Louise Atkinson

2010-05-06T10:41:00.000-07:00

This is me. My name is Louise Atkinson. It was supposed to be Sian Louise Griffiths, but my surname changed when my mum remarried. Sian was an option before I was born. My parents didn't choose a name for a boy.

I am an artist. I am also a sister and a daughter. A teacher and a student. A lover, a friend and a confidante. Sometimes I sing. Sometimes I dance. I take inspiration from everything I see, hear and do. I was born in a small village near Stonehenge called Odstock. Yes, I am from odd stock. Not long after that I moved to Cyprus and then to Germany on the Dutch border. Now I live in Leeds.

So here I am. What is my name and where do I come from? These questions should not be taken for granted. Everything is in flux. Nothing is fixed. I like the slippages of meaning within language. The thing that Derrida calls Différance. In art, as in life, I make decisions based on the way that I feel. I empathise.

Collage

2010-05-06T10:40:00.001-07:00

The Constructed Identities series is a collection of large-scale magazine collages examining ideas around consumption, desire, abjection and idolatry, and how these ideas shape and control our self-image.

Photography

2009-11-01T14:02:00.001-08:00

I first became interested in photography after collaborating with Israeli artist, Zeev Parush, to create these works using text, masks and origami.

I decided to elaborate on this by blurring the boundaries between sculpture, collage and photography. The resulting images are an experiment in cut out imagery and digital manipulation.

On Your Wall Too

2009-10-23T08:08:00.000-07:00

Leeds Met Gallery

Cultural Parentheses

2009-10-23T08:07:00.000-07:00

Title Bar Project
Incubator Gallery

Home

2009-10-23T08:06:00.001-07:00

BlocSpace
Sheffield

Eyesore or Saviour

2009-10-23T08:03:00.000-07:00

Exposure Gallery
Swansea

A Dogs Dinner

2009-10-23T08:02:00.001-07:00

Black Dogs Arts Collective
Brudenell Social Club
Leeds

Tactual Explorations

2009-10-23T07:56:00.000-07:00

North Light Gallery
Huddersfield

Re-generation

2009-10-23T07:55:00.000-07:00

County Hall Gallery
London

Peace Camp

2009-10-23T07:54:00.001-07:00

Brick Lane Gallery
London

Bibliomania

2009-10-23T07:53:00.001-07:00

John Holden Gallery
Manchester

9x12

2009-10-23T07:51:00.000-07:00

Fort Worth Arts Center
Texas

Natural Selection

2009-10-23T06:44:00.000-07:00

Arts@Trinity
Leeds
Private view:
2nd October 2009 7.30pm
Exhibition continues:
3rd - 15th October 2009

As the world celebrates the bicentenary of Charles Darwin's birth and the century-and-a-half of scientific progress that came in the wake of his 1859 On the Origin of Species, it is worth remembering that Darwin had neither the first nor the last word on the contentious topic of evolution. Indeed, the idea itself evolved from early roots in ancient China and the medieval Islamic Empire, through to the scientifically muddled theories of Lamarck and other modern writers who paved the way for Darwin. Since then the idea has continued to evolve hand-in-hand with developments in genetics and other advanced fields.

The exhibition features work by Alan Gummerson, Linda Thompson, Hillary Burt, Scott Senogles, Rebecca Strain, Louise Atkinson, George Hainsworth, Lucy Hainsworth, Anton Harding, Andrew Pert, Gert Van Hoff, Malcolm Halliwell, John Adamson, Terry Hammill and Larna Campbell.

Illustrate This

2009-10-23T06:43:00.000-07:00

Dean Clough Galleries,
Halifax

Deep Inspiration

2009-10-23T06:42:00.000-07:00

Jerwood Space
London

Touch

2009-10-23T06:41:00.000-07:00

Egg Space
Liverpool

Cyprus Summer Studio

2009-07-23T00:25:00.000-07:00

Cyprus College of Art, Lempa
15 July - 5 August 2009

Recycled Art

2009-07-20T07:49:00.000-07:00

Bookbinding

2009-07-11T12:32:00.000-07:00

Safe To Touch

2009-06-14T13:43:00.001-07:00

Identity Cards

2009-05-21T11:16:00.000-07:00

The Art House invited 12 Israeli artists to be resident at their studios in Wakefield for two weeks in June 2009. Each artist was paired with a UK based artist to work together to produce work on the question of identity. The work could be collaborative or simply informed by the relationship between the two artists. The project culminated in an exhibition of the work produced on the last Wednesday of the month.

The following is a transcript of email communication between myself and my collaborative partner, Zeev Parush, to generate ideas prior to the start of the residency:

Hi Zeev,
My name is Louise Atkinson from Leeds, UK and I'll be your artist partner for the upcoming residency. My main interests at the moment are in communication and I have been studying the cultural significance of hand gestures and animal idioms. I have a blog and archive that you are welcome to have a look at, it's still very much a work in progress but might give you an idea of what I do: http://louiseatkinson.blogspot.com
Look forward to hearing your thoughts and ideas,
Louise

Hi Louise,
I am very happy to hear from you. I took a tour at your Blog – it's interesting (loved your drawings by the way) with a lot to digest. I found very interesting what you called "slippages of meaning within language" and the reference to the word Différance. It relates to the fact that our all perception is context sensitive (something I know and use in my work… the one I do for living :) ) Your current interest and focus in communication and the emphasis on visual aspects of it, sound like subjects where art and science goes great together – I love it.

I use my art in the last few years as a way to express some of my inside world, thoughts and ideas. Currently I'm interested a lot with the question of Identity and the way we perceive each other by visual look. You can see work I did about it in my gallery here: http://www.pbase.com/zeevpg/vagueness_of__identity
I use photography as the tool for my art work, but I don't see myself as a photographer. You can see also the work I do on Self Identity in my gallery I call "Bittersweet Chocolate" http://www.pbase.com/zeevpg/bittersweet
Looking forward to our collaboration and the upcoming 2 weeks.
Cheers
Zeev
p.s. Hope my English is not too bad (I do use the speller a lot…)

Hello again Zeev,
First of all please don't worry about your English, it's perfect, and definitely much better than my Hebrew :). I'm also intrigued to know more about your job and how it relates to the topic.

I enjoyed looking at your pictures very much and wondered how you would feel about us exploring this collaboration using photography as a primary medium, at least in the first instance. I was also wondering if there was a particular line of enquiry you wanted to follow in this project.

Some ideas I had previously with the hand gestures specifically involved exploring cross-cultural dialogue and meaning, basically using photography to depict hand signals from different countries/cultures to create a 'conversation', perhaps from the left hand to the right. Not sure if this makes a lot of sense but let me know what you think or if you have any other ideas. I've attached some pics of my hand drawings.
Louise

Hi Louise
Whats up? First of all using photography as primary medium for our collaboration is perfect for me since in the last few years all my artistic work is based on photography and the digital dark room. I don’t really have a particular nor “must” direction for the project, so I’m coming with an open mind and willingness to collaborate. In Hebrew slang it is called "to flow" :) I love your drawings and I like the subject of hand gestures and the part it takes in dialogues and feelings externalization (hope it’s the right word…)

I’m not sure I understood your idea. Did you mean creating a kind of “conversation” by connecting a series of hand gestures in a panoramic view? One area that I’m exploring as part of my own self “Identity” project is the relationship between the creator and his subjects or viewers. Like this image:

I think this is also a kind of “conversation” and it made me think that maybe there is a way to embed hand language within some kind of a “show” or “play” – like shadows show with the back of the viewers in front, as a symbolic of “conversation” - now I hope I’m making sense :) :). Now I’m sure this is collaboration is going to be fun and inspiring.

You also asked about my Job, so here is a bit about it. I am a Human Factor Engineer working as User Interface designer. My role is to bridge the gap between the users and the technology, making useful things usable for human beings. This evolves taking in consideration things like memory, cognition, vision, mental, etc. One very important aspect of our perception is that it is context sensitive, and the meaning of things changes by the environment and situation. For example (very simple one) - underlined text in a web page is perceived as a Link to another page, but in a Word document, it is usally perceived only as a kind of emphasis. And this relates to the different meaning of things in a relation to cultures.
Well, that’s all for now.
I hope this was not too serious… I can be funny also :)
Cheers
Zeev

Hey there,
How's it going? I'm excited about the opportunity to work in photography. As for the specific visual elements I haven't really considered much about that. I thought that it was something which we could work on together if you liked the initial idea. I particularly like the photo you highlighted. It seems like a kind of postmodern staging (how we present ourselves, how others perceive us). I also thought it was interesting how you interpreted the idea into a number of possibilities and I think it would be exciting to play about with those. I'm also open to any other suggestions you think might be interesting.

