Rene McBrearty - How to Remove a Single Strand Knot - as part of Life in a Northern Town - NewBridge Project

For the final exhibition of Life in a Northern Town, Newcastle-based artist Rene McBrearty has been paired with Leeds-based artist Jill McKnight. Both artists draw upon their individual and family history and experiences to explore themes such as identity, memory, family, women and gesture.

How to Remove a Single Strand Knot is Rene McBrearty's contribution to the exhibition.

McBrearty has created a new sculptural installation, presenting familiar McBrearty elements such as drawing, poetry, a riso printed zine, found objects and handmade sculptural forms alongside her first moving image work.

The setup reminds me of a domestic space with a comfy settee at the heart. Her sculptural forms are made from ceramic, leather and found materials. Ceramic shirt collars are draped over a clothes horse, and leather threads are piled on the floor. A number of other sculptures sit on a blouse that has been opened out on the floor. It is a casual arrangement with the suggestion that the process of making these objects took place in situ.

The video piece is situated in an old-fashioned larder. McBrearty and a number of other women of colour are sat round a kitchen table carrying out repetitive domestic actions such as polishing the table and kneading lumps of clay. The occasional subtitle reveals some of the conversations that take place as the women engage in their work.


The title refers to the fact that a single strand knot is found in afro hair and can prove difficult to remove. The removal of the knot becomes a metaphor for processing daily micro-aggressions and practicing self-care.

"The work thinks about the hidden labour carried out by women of colour while experiencing micro-aggressions which are everywhere, non-negotiable and relentless. The work explores the labour, productivity and the learning and unlearning of personal histories alongside the importance of sisterhood and community resilience in surviving. It is informed by her own experience, conversations with friends, her grandmother and the novel ‘Sula’ by Toni Morrison."

How to Remove a Single Strand Knot has been produced with the help of: Jola Olafimihan, Hannabiell Sanders, Wanjiru Mugo, Miles McBrearty, Matthew Pickering, Heather Bonnie Reid and Janina Sabaliauskaite.

For more information please visit 

https://thenewbridgeproject.com/events/rene-mcbrearty-jill-mcknight-life-northern-town/

Taus Makhacheva and Tigran Geletsyan at Blackburne House as part of Liverpool Biennial

"Blackburne House, located in Liverpool’s vibrant Georgian Quarter, was the home of the first girl’s school in the country. The beautiful Grade II listed building is now a home for women’s education with services including a health spa, nursery and bistro. Blackburne house also hosts conferences and events, ensuring a space in the city for events that champion the voices of local women.



Taus Makhacheva has created a ruin-like sculptural installation that serves as a spa, in collaboration with artist Alexander Kutovoi. The installation incorporates ASMR (Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response) techniques and video. A new range of beauty products has been developed with Tigran Geletsyan from 22|11 Cosmetics for spa treatments. Throughout the Biennial, visitors are invited to book a facial treatment, which will be conducted by a performer and take approximately 30 minutes. In this passive state, the visitor becomes a sculptural subject. During the treatment, stories about artworks that have disappeared throughout the history of art will be told. The work reflects on our contemporary condition, dominated by screens and membranes, anxiety and loss of intimacy."

Visitors are able to be in the space to watch the facial treatments taking place. I arrived shortly after someone had left, so saw the performer clearing up. There were a couple of sculptures that contained a video screen. The audio was that which is spoken by the performer as they give the facial treatment, and so even though there was no treatment taking place during my visit, I was still able to be guided through the stories.

It was only afterwards, when I was talking to the performer, that I realised that this was the case. I had not been aware that the voice on the video was from the performer's perspective. I had also presumed that the person giving the treatment was a trained professional, and my thoughts about the work altered when I found out that performers were being used (there were 2 performers that shared the workload throughout the festival). I felt uneasy about someone 'pretending' to be a therapist.

A cast from the past...

I was recently contacted by a friend in Glasgow who had purchased a piece of my work a number of years ago. He kindly sent me the above photo of the work displayed in his house. It was a lovely reminder of a past body of work that was exhibited at 1 Royal Terrace, and an example of how the work now lives on in many different people's homes.

Mick Peter: Pyramid Selling at Tramway, Glasgow

Pyramid Selling, Mick Peter's current solo exhibition of sculptures at Tramway, Glasgow,   "draws on a number of sources, including those of literature, commercial illustration and graphic design. Mimicking the tropes of ‘witty’ graphic design from the 60’s and 70’s, the exhibition takes a satirical look at the role of the individual against the backdrop of industry and labour (the making of his exhibition at Tramway included)."

The sculptures resemble quick hand drawn sketches that have been transformed into large three-dimensional forms. 

Peter sets a scene, rather like a theatrical stage or retail space. In one part of the gallery, the human sized characters are working towards the exhibition, moving around pieces that form a pyramid structure. Meanwhile, a man, who appears to be a boss, monitors their performance, tracking their sales charts.

