Cheeseburn Open Weekend

As the Spring and Summer months are upon us, we have the Cheeseburn open weekends to look forward to. The programme changes over the course of the 5 months, so there are plenty of reasons to visit repeatedly over the year.

Gillian Dickinson North East Young Sculptor of the Year Prize 2019

For the May open weekends, visitors were invited to explore the proposals in the Stables Gallery by 10 young artists who have been shortlisted to become the 2019 Gillian Dickinson North East Young Sculptor of the Year.

Each artist is supported and mentored by Cheeseburn Curator Matthew Jarratt and the winning artist will receive £6500 to realise their idea at Cheeseburn in spring 2020.

The award is in its 4th year and was conceived by Joanna Riddell at Cheeseburn in 2015 and The Gillian Dickinson Trust has recently renewed their funding support for Cheeseburn to deliver this important opportunity for young artists for another 3 years.

Clare Townley, the 2018 winner of the Gillian Dickinson North East Young Sculptor of the Year Prize exhibited her new installation and dancer Simona Yovcheva was performing in response to her artwork.

The chapel was the site for an impressive collection of glass ships in glass bottles as part of a project by Dr Ayako Tani. "Vessels of Memory  aims to document the skills and experience of glassworkers."

There were also numerous new sculptures exhibited around the grounds.

Great news for Great & Tiny War

Huge congratulations to the wunderful team behind Great and Tiny War, the proud owners and well deserved recipients of Best Event Tyneside Award. I'm so pleased and honoured to have been part of it.

Was great to catch up with some of the team earlier in the week.

Cheeseburn Open Weekend 25, 26, 27th May 2019

I'm looking forward to a busy few days working at Cheeseburn Open Weekend on Saturday, SUnday and Monday.

Cheeseburn Sculpture is a unique destination for contemporary art in the North East of England. Each summer our programme features three curated gallery exhibitions together with new sculptures, installations and performance throughout the gardens.     

In 2019 Cheeseburn will be open from 11am to 4pm on 

 25th/26th/27th  May 2019 

This weekend you'll be able to see the following:

Gillian Dickinson North East Young Sculptor of the Year 2019

Visitors are invited to explore the proposals in the Stables Gallery by 10 young artists who have been shortlisted to become the 2019 Gillian Dickinson North East Young Sculptor of the Year.

Each artist is supported and mentored by Cheeseburn Curator Matthew Jarratt and the winning artist will receive £6500 to realise their idea at Cheeseburn in spring 2020.

The award is in its 4th year and was conceived by Joanna Riddell at Cheeseburn in 2015 and The Gillian Dickinson Trust has recently renewed their funding support for Cheeseburn to deliver this important opportunity for young artists for another 3 years.

The Gillian Dickinson Trust is North East charity which works to promote creativity in young people. www.gilliandickinsontrust.org.uk

Winner of the 2018  Gillian Dickinson North East Young Sculptor of The Year

Clare Townley was selected as the winner of the 2018  Gillian Dickinson North East Young Sculptor of The Year. Clare has spent 9 months producing her installation at Newbridge Studios in Newcastle after graduating in 2017 from Newcastle University.

The large scale dystopian installation is called  “Nostalgie de la boue: Plastic Friend”  and  is constructed from recycled plastic and includes a swing where visitors can contemplate the impact of plastic on the rural environment.

The installation will be featured along with our Stables Gallery exhibition of proposals from 10 young artists who are bidding for the 2019 Young Sculptor of the Year Award. Visitors will be able to vote for their favourite proposal at Cheeseburn Sculpture across two open weekends in May 18th/19th and 25th/26th/27th.

Funding from the Gillian Dickinson Trust has enabled Cheeseburn Sculpture to develop this annual award to support new and emerging artists who are from the North East or committed to working in the North East.

Cheeseburn Sculpture Curator Matthew Jarratt said:
“ The funding  from the Gillian Dickinson Trust is providing a fantastic annual opportunity for young artists in the North East to get their professional careers started and to realise ambitious new artworks. We were so impressed by the quality of  proposals from the young artists and really excited to work with Clare to support her to produce an installation which asks questions about our relationship with plastic and its impact on the landscape.”