Reading your email also gave me a few ideas, maybe a little off the wall or time-consuming but I'll mention them anyway and see what you think. As well as, or encompassing the photography, I thought it could be interesting to incorporate your profession in some way to create an interactive web resource. I understand if you want to keep this separate or if you think it may not be possible in the time, but perhaps if your interested it could be a way to elaborate on the work after the residency. Again, I haven't considered specific aesthetics.

Another thing I was thinking was about what you said about the relationship between the creator and subject/viewer. I'm quite interested in relational aesthetics, which gives the audience the opportunity to interact with, add to, manipulate, etc, the artwork: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Relational_art
Now, I'm being too serious :P Ok I'll stop talking now.
Look forward to hearing your thoughts,
Louise

Hi,
Shalom Louise, Ma shlomech? (Hello Louise, how are you - in Hebrew :)) It is very interesting the way ideas and views drift to all kind of directions, and I’m very happy about it because this associative artistic brain storm is something I hoped for in this project. It’s a bit difficult to do it via mail, but we’re doing a good job aren’t we? :)

If I understood you correctly you see an interactive web resource as a possible platform for Relational art – This is very interesting idea which I’m not sure can be implemented in the time frame we have , BUT I’ll be happy to discuss about it with you. Actually I was playing with this sort of interactive art idea in my project vagueness of identity. In some point a thought to let the audience in some way to make the pairing themselves. The only problem is that it can become a sort of a game… That’s the biggest challenge in this relational aesthetics – to stay an art work, which brings up the question - can art be a game?

When I talked about the relationship between the creator and subject/viewer, I meant that the art work deals with this relationship, “talks” about it, brings up thoughts in the viewers about the interaction they see, and what it can mean. For example, take a look at the attached image (not mine)

There is a relationship there, who exposes and who is being exposed, which to my opinion is not trivial at all… I actually have a plan (one day) to create an homage based on this painting where I myself (or the same person) play both roles, because a lot of art work is actually exposing one self.
I hope I didn’t drift too much.
Have a great day
Zeev

Hey again,
I was thinking that maybe for the Identity Cards project, We can work together on combining the hand gestures language idea with my own self identity project, especially in the images of my interaction as artist with my subjects and viewers. This can be a good connection between our work - what do you think?
Cheers
Zeev

Hi,
Sorry for the delay. I'm busy installing a tactile show and finishing some sculptural work for that. I'm working on a reply with some possible answers for both your emails and will send that through soon. I wanted to ask if it was ok with you if I publish the transcript of our emails on my blog as part of the documentation process cos I think it is quite a valuable part, both for us to assess and review our creative decisions and also perhaps for people to understand how we arrived at particular solutions and conclusions.
Hope all's well with you :)
Louise x

Hi again,
Thanks for the Hebrew lesson. I love learning languages! Do I say it back the same way? Or does it change for a female speaking to a male?

Re. the idea of art as a game, I definitely think the two are not mutually exclusive and I love to embrace humour and playfulness in life and art as much as possible. I've recently been working on a Tate Britain project called Visual Dialogues, creating gallery interpretations to allow audiences to engage with historical artworks more easily. One example of this involved placing signs around the gallery in response to the paintings, challenging the meaning of the work as well as the identity of the gallery space. The feedback was extremely positive and produced interesting audience interpretations which were both humorous and poignant, sometimes for the same piece. I felt that these contrasting responses were equally valid as it showed that the intervention managed to break down fixed meaning and allow the audience to respond to the work on their own terms.

Anyway, back to the idea of games. When I was looking at the Vagueness of Identity project it reminded me of a kind of card game and I started to think about the game 'Top Trumps' : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Top_Trumps
Looking at your pictures, I started to think about the judgements that we make about people from appearances and how true they are. So I thought we could devise a grading system and display alongside photographs on cards that people could play with. This raises a number of questions: Who grades? Us? Them? An independent party? What are the categories? How quantifiable? eg. artist v lawyer, politician v estate agent? This also allows players to decide their own grading structure and argue which card is more valuable.

I realise we've already discussed quite a number of other options previously including specifically the hand gestures/self identity work and I'm more than happy to expolore any or all of these ideas. I was also wondering whether we need to do more practical preparation or if you're happy to keep having these conversations. I wouldn't like to contrive the process but I think we could easily talk forever! :) I don't mind either way and I'm not sure what practical prep we could do but if you have any thoughts...
Louise xxx

Hey Louise
Ma nishma ? First of all let’s conclude the Hebrew lesson (that can be a bit of a headache in terms of gender :))For male you say Ma shlomcha? For female, it’s Ma shlomech? Or you can just say Ma nishma (it is more like what’s up, then How are you) which is good for all gender.

