20-21 Visual Arts Centre has five gallery spaces showing inspiring work by leading contemporary artists and cutting edge craft and design makers from the UK and abroad. Get away from the hustle and bustle of the town centre and explore the exhibitions in the spectacular former St Johns Church.
Until 10 December
Martin Griffiths
First Light
Martin Griffiths established himself as a painter in the 1980s, moving from landscape paintings through to abstract works in the 1990s. Since moving to Lincolnshire in 2002 he has been researching a series of innovative sculptural works exploring new optical experiences and working in collaboration with many companies in the UK and aboard.
These new beautifully crafted sculptures use modern materials and optical phenomena to produce vibrant and striking lighting effects without the use of electricity or internal illumination, concentrating and channelling the flow of natural light to the viewer. For this exhibition he will be showing a selection from this series of new works in the church and exterior courtyard areas.
First Light is part of Igniting Ambition, a Cultural Olympiad programme in the East Midlands funded by Legacy Trust UK, an independent charity set up to create a cultural and sporting legacy from the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games, the European Regional Development Fund and the East Midlands Development Agency, with the support of Arts Council England and many others.
Until 28 January
Rhiannon Lowe
Drawings
Recently selected as the AXIS artist’s website ‘Artist of the Month’, North Yorkshire based Rhiannon Lowe makes work about memories of objects and spaces. For her exhibition at 20-21 Visual Arts Centre, Rhiannon will be showing a series of delicate drawings of a variety of subjects including stilts, bunkbeds, cupboards, rooms and doorways, moths and struts that hold up wayward buildings.
Other forms are more ambiguous leaving the viewer to speculate as to their meaning or project their own imagination into images of shadows, dark spaces and undisclosed objects, alluding to undisclosed fears, anxieties and half-remembered childhood memories.
‘My drawings are a way of me trying to retain something, even a fleeting memory, that I have never quite had hold of, and most likely never will. I have a fear that I should be remembering more, but I’m not sure I know, or want to know exactly what.’
Until 28 January
Handmade
Once again our ever-popular ‘Handmade’ exhibition returns. This selling show includes jewellery, ceramics, textiles and glassware by a selection of the country’s leading designers and makers, who have been working tirelessly to create that perfect special gift. Treat a lucky loved one to handmade jewellery from Lucklaw Silver, beautiful prints from Liz Toole or stunning glassware from Nutmeg Glass, We’ll also be stocking a selection of festive items including handmade seasonal decorations from Amanda Mercer.
19 November to 3 March
Helen Moulinos
A Life Less Fulfilled
Helen Moulinos was born in New York and is now based in central London. Her striking large-scale paintings express feelings of Urban Alienation. Many people are now raised in large, developed urban centres with the promise of limitless possibilities. However the freedom and opportunities available to urban dwellers often prove unattainable to many, and are confused by the media, technology, material consumption, shifts in social convention and lack of meaningful connection with others.
Helen’s bold and expressive works explore the feelings of confusion and inadequacy felt by many living in the contemporary urban environment. She considers if, by taking a pause and having fewer choices, we may find a remedy for these feelings of dislocation and isolation.
17 December to 10 March
Patrick Holley and Chris Lillywhite
Eight Views
Patrick Holley won the 20-21 Open exhibition in 2010 with his dreamlike, surreal and slightly disturbing artworks, combining collage, figure and portrait drawings, and repeated images. Growing up in North East Lincolnshire, he attended the Grimsby School of Art before moving to London to study further and go on to work successfully as a designer, art director and stylist for many household names within the music and advertising industries, before returning to Grimsby where he now lectures in design.
For his exhibition at 20-21, Patrick will be working alongside fellow Grimsby Institute lecturer Chris Lillywhite who creates film, sound and sculpture and is especially interested in the creative possibilities of adaptation and collaboration. Featuring sound and light alongside more traditional media, Eight Views takes as its subject 16th Century artist, author and soldier Benvenuto Cellini, whose famed autobiography chronicles tales of murder, violence and magic, alongside more mundane, yet evocative descriptions of the processes of designing and making his work.
28 January to 19 May
Mark Beattie
Global Odyssey
Mark Beattie is currently studying on the MA in European Arts Practice course at Kingston University. For his exhibtion at 20-21 Visual Arts Centre he will be making a series of new sculptures especially for our exterior sculpture courtyard.