On the other side of the gallery, a number of large-scale zips pose on the completed pyramid.

Peter's installation commands the incredibly challenging gallery of Tramway 2, a space that has been, and continues to be many things, from a tram shed, to a museum of transport, and for this exhibition, a kind of theatre / retail space.

http://www.tramway.org/events/Pages/Pyramid-Selling.aspx
http://www.mickpeter.com

A poetic response to 'Out of Kansas'

Artist Holly Weaver attended the Out of Kansas discussion event at the Lit & Phil, and following her visit she wrote to us about her experience.

"Going upstairs to see your work truly made the difference, I enjoyed the fact that from where we were sitting downstairs you could only see a slither of colour, on some of the shelves I was unsure if anything was there and then going upstairs I was really overwhelmed and inspired by the structures. On the way home I wrote a piece about the work and thought I would share it with you:"

As happy coincidence would have it, this surface is yellow.

Golden, invisible, but Gold. This was unexpected. 

I had the urge to conquer each of them,

to jump over the rail and hop from each like tiles on a path.

 

They are chunks of cheese, unreachable from the ground much like,

the episode of Wallace and Gromit on a grand day out, crackers at

the ready to sample the cheese on the moon in their makeshift

spaceship.

Exhilarated and otherworldly.

Monuments born out of wood. The Gold though.

Out of Kansas discussion event

Thanks to those who contributed to the Out of Kansas discussion at the Lit and Phil today. It was really interesting to talk about some of the issues surrounding the exhibition and hear your thoughts on the work. When I think back to all of the things we covered, it is easy to see where the three hours went!

- The apprehension that some artists have about using colour, and the reasons for this

- Chromophobia

- The Luminous and the grey


- The Culture of Yellow


- The Wizard of Oz


- Bookbinding
- Marbling
- The history of the Lit & Phil
- The role of libraries and how this has changed
- The library as a site for art
- The Cubby hole
- Viz magazine
- The Ladies Room
- The Smoking Room
- The comments book
- Site specificity

I look forward to following up on some of the recommendations and am excited to read the poetry being written in response to the artwork.

Sculptural forms for tops of bookcases are assembled

As we move closer to the install of Out of Kansas at the Lit and Phil, we are now working on the final aspects of the work. Today I have assembled the remaining sculptural forms for the tops of bookcases and left them clamped overnight.

Adding reflective material to the bookshelf sculptures

We were relieved to find that our mirrored vinyl was delivered to us this morning and so we've been able to add the reflective material to some of the surfaces that form the sculptures for the tops of the bookshelves. 

Out of Kansas - a collaborative exhibition by artists Jodie Dunnill and Helen Shaddock - Preview: 6pm-8pm Tuesday 12th May 2015 - The Lit & Phil, Newcastle

PRESS RELEASE Out of Kansas Preview: 6pm-8pm Tuesday 12th May 2015 Exhibition continues: 13th – 21st May 2015 Monday – Thursday : 9:30am - 7pm Friday : 9:30am – 5pm Saturday : 9:30am – 1pm The Lit & Phil 23 Westgate Road Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 1SE Out of Kansas is a collaborative exhibition by artists Jodie Dunnill and Helen Shaddock, in which they have responded to the architecture and atmosphere of the Main Library in the Lit & Phil. This is the first time that the artists have collaborated with each other, encouraging them to use unfamiliar materials and work on an ambitious scale. Out of Kansas is a sculptural installation that incorporates the upper and lower levels of the main library. Made from reflective and coloured surfaces, the work acts as a device for the audience to view the space differently, exploring it in new ways from different perspectives. Both artists recognised that the Lit & Phil is a library with a difference, and time in the library revealed particular aspects that help create this distinctive space. The artists sought to capture the essence of the library in their artistic response, as oppose to change it. Jodie Dunnill and Helen Shaddock are currently studying at Newcastle University on a Master of Fine Art course.  Dunnill completed her BA degree from Liverpool John Moores in 2014.  Recent exhibitions include 8BA2, St Helens (2014), and Snippet, Newcastle (2015).  Shaddock graduated from Glasgow School of Art in 2008 with a Degree in Fine Art: Environmental Art. Since 2014 Shaddock has been based in Newcastle. Shaddock has been involved in exhibitions nationally and internationally, and her work is in a number of public and private collections. Recent exhibitions include a solo exhibition of new work at 1 Royal Terrace, Glasgow (2014) and Snippet, a group exhibition at Newcastle University (2015). Forthcoming exhibitions include a group exhibition at the Hatton Gallery, Newcastle as part of The Late Shows this May. Out of Kansas is supported by the Alumni Association Student Initiative Fund through Newcastle University. Note to editors: For more information contact: Helen Shaddock, 07845 579706, out.of.kansas.exhibition@gmail.com To find out more about the Alumni Association Student Initiative Fund visit http://www.ncl.ac.uk/students/nclplus/funding/fund/

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