Conrad Atkinson becomes a patron of South Square

Following his exhibition here earlier this year (Dreams of Permanence, Hopes of Transience), internationally renowned artist Conrad Atkinson has agreed to become a patron of South Square. 

In April 2011 I worked with the team at South Square Gallery on my solo show 'Dreams of Permanence, Hopes of Transience' and would like to put on record my appreciation of the team's work on this complex show. Their sensitivity to the work and the issues it raised were imressive as was their attention to detail and their work on the catalogue.

They collaborated creatively with me and curated the pieces with such enthusiasm and care that much of the works gained more meanings and resonances than they had in other venues in Europe or New York. It is due to their input that the show meshed perfectly with contemporary contentious issues such as immigration and carefully integrated this with the legacy of the Brontes so present in Thornton still.

The opening was revealing in the range of its demographic, and the presence of two yound women drawing Mehindi on the hands of a range of guests was an inventive initiative. The harmonious relationships with a diverse community and the negotiations with the works and the issues it excavated were very well considered.

The success of the show was due in large part to the efforts of this unique team and its fertile relationship both with art and its practice and its integrity with the local community, its history, its traditions and its present concerns.

Conrad Atknison NDD., ATD (dist)., ADF (Manc)., Cert RAS (Hons).

Honorary Fellow University of Cumbria.

Distinguished Visiting Professor Courtauld Institute.

Professor Emeritus University of California.

New Studio Holder : Stephan Marshall

Stephen Marshall is an artist recently moved from Manchester, where he completed his Illustration degree specialising in Printmaking. His work is primarily drawing and print focused, most recently with largescale woodcuts and colour reductions. He has also produced lithographs and etchings.

 
His woodcuts were recently published in Varoom in an upcoming graduate feature. Juxtapoz magazine has described his work as "slightly off putting and wonderfully personal". He has exhibited throughout the UK as well as New York and Australia.

The work is large scale and full of details, with codes and private jokes inviting the viewer to step closer and be directly involved in his work. Exploring universal themes and the human experience through personal narratives, Stephen describes his work as "holding a mirror up to myself then turning it outwards". Including fragmented memories and references to previous pieces, often a badly placed joke or highlighted mistake will be used to distract the viewer from a self conscious subject.

The private moments are there for all to see and invoke a personal response in the viewer. Text  creates further imagery in the mind of the viewer, building up layers in the imagination to add to what is displayed on paper. Sometimes the text simply offers the viewer instructions to interpret the many layers of his work: clues to navigate the initial lack of order. 

Stephen prefers to talk about the work on an individual basis rather than a whole, and his new series of woodcuts work as pieces that stand alone as well as being part of a larger ongoing narrative. The woodcuts explore changes in situation and environment and the liberations and constrictions which accompany that. Stephen's recent work shows his developing interest in pattern and decoration and the aesthetics of mark making to communicate narrative, moving away from detailing the specifics of a subject.

www.stephenmarshall.co.uk
info@stephenmarshall.co.uk

Alfie Strong | Artist in Residence | Review on artmagazine.co.uk

A review of Alfie's residency is now up on articlemagazine.co.uk. To read this review please click here.

New studio holder: Christine Hinchliffe

South Square has recently welcomed a new studio holder, Christine Hinchcliffe, who currently has some works on display in our Sculpture Garden. Christine studied at Leeds College of Art 2006-2008 and gained a BA [Hons] Fine Art from Bradford College 2011.

Her most recent works include:

On the Edge Festival at the Temple Works Leeds July 2011 an installation using linen thread and wool slub.

Bradford Open 2011 an embossed print

Sculpture - Elder Web made using Elder and jute South Square Sculpture Garden May 2011

Sound Installation Bradford College 2010 a CD of this work is held in their permanent collection

She is currently exhibiting and curating with a number of fellow recent graduates from Bradford College. The exhibition entitled “Sofa......so good” is on from Aug 3^rd to Sept 3^rd at Bradford Playhouse Cafe/Cellar Bar, Chapel Street, Bradford 

'I work in an organic and intuitive way using natural and found materials that allow the beauty of the materials to be seen using a wide variety of mediums such as print, installation, sculpture, and sound. I like exploring the ephemeral quality of memory and the spaces it inhabits and the transient nature of our lives and the things we collect along the way.'

'I am excited and looking forward to my time at South Square and exploring the landscape around Thornton, an area that is new to me.'

Christine Hinchliffe

Installation week: Emmy Twigge

We are currently installing our July exhibition by Emmy Twigge, a collection of works (including pictures and sculpture) which attempt to manifest feelings as physical objects.

The preview night will commence at 7pm on Friday 1st of July and continue until 9pm. There will also be a live art performance from 6:30 to 7:30 at the Square. For more information about the exhibition and the performance please visit our website and we hope to see you all there on the night!

