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.
14 June to 11 October
Phil Mouldycliff and Russell Mills
Dialogue Boxes
In the past, leading multidisciplinary artist Phil Moudycliff has created large-scale projects across the UK, including presentations at the Tate Gallery in Liverpool, the Cornerhouse in Manchester and the ICA in London. Russell Mills is an artist, designer, musician and lecturer who has created influential book and album artwork for Brian Eno, Ian McEwan, Nine Inch Nails and Peter Gabriel.
In this two-person exhibition, the artists present a series of intriguing and seductive artworks. Wall-mounted boxes and frames contain found objects and artifacts, mixed with collage, pigments and natural materials. These semi-abstract works both carry and subvert the meanings of the objects they contain, alluding to landscapes, mythical tales and the passing of time.
28 June to 13 September
Halima Cassell
Dreams Made Manifest
Pakistan born Halima Cassell is regarded as one of the country's leading young ceramic artists. Her elaborate carved bowls, tiles and sculptures, combine strong geometric elements with recurrent patterns and architectural principles.
For 'Dreams Made Manifest', her largest exhibition to date, Halima will be creating new sculptural works in a variety of materials, responding to the architecture of the former St Johns church building. She will also be exhibiting her acclaimed ceramic pieces, alongside a selection of working drawings and prints.
5 July to 11 October
Chris Roantree
Out of the Jungle
Scunthorpe born printmaker Chris Roantree, produces dark and often disturbing etchings. Many of his dreamlike images explore his ongoing interest in narrative and storytelling. Christopher sees his groups of images as 'a kind of shattered story that needs to be pieced back together'.
For this exhibition Christopher spent eight weeks in the jungle region between Belize and Guatemala, creating a body of etchings and sourcing materials for the production of a book. This exhibition showcases etchings and documentation from his trip.
5 July to 11 October
Beijing Dreams
Timed to coincide with the Beijing 2008 Olympics, expect to find butterflies, lotus flowers and traditional Chinese pattern work in this selling exhibition of oriental inspired handmade crafts.
Many of the works fuse traditional techniques with cutting edge contemporary design. David Fry uses ancient Chinese glaze formulas in his unique ceramics and Lisa Cheung presents Chandeliers made from modern materials and inspired by traditional Chinese paper cutting. Other pieces that may take your fancy include jewellery by Stephanie Ray, Wai-Yuk Kennedy and Susanna Hanl, and exquisite silverware by Rebecca Johnson.
12 July to 27 September
Sue Goldschmidt
The Things That Constrain Me Also Set Me Free
Australian born Sue Goldschmidt creates semi-autographical work combining the disciplines of textiles and ceramics. Her beautiful hanging porcelain dresses start life as a basic wire form. She then adds fabric and flowers before coating the sculptures with a porcelain slip solution. The pieces are then fired in a kiln, causing the flowers and fabric to burn away in the firing process, leaving their impression in the porcelain. For the artist, these delicate and ghostlike sculptures explore a quiet sense of absent presence and themes of motherhood, bereavement and dislocation. The work hovers between art and life, presenting familiar objects in and unfamiliar but alluring material.
27 September to 22 November
Folk Art and Fairy Tales
Folk Art and Fairy Tales brings together new and recent work by ten of the most talented artists and makers working in the UK. They are connected by their fascination with narrative and literature, folk art, legends and fairy stories.
The exhibits range from minute sculpture to large-scale installation, and are created from an extraordinary variety of media. Many of the artists work with discarded, throwaway materials: wire, paper, recycled toys, old books and used tins cans, bits of leather and fabric scraps, bird feathers and teabags.
Works on display include Su Blackwell's delicate book sculptures, dresses and footwear by Jennifer Collier and Samantha Bryan's health conscious fairies. Many of the artists such as Jayne Lennard, Cathy Miles and Carys Anne Hughes take their cues from, or incorporate, narrative and the written word. Rachael Howard's textile hangings tell autobiographical tales of the everyday, while Lucy Casson and Julie Arkell create strange creatures, which inhabit a world of their own. The show also premiers a major new ceramics series by Lowri Davies, based on the folk tales of her great uncle.
An Oriel Davies Touring Exhibition supported by the Esmee Fairburn Foundation and the Arts Council of Wales
Further Information: