Introduction to Art Licks, currently in residence at The NewBridge Project

Last night's event at The NewBridge Project was a chance to meet Holly Willats, founder and Director of Art Licks, and hear her introduce the new project that she has just begun with The NewBridge Project. 

Holly began by giving a potted history of the life of Art Licks, and introduced us to it's various facets.


After graduating with an English Degree from Newcastle University, Holly returned to London and began working in a commercial Gallery. She wanted to meet artists, talk ideas, and see non-commercial art, but felt frustrated about how difficult it was to find information about artist-led galleries and art networks. Her response was to establish Art Licks. It began, in 2010, as a website listing the exhibitions and events happening in London at artist run spaces, project spaces, galleries, collectives, curatorial groups and non-profit galleries and organisations.

In it's 10-year history, Art Licks has expanded

"to provide an essential platform and voice for the lesser-known and under-represented activities that form the grassroots of visual culture in London. Art Licks exists as a website, tours, printed magazine, learning programme, commissioning programme and annual London-wide festival: the Art Licks Weekend, all supporting the work of artists at a critical early stage in their careers, providing the situation to create new networks & audiences. This has become vital given the financial pressures on UK-based artists with increased costs of living, lack of studio provision & competitive funding streams."

For 2020, Art Licks are carrying out a new project for its printed magazine: producing three issues from different cities across the country, starting with Newcastle.

This trilogy of Art Licks magazine aims to explore the varying practices and artist communities across the country: their entrepreneurial methods of collaboration, structures of support, adventurous programming and tactics for sustainability. Based from Newcastle, Birmingham, and Bristol; with host partners The NewBridge Project, Recent Activity, and east bristol contemporary.

Newcastle is the first of the three cities to host Holly, and conversations sparked during the three-week residency at The NewBridge Project will form the basis of the magazine. Rebecca Huggan, director of The NewBridge Project, will guest co-edit the magazine.

Holly and Rebecca had a few prompts and questions to get the group thinking and talking about what we would like the Newcastle Art Licks to include.

To follow the project blog with updates from Newcastle visit

http://blog.artlicks.com/art-licks-trilogy-newcastle-introduction/

I'm looking forward to talking more with Holly and seeing how the project develops.

Dialogues 5: The NewBridge Project : Gateshead

Dialogues 5: The NewBridge Project : Gateshead
6 - 8 November 2018



Exhibition launch: Tuesday 6 November, 5:30-8pm
Open crits: Wednesday 7 November, 1-4pm
The value of critique: Thursday 8 November, 10am-12pm

To mark the culmination of Mark Devereux Projects’ (MDP) critical mentoring project, Dialogues 5, MDP will be in residence in The NewBridge Project gallery space, holding three public events that will consider the value of critique. An exhibition of new and recent artwork from the project’s participating artists – Shaun C. Badham, Holly Davey, Hannah Leighton-Boyce, Hollie Miller, and Amy & Oliver-Thomas-Irvine – will act as the catalyst for these discussions.

Over four days, the artists and MDP team will be working in the gallery testing out new developments within their respective practices, from materials to the methods of display. This test-bed approach will be informed by the extensive conversations between MDP, the artists and their assigned curatorial mentor that have taken place throughout Dialogues 5. The results can be seen at an opening between 5.30-8pm Tuesday 6 November.

Critical dialogue lies at the heart of Dialogues 5, featuring two different opportunities to further engage with this important element of artistic practice. We invite audiences to attend an open crit session to discuss the work on display in the exhibition with the artists on Wednesday 7 November. The residency will conclude with an open discussion on the morning of Thursday 8 November, which will assess the importance of critical dialogue to artists in developing their practices. Attendees are encouraged to actively contribute their thoughts, experiences and perspectives during the event.

Director Mark Devereux says, “The NewBridge Project is the perfect venue to mark the culmination of Dialogues 5. The participating artists will use the residency to test experimental new works and methodologies, which they’ve been formulating over the past eight months, as an important step in translating these discussions into their respective practices.”