The project you did on Visual Dialogues, where text can take or give different meanings to visual work, is a great way for the audience to express their associations and feelings regarding the art work, without the need to give a methodic opinion about it… This reminded me of another idea I started to explore with a friend of mine, to create a kind of duet where I supply the images and she will add her associative text. Our first try was really very surprising and funny for me to see the direction it took the image… Here it is. What she wrote is beneath the image.

Have to roll out the pastry... have to pluck the chicken... must fix Aron's ripped trousers... and it's already very late... the sun is almost setting

You are right, we can easily talk forever, isn’t that great? :) Anyway, I do agree that we need to get a bit more oriented and practical towards the Identity Cards project, so here are some thoughts about it. Maybe we can connect some of the ideas we talked about – Identity in terms of private and cultural context, the relationship between the artist and his subjects/viewers, and the involvement of the viewers as part of an art work. We can use images from my Identity project to provide a personal side, with your images of hand gestures (or ones we will create together) that portray some cultural side of Identity. Then we can add a way for the audience to kind of interact with our work.

Since it’s all about Identity, one way to involve the viewer is by providing him/her with their own image (a visual aspect of identity) as part of the work, and for this I think that what triggered my own self journey can work here too – it’s the mirror… we can find some way to embed actual mirrors between (or within) the images, so the viewer will be exposed to his own image within the context of identity related images/work, which can raise questions like “How do I fit in?” or “How much ones identity is really unique?”
Hope it was not too much practical… :) What do you say?
Have a wonderful weekend.
Zeev
Ps. we can keep drifting with our thoughts in any case …

Hi,
Forgot to say... I just love your idea of putting it all together in your blog. I looked at it and even gave it to a friend to read, and it is doing a great job describing the interesting interaction and process we're having.
Cheers
Zeev

Hey Louise
Our organizer in Israel is going to come out with publication in Israel about the Identity Cards Project, and part of it is the information about the Israeli artist participating and any relevant information - so the question is if it is OK with you that I will give them the link to your blog that will be attached to information about me and my colaboration with you.
Have a nice day
Zeev

Hi Zeev,
Yeah no problem at all. I would love to get a copy of it when it's ready if that would be possible?
Louise

Hi,
Thanks - and of course I'll send you the link when they publish it (it will be in the internet)
Zeev

Hi,
I've been thinking about the ideas you outlined and it seems that we've got a good basis for collaboration sorted. Hope you think so too. I've also been considering the possible formats and outcomes that we can apply these ideas to. Not sure if this is too premature but see what you think.

Obviously it would be nice to present the work as wall mounted images for the initial accessibility but depending on particular idea streams we could also incorporate the work into multiples ie. books or sets of cards, to create a more interactive and tactile experience. I have a strong interest in artist books and multiples which has led me to set up an international project called Artist Book Collective. It started as a facebook group and you can view it here: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=11171281554&ref=ts. There is also a blog with links to past projects here: http://artistbookcollective.blogspot.com. I'm including this information for examples of possible formats but also to invite other people who may be interested to join as a separate issue.

With regards to other books/multiples here is another project I was involved in: http://louiseatkinson.blogspot.com/2008/07/from-book-to-book.html and I have also attached some different images as I am interested in exploring and expanding the book format to incorporate narrative, objects, etc. Again, these are just suggestions but I would be interested to hear your feedback.
Hope you're well and enjoying life :)
Louise

Hi,
The artist books is a field that I have no experience with, but it looks very exciting with lots of creative possibilities, both as a whole conceptual work and as a way of presentation only – got to give it a try :). It does give a different experience and I think it is definitely something that we should explore as one possible outcome of our collaborated work.

On a more conceptual point of view, I think that artist books is more like an intimate centered kind of experience (within a context of one work) as opposed to regular images on the wall kind of experience, where space, size, spread out images, layout, light and even the audience, creates a powerful overall look & feel of the entire work.

