20-21 Visual Arts Centre has five gallery spaces showing inspiring work by cutting edge contemporary artists and leading craft and design makers. Get away from the hustle and bustle of the town centre and explore the exhibitions in the spectacular former St Johns Church.
Until 27 June
Martin Waters
Assemblages
Hull based artist Martin Waters is fascinated by found objects. In 2007 he worked as 'artist in residence' at the Spurn Point lighthouse. During his stay at Spurn he would collect manmade objects that had been washed ashore; recording, arranging, mounting and displaying the objects back in his studio, or on the beaches, to be washed back into the sea.
For his show at 20-21, Martin has presented a series of rainbow-coloured collages and assemblages of objects, gathered along this fast disappearing stretch of the North Yorkshire coastline. The work relates to the stark environment, the disintegration and destruction, the ebb and flow, the organic nature of the space; a homage to the creative force Spurn evokes in the artist.
Until 18 July
Wayne Markwort
Atom
Wayne Markwort combines Manga, graffiti, traditional sculpture, current affairs, Kung-Fu and street art in his vibrant and highly individual sculptures, paintings and multi-media artworks.
For his exhibition in the sculpture courtyard at 20-21, Wayne will be building a giant atomic model containing characters and objects from this mysterious fantasy world. This large-scale installation created in stone, steel, resin, plastic and wood, contains a host of weird and wonderful characters, both good and evil. Expect mythological beasts, missiles, exploding babies and a giant flying camper van!
9 May to 4 July
Jack Chesterman
The Archeology of Journeying
For over 45 years Jack Chesterman has explored the possibilities of pictorial representation through his paintings, drawings and printmaking. He has an equal fascination with both landscapes and maritime subjects, and uses these to research his medium and the problems of depiction.
For 'The Archaeology of Journeying', Jack presents a series of large-scale figurative paintings, featuring a selection of maritime subjects. These portray both historical boats encountered in the Shetland Isles and commercial vessels in Hamburg's dry docks. Paintings include painstaking studies of historical small-craft under restoration and the menacing hulls of ships undergoing service.
Prints and drawings on display include images drawn from travels along the ancient paths that cross the Pennine and Lake District hills, and prints based on journeys made between great houses and their respective mausoleums. In addition to the paintings, drawings and prints the show will also feature a series of new sculptural works based on significant voyages, journeys and battles at sea.
16 May to 11 July
Tom Hackett
The Silicone Boys
Tom Hackett has made installations in a variety of mediums over the last 20 years. His work explores the relationship between people and the systems of language and social grouping in which they live.
For 'The Silicone Boys' the artist presents a series of twice-life sized busts of young children, in brightly coloured silicone rubber. The heads are not representational of any particular child but are 'idealized archetypes'. For the artist the work "reflects how children travel a trajectory between the brightly colored infant world towards the monochrome adult world, without its guarantee of happy endings, and the realization that not everyone can be your friend".
The Silicone Boys is supported by a grant from Arts Council England. The sculptures will also be on display as part of the 'Seas' festival at Skegness beach in Autumn 2009.
16 May to 25 July
Neil Morley
A Concise History of Modern Tourism
Tourism is one of the world's largest industries and brochures portray idyllic resorts with white-sand beaches, clear blue sea, with the promise of adventure and luxury. However, often publicity and exclusive tourist-only resorts mask realities, such as poverty, poor infrastructure and dictatorship within the developing world.
Influenced by early twentieth century geometric abstract art and the 'hyper-real' touched-up imagery found in holiday brochures, Neil Morley presents a series of new works exploring our perceptions of the 'real'. Organized in geometric patterns on the wall, paintings of images copied from holiday brochures and travel books punctuate abstract forms, contrasting two very different visions of a modern 'utopia'.
23 May to 25 July
Retro Kitsch
Retro Kitsch features designers and makers who are influenced by the revival in Kitsch fashions. Whether it be the swirling patterns and gaudy colours of the 1970s or the psychedelic fashions of the 1960s, Retro Kitsch features artists and designers influenced by exuberant designs and striking colours.
This selling exhibition of decorative crafts includes Jewellery made to look like strings of boiled sweets, Sylvie Fuller's beautiful ceramics and Vicky Scott's fabulous Art Nouveau inspired artworks, along with a whole host of brightly coloured and quirky objects and artworks.
4 July to 26 September
Stephen Connell
Wasted Light
Within cities and industrial areas our view of the night sky is often obscured by industrial and domestic pollution, and a combination of street and industrial lighting which is employed to keep our infrastructure running 24 hours a day.
Initially intended to draw the viewers' attention to 'light pollution' and filmed in the dead of night, Stephen Connell's photographs reveal a nocturnal world of spectacular landscapes. Artificial man made industrial buildings that appear grey and menacing by night, are transformed into ethereal and un-worldly wonderlands. Wasted Light includes new photographs of Scunthorpe and Immingham taken especially for this exhibition.
18 July to 7 November
Journey to the Centre of the Earth
This exhibition features a diverse range of contemporary artists in an exhibition themed around Jules Verne's 1864 novel 'Journey to the Centre of the Earth'. In the book Professor Lidenbrock doscovers a coded message describing a secret passageway into the Earths centre through an Icelandic volcano. He sets off on an adventure into the bowels of the Earth, encountering many extraordinary phenomena and great dangers.
The exhibition features artworks exploring geology, strange creatures, adventuring and anthropology. Highlights include Alexis Rago's beautiful ceramic sculptures based on evolution and organic forms, Pamina Stewart's shell people and Adam King's sprawling and sinister installation work. Journey to the Centre of the Earth will also feature a new large-scale drawing by Paul Evans created especially for the show.
1 August to 3 October
Colin Taylor
A Short Walk in a Big Landscape
Colin Taylor's fascination with the landscape began many years ago when he began to walk and climb the mountains around Cumberland. Inspired by these landscapes, he attempts to capture the emotions and physicality of the mountains and lakes through the act of painting.
A Short Walk through a Big Landscape includes expressive paintings made in response to Thomas West's 1778 book 'A Guide to the Lakes of Cumberland'. The book, claimed by many to be the first tourist guidebook, describes twenty-one 'stations' or viewpoints, from which the lakes can be viewed to the walker's best advantage. The exhibition also features paintings and drawings produced on trips overseas to Spain, Mongolia, Argentina and Canada.
18 July to 24 October
Kate Sully
Pretty maids all in a row...
Using a wide range of materials and techniques Kate Sully's work explores how it is possible to be both seduced and repulsed by images of the dangerous and deadly. Often appearing outwardly beautiful, on closer inspection much of her imagery is revealed to be that of disease and decay.
In this new work Kate uses images digitally printed onto satin in a series of sculptures and mixed-media artworks. For the artist the sculptures, "explore the world around us, and our constant desire to affect and manipulate everything we see, blurring the boundaries between the beautiful, and more sinister aspects of our existence, in our pursuit of perfection".
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