Sculpture Placement Group Curators' Talk - Sculpture Showroom, Gi 2018 @GiFestival

Join Sculpture Placement Group for a talk about Sculpture Showroom at Glasgow Sculpture Studios on Sunday 6th May at 3pm. 

Sculpture Placement Group will lead a walk round their newest project Sculpture Showroom, an adoption service for sculptures, seeking to match works of art with new guardians. Participants will be able to learn more about the works included in the exhibition and the wider adoption scheme that includes 95 works, all of which are available for adoption.

The talk will take place on Sunday 6th May at 3pm and will last for around 1hr. Places are free of charge, but places are limited so please book your place using this Eventbrite link https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/sculpture-showroom-curators-tour-tickets-44668794567

Sculpture Showroom takes place at Glasgow Sculpture Studios, The Whisky Bond, 2 Dawson Road, Glasgow, G4 9SS

Sculpture Placement Group hosts Artists and Adoptors Speed Dating Event at Glasgow Sculpture Studios

Sculpture Placement Group would like to invite you to take part in their Artists and Adopters Speed Dating event on Thursday 26th April, 6-8pm at Glasgow Sculpture Studios, The Whisky Bond, 2 Dawson Road, Glasgow, G4 9SS.



This event accompanies Sculpture Showroom, an adoption service for sculptures, seeking to match works of art with new guardians. It will bring together artists and prospective adopters to meet, talk about sculptures offered for adoption, spaces that may be available for the display of works, new audiences for the work and to perhaps even start the adoption process. The event will use a ‘speed dating’ format to allow participants to meet and learn about many different sculptures and organisations/groups in the one evening.

Places are free of charge, but places are limited so please book your place using Eventbrite https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/artists-and-adopters-speed-dating-event-artists-tickets-45172778998

Opening of Sculpture Showroom, 21st April 3-5pm at Glasgow Sculpture Studios

I am pleased to be contributing to Sculpture Showroom, an adoption service for sculptures, seeking to match works of art with new guardians. The project is conceived and curated by Sculpture Placement Group (SPG), a new organisation seeking to prolong the lifespan of sculptural works.

For Sculpture Showroom, SPG have worked with artists to identify sculptural works in long-term storage with no current future that they are happy to offer for adoption by community groups and other organisations. Sculpture Showroom will bring sculptural joy into people’s daily lives and will test a new model for circulating artworks, increasing access to art ownership and alleviating artists of the pressures of storage and space. Let’s give work hidden in storage a new life!

When looking through the catalogue I realised how many of the artworks are stored by members of the artist's family. From my Granny's garage to the attic of Miriam Mallalieu's ex-boyfriend, artwork is being stored, and indeed hidden, in all kinds of 'empty' space.

Sculpture Showroom will act as a pilot for SPG’s ongoing sculpture adoption scheme and is launched as part of Glasgow International Festival of Visual Art 2018. There are 95 works by 54 artists currently offered for adoption and these are presented within a catalogue and exhibition. All works included are available for adoption during the festival and beyond. 

The catalogue includes: Alex Allan, Beth Shapeero, Tom Alan, Daisy Richardson, Jennifer Wicks, Laura Aldridge & Anna Mayer, Laura Aldridge, Tessa Lynch, Victoria Evans, Cate Newton, Catalina Barroso-Luque, Helen Shaddock, Tim Sandys, Louise Gibson, Allison and Bray, Thom Rees, Beagles & Ramsay, Oona Wilkinson, Craig Coulthard, Nick Evans, Louise Barrington, Graham Fagen, James McLardy, Ally Wallace, Raymond Strachan, Zsofia Jakab, Marcin Krupa, Alys Owen, Littlewhitehead, Elaine Allison, Arieh Frosh, Janie Nicoll, Joseph Buckley, Jolanta Dolewska, Elke Finkenauer, David Sherry, Laura Buttons, Oliver Braid, WeiKeong Tan, Lada Wilson, Mary Redmond, Rachel Barron, Andrew Lacon, Emma Pratt, Felix Welch, Corrie Thomson, Rae-Yen Song, Kevin Andrew Morris, Ellie Harrison, Graeme Durant, Leontios Toumpouris, Hannah Imlach, Kate V Robertson, Toby Paterson, Rachel Lowther, Ilana Halperin and Jock Mooney. 

The exhibition includes: Laura Aldridge, Beagles and Ramsay, Mary Redmond, Andrew Lacon, Rachel Lowther, Nick Evans, Felix Welch and Littlewhitehead.

Sculpture Showroom will run from 20th April - 7th May at Glasgow Sculpture Studios, The Whisky Bond, 2 Dawson Road, Glasgow, G4 9SS.

For more information please visit https://sculptureplacementgroup.org.uk/

I'm taking part in an adoption scheme for modern sculpture

An adoption scheme for modern sculpture is being launched by a group of contemporary artists in Glasgow, and I am delighted to be part of it.

Sculpture Placement Group, (L-R) Kate V Robertson, Michelle Emery-Barker and Martin Craig 

The Sculpture Placement Group will give charities and other organisations the chance to borrow sculptures which are currently in long-term storage.

Organisers say it will provide an opportunity to take artworks to places they would not otherwise be shown.

The scheme will be piloted at Glasgow Sculpture Studios as part of Glasgow International 2018, which takes place 20 April to 7 May. A selection of works will be displayed in mock environments designed by the artists, with a larger number of works also available via an accompanying catalogue.