Back to our collaboration, I think we can find a way to combine both experiences (not sure if this is what you meant). I have no specific idea yet, it can be a kind of drilldown per topic as you suggested, or any other creative way we'll come up with. (hey, that's why we joined this collaboration project in the first place :))
Cheers
Zeev

Hi Louise,
I just found this link on Art Books, I'm sure you familiar with it already but just to be on the safe side here it is:
http://artists.arts.lt/1artists/artistsb0.html. It's full with some great art books examples. The all art books idea is very exciting and I hope we'll find a way to incorporate it somehow in this project. I plan to create such a book from my own Bittersweet self identity project in any case - but I guess this will be later on.
Hope all is well with you.
Zeev

Hi
What's up? Here is the Internet catalog that was published here in Israel by Amili Gelbman: http://israblog.nana10.co.il/blogread.asp?blog=404212. In my page there is a link to our correspondence in your blog.
Cheers
Zeev

Hi Zeev,
Thanks for the links, both to the online catalogue and the artist books. It's always good to see new work. I'm really glad that you are interested in this medium and I hope that we can both get a lot out of it. I've also been thinking more about interactive possibilities relating to perception and it brought up memories of the kid's game 'Chinese Whispers'. I'm not sure if you're familiar with it, but the idea is that a group of people pass a secret message between each other and it gradually distorts as each person perhaps hears it slightly differently. It reminded me as well of your collaboration between words and image. Visually, it could be represented by the Surrealist game 'Exquisite Corpse' which we call 'Consequences':

Not long to go now. Are there any more practical preparations we can do? eg. prototypes, recruiting participants, etc?
Louise x

Hey Louise
Yes, not long to go now and I’m eager to get there… Work on Identity can vary from being very personal on one side, to conceptual meaning of it on the other side. It can express one’s personal point of view, feelings and thoughts that define his own identity (like the path I’m exploring) and it can on the other end deal with the notion of Identity and the relativity of it (like the hands gestures you explore). I think that connecting these 2 ends is our biggest challenge, and the way we’ll do it can influence some how the visual implementation and presentation. So, I don’t know what more preparations we can do. I plan to bring with me few printed images from my Bittersweet work, in case we'll find a way it can feed into what we’ll create together.
What do you think? Am I making any sense? :)
L'hitraot (See you)
Zeev

Hi Zeev,
That sounds great. I guess we just need to meet and discuss the ideas we've had and see how we can implement those. I could bring a few images of my work and bindings for books in case we decide to use any of those in any of the work we produce. Bring as many of your images as you like (could have some digital as well as I'm sure we'll be able to get access to printing facilities through Art House).
Look forward to meeting you next week,
Louise

Hello Louise,
This all project sounds great and I'm sure we're going have a fruitful (and fun) collaboration. So will meet next week, and to help you recognize me amongst the crowd (It's all about Identity after all) here is an image of Me, My Family and Other Animals
See you there :)
Zeev

The Project...

The Israeli artists arrived on Monday 15th June and met up with their collaborative partners the following day to discuss their respective projects and eat Indian food...

We set to work the next day and, after discussing many possibilities and directions for the project, we decided to use a photograph that Zeev brought with him as a starting point for exploring the politics of identity. We walked around looking for locations to shoot and then Zeev played about with the images incorporating some Origami cranes from a Japanese architecture show preview...

A Comedy of Errors in Bradford turned into a nice meal at the Love Apple...

After a busy day working we were invited to participate in some kind of meditation labyrinth created by Linda King at Westgate Studios. Some people were more into it than others...

Proofs for printing...

Books and Badges...

We went to help Richard and Orit document their work in the town centre. A Polish guy called Jan seemed particularly interested but he didn't speak English and I only know how to say darling in Polish, so it didn't make for an entirely fruitful exchange...

After a hard weeks work, we went for a well deserved break at the pub; the girls thrashed the boys at pool, Roee showed his competitive side, and Zeev defied gravity...

On the day of the exhibition preview we came in and posed for press photos. Installing was frantic as usual, but everything got finished in time (apart from the book) and everything looked great. We got dressed up and drank and talked nonsense and then went for pizza and afterwards to Harry's Bar. The next day Sharron Harnoy, the Cultural Attache of the Israeli Embassy in London came to look round the show and meet the artists.

Artforum Berlin

2009-04-21T07:24:00.001-07:00

Ephemeral Sculpture in the Vanitas Tradition

2009-04-20T12:27:00.000-07:00

Participants used Dutch Vanitas paintings from Leeds City Art Gallery collection as inspiration to create ephemeral sculpture using fruit, vegetables and flowers.