New Sculpture and installations

This summer Cheeseburn are delighted to site new sculpture and installations in the gardens and project spaces at Cheeseburn by 16 artists including Lucian Anderson, Lisa Delarny, Erin Dickson, Brigitte Jurack, Peter Hanmer, Joseph Hillier, Bennett Hogg, David Mach, Becky MacKenzie, Keith Roberts, Jeff Sarmiento, Ayako Tani, Clare Townley, Olivia Turner, Cate Watkinson and Alice Wilson.

Performance and Dance Interventions

Cheeseburn is planning a series of special pop-up dance performances and interventions in the gardens which build on our work in autumn 2018 with dancers Simona Yovcheva,Maria Vincentelli and Lizzie Klotz.

Look out for press and follow us on social media for more news:

Twitter @CheeseburnArt

Facebook @Cheeseburn

I hope to see you there!

Hectograph experiments

All set up and ready for some experimental printing

 

Masking fluid drawing

Masking fluid drawing

Masking fluid drawing

Masking Fluid Drawing

Masking Fluid Drawing

Matt Antoniak at Workplace Foundation

"Scribbles, doodles and throwaway marks made by customers testing out pens and pencils at an art materials store in Newcastle upon Tyne have been secretly hoarded behind the counter by Matt Antoniak whilst an employee over the last few years.


Black Cactus

Rescued from the recycling bin these miniature works have been consistently archived and documented by the artist and given new status through his diligent and precise recreations in paint on canvas. These recent works shown for the first time at Workplace Foundation see an increase in scale, the monumentality of these paintings purposefully challenging the authoritative register of modern art.



Antoniak’s earnest endeavor is sharply contrasted by the unintentional artlessness and bathos of the subject matter and naivety of the imagery. Through such strategies he seeks to evade moralistic traps of art and high-culture and move towards a wholly aesthetic liberation."

The walls of the gallery have been liberated by Antoniak. Opposite a bright blue wall there is a orange/red wall, and the remaining two walls have been given a grey wash. This has the effect of making the gallery space seem homely, warm and cosy, whereas it is usually cold and can be a little intimidating. The whole exhibition is very inviting and welcoming, picking up on seemingly insignificant or throw away marks, and by enlarging the expressive and playful marks, it allows us, the viewer to take pleasure from the joy of free mark-making, colour and play.

Preparing plate for hectograph

Fellow artist, Mirela Bistran and I are going to do some experimental hectograph printing. The initial stage is to make the plate using gelatine, glycerin and water. 

We have left the (rather smelly) concoction to set overnight in the cool environment of my NewBridge Studio, and are hoping to do some printing later in the week. Watch this space!

Reimagining the Artist-led Bookshop

 

NewBridge Books and Good Press came together within the Ways of Learning exhibition at BALTIC 39 to "reimagine what the future of the artist-led bookshop might be in an age of forever changing reading habits, and unrelenting digital presence.

 

Both independent stores have faced their fair share of challenges over the years. Unlike big chains, NewBridge and Good Press have strived to curate and support unique collections, exposing audiences to a greater variety of titles and self published work." 

NewBridge Books offers a selection of diverse, original and hard-to-find national and international contemporary art publications, fostering critically-engaged creativity in the region by providing both a resource and outlet for artists, writers, critics and researchers. The shop and social space is unique to the North East of England providing a platform for independent publishers and artists who self-publish. NewBridge Books stocks a variety of artists’ books, zines, writing and magazines as well as hosting a programme of regular events and exhibitions related to print culture.

Good Press is a volunteer-run-informal-organisation dedicated to the promotion and distribution of independently published printed matter with a focus on visual arts and writing; occasionally music and artist objects. All of the publications you find in-store and online are either self published or produced by an independent small press, gallery, group or organisation. We always have, and continue to operate an open submission policy. We will only refuse a submission if its content is offensive or harmful to others, or if the publication could otherwise be purchased at a larger scale retailer.

It was fascinating to hear about the origins of both organisations, and the ways that both have developed organically as well as in response to external forces (mostly the need to relocate due to rental agreements ceasing). The imposed change of location has made each organisation think carefully about the role of the bookshop and the aspects that are central to its existence. 

As Rebecca Huggan (Director of The NewBridge Project) reflected on the history of NewBridge Books, I was introduced to some projects that happened before I was in Newcastle, and this has given me ideas for things that could happen there in the future. 

There are currently many NewBridge members that write, use print, make sound, perform and produce publishable material. I am excited about the opportunity to transform NewBridge Books into a space that these activities can take place and the outcomes disseminated to an audience.