Adoption will be free but "guardians" will take responsibility for care and display of the artwork.

The move follows previous success with the innovative Art Lending Library.

Kate V Robertson, one of the three curators behind the project, said there is "loads of enthusiasm" within the art community for the idea.

She said: "All over the country there are superb sculptures by respected artists that are hidden away and have no clear future when they could be seen and enjoyed by new and wider audiences.

"The art market puts a lot of emphasis on new work by sculptors with little provision for what happens to pieces after an exhibition is over. Some is destroyed but the artists put much of it into long-term storage.

"We've been talking to artists about whether they would like to give new life to some of their work by offering it for adoption and the response has been great, loads of enthusiasm."




Glasgow artist Rachel Lowther said she is looking forward to seeing who comes forward to adopt the pieces she is putting forward.

She said: "My studio is full of sculpture now and it can be a problem finding space to create anything new. Sculptors either have to keep work in their studios or pay extra for storage.

"This is a great experiment - it is better to have art out in the world than in boxes. A sculpture is a better place to meet and talk than a water cooler."



Fellow artist Nick Evans said: "A few years ago I was invited to do a solo exhibition at Tramway, which was great, I really threw myself into creating the pieces. There were a dozen large plaster sculptures around 1.5m tall and weighing 100kg each.

"I didn't want to destroy them afterwards - it was a significant moment in my career. I swapped one with my landlord for two shipping containers and space in the back yard to store the rest.

"The prospect of finding more interesting spaces and ways to display this work really interests me, as does the whole idea of giving a new sense of value to the work."

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-43127639


https://www.a-n.co.uk/news/brief-glasgow-artists-launch-sculpture-adoption-scheme-peckhams-arcadia-missa-relocate-due-gentrification

Artists to question politicians over fair pay in political hustings

Scottish artists campaigning for "fair pay" from galleries are to challenge political candidates in an election style-hustings event this weekend.

Two artist membership organisations, A-N and the Scottish Artists Union (SAU) will host an event in Glasgow with representatives political candidates from major parties.

The cultural hustings will be held at The Whisky Bond on Saturday, May 2.

The event will be chaired by Jim Tough, executive director of the Saltire Society, alongside a cultural panel that includes Kyla McDonald, artistic director of Glasgow Sculpture Studios, artist Sukaina Kubba, academic Emma Flynn and a representative from the Scottish Artists Union. 

The political panel will include Moira Crawford of the Green Party, Chris Young from the Liberal Democrats, Gordon McCaskill, Conservative, Brian Smith, Trade Union and Socialist Coalition, with an SNP and Labour candidate to be announced.

Janie Nicoll, an artist, said: "Some publicly-funded galleries pay artists fairly, others don't and getting them to be transparent and open about their payment policies is the first step to making sure we all get proper payment for the work we do.

"The hustings debate is about raising the awareness of election candidates so they understand the importance of the issue and use their influence to encourage galleries to spend tax payers' money in a way which supports fair payment."

The event is part of a nationwide campaign Paying Artists campaign based on research showing that 71% of artists do not get a fee for exhibiting in publicly funded galleries - with 63% of artists having to turn down gallery requests because they cannot afford to exhibit for nothing. 

The event coincides with the artist-led city wide Glasgow Open House Festival in which artists will showcase new work or ideas within public and domestic locations. 

This year the programme features 200 artists across 50 venues.

Phil Miller, Arts Correspondent

http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/home-news/artists-to-question-politicians-over-fair-pay-in-political-hustings.124639764

Fabric dyeing at the Whisky Bond

Coinciding with the opening of the new exhibition, Liquid Assets, by Danish artist Nina Beier, Glasgow Sculpture Studios had programmed a range of artist-led workshops. I was delighted to get a place on the Fabric Dyeing workshop, lead by textile practitioner Kathy Beckett.

I had no idea what to expect, and thought it would be a great opportunity to learn about something I had never done before.

Kathy is an avid colourist, and the interaction / psychology of colour has always been intrinsic to her work as a textile practitioner. Recently she has been learning about the impact that the production of colour can have on our environment. One of her particular concerns is the need for ecodesign. She hopes to encourage other designers, artists and creative practitioners to be aware that their choices have consequences and that they can be and are part of the universal need for a more ecological economy. Her blog, www.colour-ecology.co.uk gives more information on this work, and her website http://cargocollective.com/kathybeckettdesign covers all aspects of her textile practice.


We learned about natural methods of dyeing fabric. A variety of yarns were provided, and we made hanks from these. We then mordanted the hanks so that the dyes take to the fabric.

Kathy had foraged a variety of plants from the local area from which we could dye the yarns. We used meadowsweet, ragwort, ivy, comfrey and cow parsley. The plants were added to boiling water, simmered, and the yarns were added into the pans, and left.

We also did some cold dyeing, using beetroot and cabbage.

We wrapped silk round wooden blocks, and then  wrapped yarn around the silk.

These were dipped into the beetroot/cabbage liquid and left for a while before removing and washing under cold water. The yarn was removed and silk opened out to reveal the unique patterns made on the fabric.

Even though we did not have much time to leave the fabric in the dyes, I was surprised at how vibrant the colours of the fabric were.

It was a really enjoyable couple of hours, and something I would like to do more of.

Friday 20th April

Day 1

Theresa Margolles - Glasgow Sculpture Studios





Karla Black - Gallery of Modern Art