My Collective Unconscious

2009-02-21T02:18:00.001-08:00

Links

2008-11-27T13:55:00.001-08:00

Axis
Online database for UK visual artists

Manchester Craft Mafia
All things crafty from the other side of the Pennines

Matt Roberts Arts
Not for profit London gallery...

artartart
...and this is their online newsletter

Sartorial Contemporary Art

www.nousvous.eu

http://www.fabric-ation.co.uk
http://www.breezeleeds.org/iyf.ikml
http://www.artquest.org.uk/
http://www.miriad.mmu.ac.uk/pavement/
http://drsketchyleeds.wordpress.com
http://www.rbs.org.uk
www.aferro.org
www.rippleonline.com
rokebygallery.com
www.saatchigallery.com/yourgallery
www.aestheticamagazine.com
http://www.lumen.org.uk
http://www.hepworthwakefield.com/
http://www.chrysalisarts.org.uk/index.cfm
www.a-n.co.uk/nan
http://www.contemporaryartmanchester.org/
www.lvaf-talk.org.uk

Sketchbook

2008-11-27T13:54:00.001-08:00

http://loubiesketch.blogspot.com/

Artist Books

2008-11-27T13:53:00.001-08:00

A celebration of all things folded, sewn and glued from concertina books, altered books and book objects to more traditional bindings.

Projects

2008-11-27T13:51:00.001-08:00

Peter Ainsworth: A Series of Activities in Edge Spaces
My Collective Unconscious
Identity Cards
Cyprus Summer Studio Residency

Peter Ainsworth: A Series Of Activities In Edge Spaces

2008-08-29T10:11:00.000-07:00

I recently took part in a project by Peter Ainworth called 'A Series Of Activities In Edge Spaces'. This project involved a group of participants making formal structures from materials found on 'edge spaces', or public spaces without a designated purpose. The photographs and footage taken from these activities will form part of Pavilion's 2008 commission series which is to be exhibited at the National Media Museum in Bradford from September 12th 2008.

On his work, Peter states: 'Edge spaces as depicted in photography are viewed in a very different way to the site as experienced in the everyday navigation of the landscape. Within the frame of the image, the subject matter is given not only new semantic possibilities, but also new philosophical perspectives. Photographic depictions ask us to see the familiar from a new angle and to contemplate what is hidden below the surface – the disparity between the experience of space in ordinary life, through cultural and socially determined perceptions and the experience of a site as depicted by photography'.

Time and Space

2008-07-08T13:08:00.001-07:00

Bowery, Headingley
curated by Louise Atkinson
Private view 12th June 2008 7pm
Exhibition continues
13th June - 15th August
8am - 6pm daily

Set within the confines of a domestic living space, Time and Space examines new book works created in response to nostalgic associations of place and memory, alluding to the obsolete, discarded and lost.

The show includes work by national and international artists, across the breadth of book art practice, exploring the book as a time-based medium in various forms, including sculpture, found objects, audio, tactile and conceptual.

Contextualised within a living room environment, the work functions to question how we curate our own private spaces, how we present ourselves and what we choose to reveal to, and conceal from, the outside world.

This environment also affords the audience the opportunity to fully appreciate and experience contemporary book works, while allowing them time and space to reflect on their own associations and memories.

Above image by Nicola Dale, The World As I See It, Altered Found Book, 2008

Deep Inspiration

2008-07-08T11:54:00.001-07:00

Jerwood Space, London

http://www.asthma.org.uk/news_media/news/deep_inspiration.html
http://www.asthma.org.uk/news_media/media_releases/gavin_turk_and.html
http://www.asthma.org.uk/what_you_can_do/special_events/the_emerging.html
http://www.asthma.org.uk/news_media/news/deep_inpsiration.html
http://www.asthma.org.uk/what_you_can_do/special_events/art_auction_is_a.html
www.londonmice.co.uk/00,news,5717,441,00.htm

Breathing Space

2008-07-08T11:41:00.000-07:00

Brahm Gallery, Leeds
4 May – 6 June 2007

Breathing Space brings together a selection of contemporary visual artwork by some of the north of England’s most promising women artists. Reflecting on the notion of ‘breathing space’ the works range from installation, painting and photography to metalwork, collage and soft sculpture. As varied in conception as they are in material, the works on show engage in subjects as diverse as gender inequality, domesticity, heartbreak, isolation and space.