Further information

The NewBridge Project : Gateshead
232-240 High Street
Gateshead
NE8 1AQ
www.thenewbridgeproject.com



Dialogues 5 is a major new project from Mark Devereux Projects providing tailored critique and mentoring for five visual artists. Selected from a national open call application process, the participating artists attended a five-day creative retreat at Clayhill Arts, Somerset, in June. The critical dialogue held before, during and after the retreat set-up curatorial mentoring between the artists and assigned mentors: Fiona Bradley (Director, Fruitmarket Gallery), David Kefford & Sarah Evans (Aid & Abet), Katie Hickman (Curator, BALTIC), Claire Mander (Director, theCoLAB) and Nathaniel Pitt (Director, Division of Labour). Dialogues 5 is supported by Arts Council England, Clayhill Arts and The NewBridge Project. Please visit markdevereuxprojects.com/artistdevelopment/dialogues-5 for more information.

The NewBridge Project is an active and vibrant artist-led community supporting the development of artists and curators through the provision of space for creative practice, curatorial opportunities and an ambitious artist-led programme of exhibitions, commissions, artist development and events. The NewBridge Project was established in 2010 to provide exchange and support in an engaged and discursive community of artists. We develop artistic talent through artist development programmes, curatorial opportunities and provision of space. The shared workspace is a critical and collaborative environment that allows artists to discuss and develop new ideas and projects.


Image: Horst (London) | Amy & Oliver Thomas-Irvine | 2018 | installation view: Averard Hotel, London | image courtesy of the artist


Mark Devereux Projects is currently supported by:

 

Copyright © 2018 Mark Devereux Projects, All rights reserved.

Introducing Spoken Word Artist Brandon Wint - fellow participant in the Banff Spoken Word Programme

Brandon Wint is a poet, spoken word artist, and prominent teacher of writing, currently living in Edmonton, Alberta. He is, perhaps, best known for his ability to meaningfully articulate the mysteries of love, romance and kindness in his poetry. He is a poet who uses the potential of writing and speaking to articulate the beauties of the world, and where possible, the silver-linings that underscore the ugliness and struggle that is inherent to the human condition. His typically soft-spoken, musical and delicately-rendered spoken word pieces have garnered attention and admiration from audience members across Canada and in far-away places like England and Australia, where his life and work have been showcased on radio and in print. He is a two-time national slam champion, the author of one collection of poetry, Love, Our Master (In/Words Magazine and Press, 2014) and one recently-released album entitled The Long Walk Home.

Introducing Spoken Word Artist Philip Wilcox - fellow participant in the Banff Spoken Word Programme

Philip is the 2015/16 Australian Poetry Slam Champion as well as a two-time New South Wales Slam Champion. He tours nationally and internationally, performing at festivals such as the Ubud Writers’ Festival, Sydney Writers’ Festival, Bookworm Literary Festival in Beijing and the Byron Bay Writers’ Festival.

He is also a (sometimes) playwright having written two plays for the Sydney Fringe Festival – The Staffroom (2012) and Thursday (2013) which was voted the most popular comedy play of the festival.

He is just about to release his first published collection of poems Beetle Prayer with Pitt Street Poetry.

Introducing Spoken Word Artist Mitcholos - fellow participant in the Banff Spoken Word Programme

Mitcholos is a Yuułuʔiłʔatḥ/ Nuučaan̓uɫ artist from a tiny reservation with no hopes or aspirations that anybody would chase if they had a MODICUM of sanity – which is convenient ‘cause after 500 years of degradation in what is Colonially Known As Canada – sanity is in woefully short supply; which makes his people fun. One Housekeeping Note: Be sure to wipe your white tears during and after the show, though they be potent, are worth nothing. Until you invent technology that runs strictly on white tears – technology that doesn’t destroy the environment or enslave colored children somewhere – it’s worth nothing here beyond sating and stroking Mitcholos’ own exhibitionist, histrionic ego. Enjoy.