Mark’s ‘Global Odyssey’ series of works developed during an exchange programme in which he was given the opportunity to spend a year at the Australian National University. Working within the sculpture department he developed a passion for working in metal; enjoying the challenge of making this industrial material appear fluid, malleable and aesthetic.
Fueled by the emotions encountered throughout his exchange year, the resulting sculptures manifest themselves as twisted and screwed-up balls of steel, often containing paper aeroplane or dart-like objects, alluding to themes of travel, dislocation and seperation.
3 December to 25 February
Beyond Pattern
20-21 Visual Arts Centre is proud to present Beyond Pattern, a touring exhibition from Oriel Davis Gallery exploring the cultural meanings of ‘pattern’. The exhibtion features an array of media; from metalwork to embroidered textiles and handcut collages from leading contemporary artists and makers from across the UK.
We often think of pattern simply as an adornment or perhaps even as a form of disguise, but it can also reflect a desire to communicate through a specific visual language. It might be that it represents cohesion and a sense of balance, thereby providing visual stimulation or a space for meditation.
Starting from the premise that pattern is all around us whether we are conscious of it or not, this group show encompasses a range of conceptual and craftbased practices to reveal how patterns can be found in the home, workplace, street, garden or in the landscape.
An Oriel Davies Touring exhibition made possible through an Arts Council of Wales Beacon Company Award 2008-10. Supported by the National Lottery through Arts Council England and The Laura Ashley Foundation.
Artists in Beyond Pattern:
Steve Messam, Catherine Bertola, Angharad Pearce-Jones, Michael Brennand-Wood, Nisha Duggal, Leo Fitzmaurice, Doug Jones, Adam King, Pamela So, Henna Nadeem and Andrea Stokes.
4 February to 5 May
Alison Weightman and Ethren Tool
De-Struction
Scottish ceramic artist Alison Weightman creates dramatic and often shocking ceramic vessels and busts by firing a live shotgun at soft semi-fired ceramics. Initially a response to war, and the experience of being shot with an air riffle as a child, the work is now as much about meditation and concentration (those moments before a shot is ‘fired’), and the dramatic coming together of the violence of the making process, and the supposed fragility of the material.
Accompanying Alison Weighman’s exhibition will be a series of ceramic vessels by Ethren Tool. Ethren, a former US Marine, now makes ceramic artworks about war and politics using transfer and layering techniques. Each work contains a total number of pieces referring to a corresponding platoon or military unit from which it takes its subject.
3 March to 19 May
A Modern Romance
The concept of ‘Romantic’ Landscape emerged in the 19th Century when creative communities reacted against the Enlightenment and Industrialist movements (which sought to harness the natural environment in the pursuit of a better world). Artists and writers created a new language influencing how we today understand rural areas, equating them with wholesome natural beauty as opposed to merely working and living environments.
Within the context of an idealised ‘countryside’ it’s easy to view the modern urban sprawl as brutal, dirty and ugly. However, as successive generations take the urban environment as their home, the landscape itself has become part of their historical makeup. In many cities iconic buildings that appear ugly and brutal to outsiders hold a special place in the city dwellers’ hearts; streets, buildings and cultures have become integral to collective memories, nostalgia and a sense of belonging.
Presenting works that focus on cityscapes and overlooked urban spaces as scenes of beauty, romance, nostalgia and Englishness, this new exhibition features contemporary painters, photographers and video makers who offer a very different take on the English landscape.
10 March to 16 June
Katherine Green
1948 Olympians
London-based photographer Katherine Green presents her series of photographs documenting members of a select group of British athletes who competed in the 1948 Olympics, the last time the games were held in London.
Recovering from war, athletes weren’t paid, were training on rations whilst working full-time and most had to hand sew their own kits. During the past few years Katherine Green has been meeting, photographing and recording interviews with the British Olympic Team from the 1948 Olympics.
Katherine Green is a social documentary photographer based in London, UK. Her work often focuses on the idea of community and what makes or bonds communities. This series of photographs was originally created as a photo-essay in the Guardian newspaper magazine; this will be the first time the series is shown as an exhibition.
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