Yet the concept of a space to breathe is one, which to many, is regarded as a metaphorical opening, allowing time to spread out, escape and reflect. This moment is precious, and no more so than to those living with or affected by life-threatening illness. Breathing Space is a fundraising project supporting the Sue Ryder Care Wheatfields Hospice, which cares for people living with, or affected by, a serious illness.

More Things in Heaven and Earth

2008-07-08T08:53:00.001-07:00

Durham Cathedral

Artgos

2008-07-07T13:15:00.000-07:00

theartmarket, Leeds
3-15 December 2007

This Christmas Artsparkle presents Artgos, a new catalogue store in the heart of Leeds’ shopping district! A collaboration between Artsparkle and theartmarket, Artgos will be selling work by big name artists alongside fresh talent working with multiples, those fabulous, affordable artworks that make such great stocking fillers. Come along to the catalogue shop for a unique shopping experience, see performance artists in full flow, and kick-start your contemporary art collection for as little as £1! If you can’t make it along to the shop itself, work will also be available to buy online at www.artgos.org.uk. A programme of talks and workshops will accompany Artgos.

Artsparkle is an artist-led organisation formed in Leeds in 2003 by Emma Bolland, Pippa Hale, Kerry Harker, Jon Wakeman and Karen Watson, with the aim of exploring the contemporary art market through the medium of artists’ multiples. Opportunities for artists to make new work are central to the project, which also aims to raise the profile of artist-led activity. Artsparkle organises a rolling programme of events, commissions and exhibitions, and collaborate with other multiples-focused organisations and groups in the UK, Europe and beyond.

theartmarket are Zoe Sawyer, Lil Adams, Sarah Barrett, Alicia Talikowska & Joe Mawson and have been based in the Merrion Market since December 2006. A gallery/ shop/ studio, theartmarket is an independent space housed within the cultural fabric of the city centre. It provides a peer support network and platform to showcase cross-regional emerging, emerged and re-emerging artists. Inviting a large community of artists, curators, press, and others involved in the art sector theartmarket increases footfall of audience members to a range of art activities including hands-on workshops. They also have a very good relationship with other members of the Market.

From Book To Book

2008-07-07T13:05:00.000-07:00

An exhibition of artist books
Leeds City Art Gallery
6 March – 20 April 2008

From Book to Book will consist of new book works created specifically for the show by local, national and international artists in response to books themselves. This could be to the form of a book, to the physicality of volume and content, of paper and printing, of structure and sequence, or may be to reading in general, a distinct piece of writing or the presence of books, whether on home bookshelves, in libraries and or in specialist collections. Gathered together in the exhibition, they will present a consideration and celebration of the book and an acknowledgement of the connections from book to book. In keeping with the essential nature of the medium, visitors will be able to handle all of the books in the exhibition.

11th International Artist Book Fair

2008-07-07T12:58:00.000-07:00

Parkinson Court, University of Leeds
11.00am - 6.00pm, Friday 7th & Saturday 8th March 2008

The 11th International Contemporary Artists' Book Fair will be held over two days in the Parkinson Court at the University of Leeds.
Printmaking for young people and bookmaking workshops for adults will take place alongside the fair on Saturday 8th March, 11.00am–5.00pm

A fully illustrated catalogue will be available

11th International Open

2008-07-07T12:43:00.000-07:00

Woman Made Gallery, Chicago
February 29 - March 27, 2008
Opening Reception: February 29, 6-9pm

Bold, provocative and sublime, the works of contemporary female artists are charting new territories and breaking established grounds. Woman Made Gallery is pleased to announce its 11th International Art Open. Each year, in celebration of Women’s History Month, Woman Made Gallery invites submissions from women artists worldwide. This year’s exhibition, juried by Barbara Koenen, will feature drawings, paintings, photographs, sculpture, and mixed-media works by 40 artists.

Born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Barbara Koenen earned her M.F.A. at The School of the Art Institute of Chicago. She is an exhibiting artist, curator and writer. In 2007 she curated the group show “Consuming War” for the Hyde Park Art Center in Chicago. Koenen serves as Project Director for the Cultural Planning Division at the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs. Her extensive exhibition record includes the Museum of
Contemporary Art, Chicago.

