|
Art With Strangers Welcomes New Friends
Media Opportunity: There will be an
opportunity to photograph the building of the dry stone wall on Thursday
8th May 12.00noon-3.00pm and to photograph the exhibition on Thursday
15th and Friday 16th May.
Press and media preview on Friday 16th May 12.00noon-2.00pm with Angela
Kingston and Sonja Feldmeier available for interviews
The Turnpike Gallery showcases
international and local artists in its latest exhibition opening on
Saturday 17th May 9.30am-3.30pm until 5 July 2008. Organised by
London-based Angela Kingston, ‘Art with Strangers’ presents artworks
made with other people, who started out as strangers. Featuring film,
photography, drawing and installation, the exhibition includes people
from Switzerland, New York, Edinburgh, London, Wigan and Leigh.
Jordan Baseman’s artwork features a home movie from the North West Film
Archive. Shot by local man Frank Rigby in 1972, it is a personal
time-capsule about the famous Bickershaw Music Festival that took place
a few miles from the Turnpike Gallery. Baseman traced Rigby and
interviewed him, and combined movie and interview to create a ‘then and
now’ artwork about the fragility of memory and the passing of time.
In partnership with Ashton, Leigh and Wigan PCT Kathryn Boyd worked with
homeless people in Wigan and asked them to take photographs with
disposable cameras and their mobile phones. The response was initially
slow, but as Boyd got to know them individually, the homeless people
came forward with images of their daily lives. Boyd then made composite
images, an example of which is a drop-in centre and a make-shift camp.
There are excerpts, too, from her diary which convey her growing
appreciation of her collaborators.
Sitting on a purpose built Dry Stone wall in the gallery, we can view
the work by Swiss artist Sonja Feldmeier, who is exhibiting in the UK
for the first time in Art with Strangers. She made her video Pot Luck
with immigrants in New York, where she asked individuals to create an
image of their home town or country using a plate of their favourite
food and talk about their experiences.
Ben Rivers’ film, This is My Land, is a sympathetic portrait of Jake
Williams, a reclusive individual who lives alone in the middle of a
forest in Aberdeenshire. Anne Elliot has worked closely with Jeanette
Bell, a psychiatric patient at the Royal Edinburgh Hospital. Charlotte
Ginsborg approached people who work in her local shops and Adam Green
placed newspaper advertisements stating that he wanted to photograph
parents with their children.
Also included in the exhibition are the results of an exchange between
young people from Hindley Community High School and students from the
ArtGarage, an afterschool club in North Adams, USA. Having never met,
they have made two-part artworks that they exchanged by post.
A programme of activities and events for children and adults accompanies
the exhibition. Please contact the gallery office for more information
on 01942 404469.
-ends-
NOTES TO EDITORS: For further information on this press release please
contact Georgina Bentley, Marketing Manager, on 01942 486930 or at
g.bentley@wlct.org or Martyn Lucas, Visual Arts Officer / Louise
Clennell, Gallery Co-ordinator on 01942 404469 email
turnpikegallery@wlct.org
Art with Strangers has been specially developed for the Turnpike Gallery
by independent curator Angela Kingston. It is the third in a series of
annual exhibitions curated for the Turnpike Gallery by invited guest
curators. Financial support for the project has come from Wigan Leisure
and Culture Trust; Arts Council England, North West; Pro Helvetia, Swiss
Arts Council; and ArtGarage, North Adams, USA.
The Turnpike Gallery: The Turnpike Gallery is the only purpose built art
gallery in Wigan Borough and is situated within the Turnpike Centre, at
the Civic Square in Leigh, the town’s focal point for a variety of
cultural activities. The Turnpike’s programme of exhibitions and
activities gives visitors the chance to engage with a range of visual
arts and engage in hands-on activities. Please call 01942 404469 or
visit
www.wlct.org/turnpike
Wigan Leisure and Culture Trust: Wigan Leisure and Culture Trust is a
charitable trust working on behalf of Wigan Council to manage and
support leisure and cultural facilities, initiatives and events for over
300,000 residents in the Wigan Borough. See
www.wlct.org
Getting Wigan Active and Improving People’s Lives: is Wigan Leisure and
Culture Trust’s vision to get people across Wigan Borough more
physically, mentally and creatively active. The Trust also aims to have
a positive impact on people’s lives through the wide range of services
it provides.
►
Print this page
►
Return to Trust News
|