the work so they’ve had to stop any interaction. I can’t help but think better invigilation could have allowed interactive viewing. I’m alone in the gallery and not allowed to enter as the artist bids. Instead I content myself with tantalising glimpses of the doors, light switches and wall mounted phones woven into the polyester fabric on a metal frame.

Overlooking the exhibition are the words of Stefan Bruggemann LOOKS CONCEPTUAL which sum up succinctly the majority of the art works at the Millennium Gallery.

Texting in the Site Gallery
The Site Gallery has quite a minimal look. In the first room are some books and a photograph (A Cruel Diary of Youth where a woman on a Chinese building site is texting). In the adjoining room is an alarming video piece 1,2,3,4 by Zhou Tao showing workers in China being drilled like soldiers, illustrating the sort of behaviour that Jeremy Hunt wants us to emulate as he urges us to be more like the Chinese.

SIA Gallery Opens Up An Imaginary World
Finally, SIA gallery is a proliferation of mostly video pieces. Most disturbing is Planting Geese by Zheng Guogu where geese are put into holes on the points of a huge star (marked out on the ground) and doused with what looks like oil until they ‘appear’ to die.

En route to the second half of the SIA Gallery upstairs, I find a surprisingly affecting video by Zheng Guogu: Deep Fried Tanks where toy tanks are deep fried and placed in rows. In the upstairs gallery RMB City is an imaginary world created by Cao Fei. Laptops are available to explore this cyber world.

Going Public is not to be missed and is on until 12th December. More info at www.goingpublicsheffield.org.

Monday 26 October 2015

See my review of Peter Doig at the Scottish Queen in Sheffield http://www.thestateofthearts.co.uk/features/there-is-no-wealth-but-life-madeleine-walton-checks-out-peter-doigs-latest-printworks/

There is no wealth but life: Madeleine Walton checks out Peter Doig’s latest printworks

OCTOBER 25, 2015 BY MADELEINE WALTON

Walking through Sheffield railway station and exiting via the back is something I have only done before to get the tram out to Meadowhall but if you cross the tracks and turn left you find yourself in the shadow of the majestic ‘streets in the sky’ that is Park Hill. If you follow on up the road, within minutes you are at the door of the impressive Scottish Queen Gallery located within Park Hill.

Park Hill is a Grade II listed building (and incidentally the largest listed property in Europe) originally built as a ‘walkway in the sky’ (wide enough for a milk float) where Sheffielders living in city centre sub-quality housing in 1961 (overcrowded back to back houses many with outside toilets) were rehoused.

Now Park Hill is a tale of two halves. One half, including the Scottish Queen Gallery, has been stunningly transformed by Urban Splash into trendy urban dwellings. Despite Park Hill being purchased for a nominal £1 in 2005, the new apartments start at an inflated £145,000 and 600 people should be living here by the end of the year. Their colourful panels of red, orange, yellow and green echo a Mondrian painting. Meanwhile the other half of Park Hill, over to the right, remains undeveloped and unloved with smashed windows and metal grilles in abundance patiently awaiting regeneration.

I have to remind myself that I am in Sheffield and not Shoreditch as hipsters who have already moved in next door walk their dachshunds past the debris that evokes a past in which Park Hill became synonymous with drugs, destitution and crime.

The space outside the Scottish Queen Gallery has been beautifully landscaped and planted with flowers and grasses giving an impressive foreground to the Sheffield panorama beyond. Inside the gallery we see the unadorned walls and structural features of the building laid bare. The current exhibition there is no wealth but life / Peter Doig printmaker is a collection of prints owned by one Sheffield resident, Tim Dickson, who has written an informative leaflet to accompany the show telling us that Printmaking for Peter Doig is not just a by-product of his painting but integral to his working process.

The prints exhibited have their origins in film, photography, painting and advertising, however they have been reconfigured from their original context to give new and alternative interpretations. The prints reveal a rare insight into the history of Peter Doig’s art career; from the monochrome prints of the nineteen eighties including Naked City (1986), that reveal his interaction with cityscapes over continents, through to present day works made in his home in Trinidad.

If you are familiar with Peter Doig’s paintings you will recognise their origins in some of these prints, as his completed paintings are often developed from an image that was first made as a print. This is evident in Lapeyrouse Wall (2005) where a man is carrying an umbrella as he walks the length of a wall; this is further developed in the painting of the same name from 2008.

A recurring presence in his paintings is the figure with long dark hair, so it is no surprise to see the same figure here in his prints. Also ever present are canoes. Looking at those canoes I think wistfully that I too could sail away to a distant and less stressful land just as Doig, now living in Trinidad, has done. We can see glimpses of Trinidad as Doig often shows us the view beyond his window in his art works. So it is appropriate that these stunning works on paper sit in a gallery which is all about the views beyond the gallery. How fortunate is Sheffield to have such a fabulous, spacious and light gallery space overlooking the city centre? And what a coup to have the UK’s first exhibition of Peter Doig’s printworks!

Park Hill is an ever present structure that dominates the Sheffield skyline (that some refer to as a monstrous blot on the skyline; not a view I share) but Sheffield residents rarely see it close up. Visiting this gallery and this great exhibition is a good excuse to make your way up to Park Hill and there is the added bonus of a bird’s eye view of the city.

There is no wealth but life / Peter Doig printmaker is on until 24th October at The Scottish Queen, 21-24 South Street, Park Hill, Sheffield S2 5QX. The gallery is open Thursday-Saturday 12-5pm.

Wednesday 15 July 2015

Bank Street Arts Members Show Work in Progress

I have been down at Bank Street today taking part in the Members Show.

I set myself up a table and chair in one of the gallery spaces and then I cut up some magazines and newspapers.

I then placed text at various points around the five galleries at Bank Street.

I also made a collage on the floor of one of the galleries

Wednesday 27 May 2015

Exhibition at Bank Street Arts

I have an exhibition of Upcycling Paintings in the Members' Room at Bank Street Arts in Sheffield.

Bank Street Arts is open Wednesday - Saturday 11am - 4pm. The exhibition will be up until Saturday 11th July.

Each of the seven paintings exhibited was recently bought from a Sheffield charity shop and upcycled using acrylic paint & collage.

Mallee Wheat

Earning My Stripes

Table and Chair

A Sense of Perspective

Less Still Life

Gas Works

Intense Pain

More information about the paintings can be seen on the Upcycling Paintings section of this blog.

The cost of the paintings is as follows:

Mallee Wheat £240

Earning My Stripes £140

Table & Chair £95

A Sense of Perspective £205

Less Still Life £185

Gas Works £245

Intense Pain £295

Saturday 2 May 2015

Open Up

Saturday 2nd May

I was at Bank Street today as part of Open Up.

I made a collage using images from today's Guardian newspaper (2/5/15).

I will be back tomorrow to make another one.

Sunday 3rd May

Another day, another newspaper, another collage.

I have been back at Bank St as part of Open Up.

As it is Sunday I used today's Observer newspaper (3/5/15).

Monday 4th May

My last day at Bank St as part of Open Up.

Using today's Guardian newspaper I made a third collage.

Now all three collages are on the top of the wall of the atrium at Bank Street.

Thursday 30 April 2015

OPEN UP

I will be taking part in OPEN UP this weekend in Sheffield at Bank Street Arts. I will be making collages in situ each morning on Saturday 2nd May, Sunday 3rd May and Monday 4th May. Bank Street opening times 11am -4pm.