Artists include: Louise Atkinson, Claudia Berns, Audrey Brown, Corinne Butler, Mo Cahill, Margot Ceddia, Sharon Davie-Barrett, Rachael Marie Demeo, Tracy Featherstone and Krista Connerly, Stephanie Fosnaugh, Rachel Gibson, Sharon Gilmore, Sara Holwerda, Beth Kamhi, Phyllis Lear, Yen-Hua Lee, BiLan Liao, Joetta Maue, Lily Mayfield, Sonia McKenna, Monika Merva, Heather Muenstermann, Althea Murphy-Price, Aria Newton, Sarah Nguyen, Mary Lou Novak, Beth Oberholtzer, Pamela Paulsrud, Bonnie Peterson, Joyce Polance, Jennifer Reis, Marybeth Rothman, Vlasta Smola, Kristina Sparks, Melissa
Steckbauer, Victoria Szilagyi, Susan Tennenbaum, Vadis Turner, Jessica Vaughn, Erin Williams, and Marjorie Woodruff.

In addition to the 11th International Open WMG is proud to present solo shows by Colorado artist Mary K. Connelly, first prize winner of the 10th International Open and Shelly Jyoti who resides in Baroda, Gujarat in India. Connelly describes her paintings in “Topophilia: New Interiors” as studies of the domestic interior where the
familiar notion of "home" is fraught with conflicting feelings of entrapment and private repose. The images are created by a distillation of perception and memory, where color and light convey a world psychologically and spiritually charged.

Shelly Jyoti is an international exhibiting artist, writer, poet and fabric and fashion designer. Her paintings in “Beyond Mithila: Exploring the Decorative” are a fantasy of heritage, patterns and confluence of traditional artforms and references of embroideries and embellishments from India.

Woman Made Gallery
685 N. Milwaukee Ave.
Chicago, IL 60622
Website: www.womanmade.org
Gallery Hours:
Wed-Fri noon-7pm
Sat-Sun noon-4pm
Admission: Free

Woman Made Gallery is supported in part by grants from the Illinois Arts Council, a state agency; a CityArts Program II grant from the City of Chicago, Department of Cultural Affairs; the Chicago Community Foundation; the Gaylord and Dorothy Donnelley
Foundation; the Hugh M. Hefner Foundation; the Efroymson Fund, a CICF Fund; a major anonymous donor; and the generosity of its members and contributors.

Exhibition Spaces

2008-07-07T11:38:00.000-07:00

Bloc Space
Bowery

Altered States

2008-07-07T09:14:00.000-07:00

Artist Book Collective

2008-07-07T09:02:00.000-07:00

House Project
Text Poems
(sub)Missive
Time and Space curated by Louise Atkinson

Multiply

2008-07-07T08:51:00.001-07:00

Exhibitions

2008-07-05T14:50:00.000-07:00

Natural Selection, Arts@Trinity, Leeds
Safe To Touch, Hub National Centre for Art and Design, Sleaford
Cultural Parentheses, Title Bar Project, Incubator Gallery
Illustrate This, D Mill, Dean Clough Galleries, Halifax
More Things in Heaven and Earth, Durham Cathedral
Time and Space, Bowery, Headingley
On Your Wall Too, Leeds Met Gallery
11th International Open, Woman Made Gallery, Chicago
From Book to Book, Leeds City Art Gallery
Artgos, theartmarket, Leeds
9x12, Fort Worth Arts Center, Texas
Touch, Egg Space, Liverpool
Breathing Space, Brahm Gallery, Leeds
Deep Inspiration, Jerwood Space, London
Bibliomania, John Holden Gallery, Manchester
Peace Camp, Brick Lane Gallery, London
Re-generation, County Hall Gallery, London
Artforum, Berlin
Tactual Explorations, North Light Gallery, Huddersfield
A Dogs Dinner, Black Dogs Arts Collective, Brudenell Social Club, Leeds
Eyesore or Saviour, Exposure Gallery, Swansea
Home, BlocSpace, Sheffield

Workshops

2008-07-05T13:55:00.001-07:00

Ephemeral Sculpture
Bookbinding
Recycled Art

Drawings

2007-06-23T07:01:00.003-07:00

Continuing my interest in genetic modification and natural selection, I am developing a body of limited edition carbon drawings to investigate the use of animal symbolism in language. Each drawing is 42 x 30cm approx and made using a process of carbon paper and digital printing.

I am also interested in other forms of language and cultural specificity such as hand gestures and body language. The following is my ongoing collection of pastel drawings which will form a body of work for installation.

Sculpture

2007-06-23T06:56:00.001-07:00

My sculptures and installations are created using a variety of media and techniques including, textiles, found objects and paper.