Introducing Spoken Word Artist Isabelle St-Pierre - fellow participant in the Banff Spoken Word Programme

Isabelle St-Pierre has been making her voice heard as a Canadian poet, slammer and storyteller for over 20 years in Québec, Ontario, Acadia and France. As the daughter of an immigrant mother, she carries within herself the gentle melancholy of the nomad, of the wandering Jew. Through her own identity and territorial questions, she paints realistic portraits, addressing difficult and sensitive subjects such as poverty, working class life, everyday violence and injustice. Close to folk and protest song, hers is a committed word that aspires to be a tool for social change. Since 2005, she has been leading and running dozens of shows, open mikes, contests, and workshops, in different venues and festivals. From 2005 to 2010, she directed the storytelling /slam component of l’État d’Urgence, refugee camp (ATSA) , mobilizing more than 20 artists for the event and providing a space for homeless voices to be heard. Since 2012, she has actively been organizing and hosting the Montréal Slam Sessions, a monthly event featuring spoken word artists and an open mike formula. In January 2016, she created an unprecedented event with Caroline N.Hotte (CBC North), Paroles Fauves: a poetic vigil to fight violence against aboriginal women.

Introducing Spoken Word Artist Heath V. Salazar - fellow participant in the Banff Spoken Word Programme

Heath V. Salazar is a Dora Award-winning latinx actor/singer/ dancer/writer, born in Canada, who performs as male, female and gender variant. They’re one of the original creators of the new Canadian musical, Chasse-Galerie. It was with this production that they won a Dora Award for Outstanding Performance - Ensemble and were also nominated under Outstanding Production in the Independent Theatre Devision. Over the past year, they were a regular on Season 4 of the award-winning webseries, Out With Dad, with whom they also worked as a script consultant. Other credits include We Are Not the Others (partnership between McMaster University and Izad Etemadi), the devised theatre piece Suitcases (R. Saracino Productions), TOUGH! (directed by Ken Gass, ENSEMBLE Canadian Youth Theatre), This is the August (Young Prince Collective), Dance Animal (Best of Fringe 2016, Dance Animal), The Vagina Monologues (Adam Samson Theatre), choreographer and featured dancer in Gossip (mojopro films) and The Victor Singers (the choir featured in Josh Groban’s Toronto performance of his Stages tour). This Spring, they’re set to play Goneril in Language, a multilingual film adaption of Shakespeare’s King Lear. Heath is also the fluid drag king, Gay Jesus. Bushy. Bearded. Blasphemously blessed.

Introducing Spoken Word Artist Luke Wren Reid - fellow participant in the Banff Spoken Word Programme

Born at the Huntsman, Meander, Tasmania, 10am 14th of January in the back garden, Luke Wren Reid was raised in the Meander Valley by his mother.

Luke began writing at an early age. At twenty two Luke moved to Sydney to pursue his studies in screen writing at AFTRS. There he was introduced to Filmmaker and artist Christina Conrad; Luke’s time spent under Conrad’s mentorship has had a profound effect on his work.

After several years working in film and television in Spain Luke returned to Tasmania. In 2014 he won the Launceston Spoken word event ‘Slamduggery’ taking on the role as organiser later that year. Luke’s work as Director has seen the event grow into the Tasmania’s largest monthly poetry event, fostering the work of several local artists who have gone on to become poets in their own right.

Luke’s work has been widely acclaimed both locally and nationally In 2014 and 2015 Luke represented Tasmania in the National final of the Australian Poetry Slam at the Sydney Opera house. Luke has been a featured poet at writers festivals, solo performances as well as a host of local events, rallies and public showcases.

Introducing Spoken Word Artist B.A. Markus - fellow participant in the Banff Spoken Word Programme

B.A. Markus is a writer, teacher and performer who lives in Montreal. She is an award-winning creative nonfiction writer, a Juno- nominated song writer, and her reviews, essays and stories can be found in anthologies and publications such as Carte Blanche, Queen’s Quarterly and The Montreal Review of Books. She can be seen telling stories at Confabulation and The Yarn storytelling events and is currently writing a series of monologues entitled, “What Mommy Needs”, about what mothers do to survive the realities of mothering.

Introducing Spoken Word Artist David Leduc - fellow participant in the Banff Spoken Word Programme

David Leduc, aka Le Grand Slack, is a Spoken Word artist who has been on the Quebec slam scene since 2008.