Sculpture Garden at South Square

On Saturday the 21st May the Sculpture Garden at South Square was opened with a lively afternoon tea party.

The artists were joined by their familes and friends to celebrate the launch of the newly revamped outdoor exhibition space.

Visit our website for further information

The Sculpture Garden is open to visitors during our normal opening hours at the gallery, Tues - Sun 12:00 - 15:00

Henna At South Square

In Conrad's Exhibition in the Gallery the artwork 'Let Me In' incorporates photographs of female hands decorated with Henna.

Conrad worked with Asian ladies in West Yorkshire and the tattoo's have words from Emily Brontë's poems translated into Urdu and Gujarati. Here are some photographs of people having Henna tattoo's on Conrad's opening.

Photo's of Daytrippers Art Tours Friday 15th April 2011

Here are some photo's from the Daytrippers art tours at South Square on  Friday the 15th of April.

Scratch Print Studios Opening 01 April at South Square

Scratch Print Studios (a new business venture by Andy Rushworth, Fine Art Framer at South Square) will be opening on 01 April. For more information you can visit his website at www.scratch-studios.co.uk or click on the image below.

New Studio Holder | Lisa Naylor

Lisa Naylor was born in Bradford 1983. She studied Art and Design at Bradford College, completing her degree in 2010.

Lisa’s work currently approaches the subject of control, of being made to conform to societal expectations. She explores expectations of performance, entrapment, and the balances between freedom and domination. Her work explores fear, violence (particularly within this so-called social recession), the supposed influx in violent behavior and deterioration of society and morals. She enjoys exploring social and political ideas and concepts through painting.

Solo exhibitions

2010 Rushworth's Fine Art

Group exhibitions

2010 Bradford Degree show, Yorkshire craft centre

21^st -24^th  July 2010 Bradford Playhouse, Little Germany, Bradford

2010 Saatchi Gallery, London

24^th Aug – 24^th sept Brahm Gallery, Headingly, Leeds

Artist's Statement

The area in which I work is mainly paint.  I consider my work  expressionist. Initially I work very fast, encouraging expressive mark making into something. Rather than controlling the paint, I let the paint do what it wants and select parts I feel are constructive in terms of form building.  I find the journey from abstraction to realism really interesting.   

More recently I have been working from photographs as I feel it gives you a better chance to dissect the colors. I work with different types of paint. I enjoy experimenting and mixing different methods and techniques and trying to push the boundaries a little.

Rather than restricting myself to a strict brief I prefer to work quite freely, painting what I feel like at the time.  When I have come up with a body of work I then go through it and decide what fits with my brief.

Refugee Workshops

On Wednesday the 23rd of February South Square, in partnership with BIASAN(an organisation working with refugees in Bradford), held a day of workshops with a local group of refugees. They took part in creative and dancing workshops in response to the various exhibitions on display at South Square.

Artist's Profile: Hondartza Fraga

I would like to take this opportunity to introduce Hondartza Fraga, who is currently exhibiting at South Square for this month (see "Ever Remote, Ever There").

Hondartza Fraga, currently based in Sheffield, was born in Galicia, Spain. After a BA degree at The University of the Basque Country she completed an MA degree in Fine Art at Sheffield Hallam University in 2007. She has exhibited nationally (Liverpool, Leeds, London) and internationally (Portugal, Turkey, Italy, Norway).

Working primarily with video, photography and drawing, Hondartza’s work researches the emotional dependency relation between person, object and image. She is interested in tensions between different image-making systems, analogue and digital technologies and how they affect the way we understand images. Earlier in 2010 she did an artist-in-residence stay at LKV studios in Trondheim, Norway, from which some of the works in this exhibition have originated. 

Hondartza’s latest work revolves around the ideas of home and of elsewhere, exploring what it may mean to be lost in between. From drawing to video, original to found, "Ever remote, ever there" is an exhibition of works that seek to re-interpret the fictional and elusive character of home and the unknown. 

Conrad Atkinson | Tate Britain

Conrad Akinson, who will be having an exhibition at South Square over April and May this year, has revealed that he has recently had a piece put on display in Tate Britain. The artwork (pictured below) was commissioned by the Arts Council of Northern Ireland and the Irish Congress of trades Unions northern Committee in 1975. 

 

Conrad Atkinson "A shade of green: an orange edge: Mayday 1968/1975"

The piece is made up of approximately 70 photos and 35 texts and will be on display for several months. This work has previously been exhibited in such prestigious galleries as the Arts Council Gallery Northern Ireland (1975), Feldman Fine Art new York (1979), Hirshhorn Museum (1982) and others including the Pompidou Centre in Paris.