Along with his musicians, he has performed his show throughout the province, in addition to offering slam workshops in high schools and CEGEPs. From 2012 to 2016, he organized and hosted « Figures de Style », a monthly open-mic event at bar Les Pas Sages in Montreal. He is currently working on an upcoming EP that should be released this fall. « Cassé », his first single has risen to the top of the independent radio charts, and its videoclip was a hit on Musique Plus.

He is a member of the organizational committee of Slamontréal since 2017 as well as a a regular contributor to Radio-Canada’s literary show “Plus on est de fous, plus on lit !”

Introducing Spoken Word Artist Kym Dominique-Ferguson - fellow participant in the Banff Spoken Word Programme

Kym Dominique-Ferguson is who and what you get when you blend together the polarizing languages and cultures of Jamaica, Haiti and Canada. Born on the 11th of September 1980, Ferguson always felt the lull of greatness, and throughout the years, with humility, gratitude and openness to learning, his goals and achievements match that pull.

Ferguson has made some big strides in the community, creating fixtures such as the Art of Performing Aural Sex (Erotic Poetry Show), Madpoetix Soirées Intimes (Open Mic night) and recently,the Phenomenal 5IVE (mulit-disciplinary showcase); all of which are highly anticipated events by the Montreal spoken word lovers in the city. Sensing a need to return to his Theatrical roots, Ferguson joined the Black Theatre Workshop Artist Mentorship Program. This has been a defining moment in his career as an actor. Though absent from the Theatre community for a decade and a half, his is swiftly gaining traction.

During his time in the 2015-2016 Black Theatre Workshop Artist Mentorship Program he has launched his first spoken word album: Born Jamhaitianadian on March 11, 2016. Now he is currently working on adapting his autobiographical screenplay into a theatre play that will be presented as a one-man show. He has also landed roles
in short films, commercials and others all while simultaneously producing his regular events.

A workaholic whose love is entrenched in art, with humility, gratitude and an openness to learning Kym Dominique-Ferguson continues to strive towards greatness.

Introducing Spoken Word Artist Nardine Gharsa - fellow participant in the Banff Spoken Word Programme

Nardine, often introduced to the stage as “Queen Nardine,” values authenticity and integrity in her writing. Through her poetry and music she communicates as if her performances were a conversation between two individuals, separating out the world’s tangles to uncover truths, much like the tangled curls she has learned to love. She symbolises all that it means to be a woman coming into power, with a perfect balance of strength and humility in her art. Her unique ability to effortlessly flow complex ideas through voice and melody wins hearts immediately and has quickly established her as one of Sydney’s most exciting performers. She is dropping her debut EP this year, that will surely see her develop into an Australian hip hop and story-telling icon.

Introducing Spoken Word Artist Audrey Lane Cockett - fellow participant in the Banff Spoken Word Programme

Audrey Lane is a poet, spoken word artist, arts organizer, gardener, and dreamer.

Her rhythmic and multi dimensional metaphors capture and immerse you in work that explores wildness outside and in.

Themes of mental health awareness, the natural world, and gender equality often percolate into her poems.

In the daylight hours she works as a park naturalist and outdoor educator in Calgary, Alberta.

She is an alumnus of the Canadian Wilderness Artist Residency on the Yukon River and the Victoria Spoken Word Festival. She was a member of Calgary’s 2016 Slam Poetry Team, represented Victoria at the Canadian Individual Poetry Slam in 2014, and has been published in the Journal of Wild Culture.

During her travels she has followed poetry into countless cafes, bar basements, riverbanks, street corners, theatres, and community halls. She has not once regretted it.

Audrey Lane believes art is an avenue for strengthening community, education, and connection to place. She is invested in exploring poetry and its intersections with other art forms, learning, teaching, healing, and change.

Website: www.audreylane.xyz

Introducing Spoken Word Artist William Beale - fellow participant in the Banff Spoken Word Programme

WILLIAM BEALE is an Australian spoken word poet whose work has been called “a boy howling his way into the world, despite all its muzzles.” Author and composer of debut poetry collection and album, THEY CALL US LOUD (Perfect Binding Press), William represented Victoria as one of the top 15 Australian poets of 2016 at the Australian Poetry Slam in the Sydney Opera House.

Former Creative Producer of Melbourne’s Slamalamadingdong, Co-founder of Malaysia’s If Walls Could Talk, winner of the 10th BOH Cameronian Awards for Best Book & Lyrics, and a handful of Australasian slam cups. William shares and creates stages around Asia Pacific, pursuing performance art, coaching high school slams, organising poetry events and doing the word things.

Introducing Spoken Word Artist Britta Badour - fellow participant in the Banff Spoken Word Programme

Britta B. is a spoken word poet and arts educator. Originally from Kingston, ON, she now resides in Toronto’s Regent Park. Britta has performed on stages across North America and continues to collaborate with community organizations like UNITY Charity, RISE Edutainment, Leave Out Violence Ontario (LOVE) and The Stephen Lewis Foundation. When she’s not writing or educating, Britta is emceeing breakdance battles, acting in community theatre plays and travelling abroad.

Banff Spoken Word residency - day 1

Day 1 Schedule

Program Orientation - Room 313, Jeanne & Peter Lougheed Building

Opening Circle - Room 313, Jeanne & Peter Lougheed Building
Campus Tour - Meet at room 313, Jeanne & Peter Lougheed Building

Welcome Reception - Maclab Bistro


What a privalege it is to be here, not only in the stunning landscape, but with such an amazingly talented group of spoken word artists. 

I listened in awe as each individual introduced themselves and shared an original piece of work with the group. Over the course of the next couple of weeks I will be posting about each member of the group, both the participants and the faculty.

Although he belongs to neither of the aforementioned groups, I need to introduce Jim. 

With his knowledge, warmth and love of a good story, Jim's grandfather-like figure made for an ideal tour-guide of the campus.

Jim gave us behind the scenes access to the wardrobe department where the costumes are made for the various theatre, dance and performances happening on campus. 

We were shown 'The Club', where we will be sharing our work with the public at the end of the residency, and finished the tour with a visit to the library. It has a wealth of resources including an object library.

This is a collection of objects that can be borrowed in the same way we borrow books. It includes a plant, a stress ball and a pair of binoculars. What a great idea!

Prior to the welcome reception in the evening, Audrey-Lane and I walked down to the river and got very excited about the sound of snow crunching and the creaking of the ice. 

We marvelled at the ice formations, and noticed a lot of clumps of animal hair caught in the ice.

We will return with the recording devices that we have booked to hire!

Super exciting news - Banff Centre here I come!

I am over the moon to have received the very exciting news from the Banff Centre in Canada that I have been accepted to their Spoken Word residency.



The Banff Centre’s Spoken Word program is the first of its kind, offering a unique setting for artists to explore and develop their voices and career paths. This intensive program investigates a variety of topics from the spoken word tradition, such as history, composition, performance, new and multi-media, production, business/touring, musicality, orality, sound, spirit, language, body, and theatre. Past participants have gone on to become poet laureates, literary award-winners, festival producers, touring artists, authors, actors, educators, editors and more.



I will have dedicated time to develop my own project with guidance from world-class faculty mentors. Throughout the program I will be able to take advantage of workshops, special events, public readings, studio recording time, one-on-one editorial assistance from experienced writers and the opportunity to engage with a vibrant network of international artists.




The residency is in April 2017, so in the next couple of months I will be saving pennies and trying to source further funding to cover the rather expensive travel costs. If you happen to know of any suitable funding options, please let me know!

Piotr Piasta: The Realm of Forgotten Existence at The Granary Gallery, Berwick-upon-Tweed

I first met Piotr Piasta towards the end of 2014 when he gave an artist talk at ISIS Arts in Newcastle at the beginning of his 6 month residency at Berwick Visual Arts, Berwick-upon-Tweed. I was really impressed with his work, and excited to see what he would produce during the residency. I was not disappointed.

His residency was "in partnership with the Centre for Rural Economy (CRE) at Newcastle University, a research centre specialising in interdisciplinary social science, researching rural development and policy, food and society, and the wellbeing of rural communities.

For this residency Berwick Visual Arts and CRE were interested in proposals from artists that responded to theme ‘Beyond the Rural Idyll’ and questioned what and who is rural, local, authentic or vernacular and that explore rural life and society beyond idyllic representations.


Piotr's artwork explores themes of history, time and memory often within a rural context and he is particularly interested in ageing within rural communities and the stories and memories of older people. His practice is particularly relevant to the themes of this residency, as an ageing rural population is a growing concern in rural areas, with social exclusion and isolation too often being part of growing old for many in the countryside.

During his residency Piotr has spent time with older people in Berwick, listening to stories about life in the town and using this to inform a series of oral history interviews with older people – many who have lived in Berwick all their life.

The resulting series of five short films combine these interviews with archive material from Berwick Record Office and new film footage of Berwick-upon-Tweed and Northumberland shot by the artist, in an attempt to interpret these stories."

http://www.berwickvisualarts.co.uk/whats-on/63/piotr-piasta-the-realm-of-forgotten-existence


Each film focuses on a particular aspect of rural life in Berwick-upon-Tweed, such as the building of walls, farming of cattle and sheep and mussel fishing. A different voice of an elderly resident of Berwick-upon-Tweed features in each film. The dialogue is very natural, not like a scripted reading, nor indeed an interview per se, but more like an extract from a conversation with only one person talking. 

The visuals move seamlessly from black and white into colour, blurring the boundary between archive material and recently filmed footage. The camera moves fluidly in both types of imagery; panning the scenery; surveying the land. This creates the continuity between past and present, and makes for pleasurable viewing. 

Piasta has a real talent for making moving paintings, and it is obvious from the accounts of the residents, that they have developed a strong friendship with the artist. He is extremely respectful of the individuals, and it is obvious from watching him talk to locals in the gallery today, that he is a valued member of the Berwick-upon-Tweed community.

David Pettibone and Nikki Gardham

One of the highlights of the residency at Dumfries House for me was getting to know the other artists who were also doing residencies at Dumfries House.

David Pettibone, Nikki Gardham and I all shared accommodation in the artists lodge, and although we each had a separate studio, they were all housed in the same building.

I really enjoyed spending time with Nikki and David. It was fascinating to find out about their backgrounds and varied working practices. Although we have had different educational experiences, work in different ways and address different concerns through the work we make, we have a lot of shared interests, for instance art and education.

David Pettibone is based in New York and completed his BA Painting Degree at Rhode Island School of Design, followed by a MFA in Painting at New York Academy of Art. He is an experienced Painting tutor, regularly exhibits his work and has been on a number of international residencies.








In 2013 David spent several months with the Inupiat Eskimo people of Barrow, Alaska and experienced the whaling culture. He is creating a series of paintings that depict the subsistence whaling culture of the Inupiat Eskimo people of Barrow, Alaska and the tradition’s integration into a modern Arctic coastal community.



It seems so appropriate for David to be using oil paint for these paintings as the texture of meat seems to be brought out by the paint's properties.





Whilst at Dumfries House, David has been working on paintings of trees. It has been fascinating for me to see the development of the paintings, and the stages that the painting goes through before reaching its finished state.












I have great admiration for David's amazing observational and technical skills, evident not only in his landscapes, but in his portraits and life drawing too.



More of his work can be seen via his website: http://www.davidpettibone.com

















Likewise, Nikki Gardham has an exceptional talent for drawing people. She is able to capture the person and transfer it onto the page.




I admire Nikki's energetic and free style of drawing, and I very much enjoy her quick studies which have a fresh and uncomplicated feel to them.

I am attracted to the layers that Nikki builds up on the paper and appreciate the way that she incorporates the background into features within the drawings.



Nikki uses a variety of inks, paints and drawing materials to create varied surfaces. Seeing her work has encouraged me to explore the properties of acrylic and water based ink and how they react to each other.





Nikki also has vast experience in teaching art, and has done many interesting projects. She studied at the Princes Drawing School.







Nikki had been at Dumfries House for a month, so had built up a considerable amount of work, and David has completed 2 weeks of his 4 week period at Dumfries House. More of her work can be seen on her website: http://nikkigardham.com




I look forward to seeing more of the work that David makes in his remaining time at Dumfries House.