Category: Organisations

Outside In: Intuitive Visions

Featured Image: Martin Phillimore, All the Fun at the Fair

Two new exhibitions opening in Brighton this weekend illustrate the fantastic work being created by artists represented on the Outside In website. Both exhibitions are taking place during May – famously ‘Brighton Festival’ month. One is in partnership with HOUSE Festival 2015; the visual arts arm of Brighton Festival, and the other in collaboration with Brighton’s Artists Open Houses, another Festival related endeavour which sees artists of Brighton and Hove throw open the front doors of their homes.

‘Intuitive Visions: Shifting the Margins’

‘Intuitive Visions: Shifting the Margins’, in collaboration with HOUSE 2015, will take place at Phoenix Brighton from 3 – 31 May, showcasing the work of nine Outside In artists: Aradne, Blair McCormick, John Ackhurst, Jonathan Kenneth William Pettitt, Luc Raesmith, Martin Phillimore, Michelle Roberts, Paul Bellingham and Sally Ward. Curated by Katy Norris, curator at Pallant House Gallery, the exhibition includes a host of intuitive works, including Paul Bellingham’s ‘blind drawings’, which he creates by closing his eyes and drawing a head, before opening his eyes and filling any extraneous space with colour.

Paul Bellingham, Comfort Comes

The utilisation of found objects and materials is common in the show, with Luc Raesmith working quickly and intuitively with available recycled and found materials: “I am a colour obsessive, as well as a ‘magpie’ for images, textiles and metals, plus beach and street plastic flotsam.” Similarly, Sally Ward will often pick up materials from charity shops; fabrics that already have a history of their own, before stamping, spraying and sewing them to give them a new lease of life.

Colour is abundant in the exhibition, with the likes of Jonathan Kenneth William Pettitt’s ‘Love Tears’ and ‘Pee Thrips,’ and Martin Phillimore’s untitled doodles. Similarly, Michelle Roberts’ colourful and complex worlds have a distinct logic and meaning that connect to her own life. Working methodically across each canvas, Michelle starts by building layers of patterns, working from left to right and top to bottom, before selectively filling the shapes with colour.

Jonathan Kenneth William Pettitt, Love Tears

The exhibition is a culmination of a burgeoning relationship between Outside In and HOUSE 2015 – something that will undoubtedly benefit both the public and the two organisations by offering new audiences the opportunity to engage with exciting contemporary work.

Click here for more information on ‘Intuitive Visions: Shifting the Margins.’

‘Being Creative is Good For You!’

‘Being Creative is Good For You!’ sees Outside In and The Wellbeing Gallery – based at Brighton Health and Wellbeing Centre – collaborate for the second time as part of Brighton’s Artists Open Houses. Showcasing work by four Outside In artists: Aradne, Annika Malmqvist, Anthony Stevens and Valerie Potter, the exhibition aims to highlight how these four artists have discovered their own personal fabric-based techniques to channel their creativity and improve their wellbeing.

Aradne, Aureola 3

From Aradne’s technique of utilising a sewing machine as a drawing implement, to Anthony Stevens’ textiles imbued with deep, symbolic meanings, this exhibition pivots around the notion that using your hands and creating can be incredibly beneficial to health and wellbeing. Anthony says: “To create is one of the fundamental experiences of being human. It feels so much more invigorating to create from the nuts and bolts of our own lives, than to just stagnate and consume what is made available to us.”

Anthony Stevens, Culture Vulture

The exhibition will be accompanied by a series of related events, including an interactive, creative workshop led by artist and curator Jude Hart, as well as mini-workshops led by exhibiting artists Aradne and Anthony Stevens. In these mini-workshops, participants will have the chance to learn a new technique or simply enjoy being creative.

Click here for more information on ‘Being Creative is Good For You!’

About Outside In

Founded by Pallant House Gallery in 2006, Outside In provides a platform for those who define themselves as facing barriers to the art world due to health, disability, social circumstance or isolation. The goal of the project is to create a fairer art world which rejects traditional values and institutional judgements about whose work can and should be displayed.

www.outsidein.org.uk

April 28, 2015
ARTHOUSE Meath

Above Image: Peter Andrews, ‘Meds”

When I came across ARTHOUSE Meath a couple of months ago, I thought that it was an incredible idea, and so when the opportunity arose to do a post on them, I jumped at the chance. ARTHOUSE Meath is an innovative social enterprise creating artworks and products for sale at exhibition, trade and retail. The works produced and sold are created by people over 19 living with severe epilepsy and learning difficulties.

The ARTHOUSE’s main aim is to show what can be achieved – they have been the trade stationary supplier for Mary Portas concessions stores in House of Fraser – and 100% of sales revenue goes into the project for ongoing development, with any profit going to the Meath Epilepsy Charity.

Below are two short case studies on two of the artists working at ARTHOUSE Meath; Marjorie Doherty and Peter Andrews.

Marjorie Doherty

Marjorie first came to the Meath Epilepsy Trust in October 2005 when ARTHOUSE Meath had just been set up. Although Marjorie had never done much art before, she seemed to really relish the fact that she was doing something with purpose. An incredibly hard worker, Marjorie visits the ARTHOUSE for two full days a week, where she creates stunning pieces of work proving that she has great artistic skills and is extremely dexterous.

“Art is my favourite thing to do. I do birds, drawing birds and painting things.” – Marjorie Doherty

Marjorie Doherty, ‘Best Dad’

Marjorie Doherty, ‘Spirit of Summer’

Peter Andrews

Peter visits the ARTHOUSE Meath studio nearly everyday, meaning he has become one of the organisation’s most prolific artists. He also works front of house, greeting customers in the shop and selling products. Recently, Peter sold his own work to a customer in the shop; an interaction that embodies everything that ARTHOUSE Meath strives to achieve.

“I love painting because it calms me down. I love to paint ladies because of the feelings inside when I achieve nice paintings.” – Peter Andrews

Peter Andrews, ‘Wonder Woman’

Peter Andrews, ‘Heart in Throat’

The piece below is a collaboration between 8+ ARTHOUSE Meath artists who, depending on levels of dexterity and ability, would have all worked on different aspects of it. Marjorie and Pete both worked on it.

ARTHOUSE Meath, ‘Jungle Fever’

For more information on ARTHOUSE Meath, please visit their website:

www.arthousemeath.com

July 23, 2013
Heartside Studio and Gallery

The Heartside Ministry was founded in 1983 in Grand Rapids, Michigan, as an outreach to the homeless and disenfranchised people of the streets in a neighbourhood abandoned by businesses and avoided by many. In 1993, in response to the needs of the community, the Ministry developed a programme of one-on-one adult literacy classes, further expanding in 1997 to include a computer centre that offered help with resumes, desktop publishing and web access. The Art Studio and Gallery was established along with a pottery studio and a weaving programme, allowing the Heartside community to express themselves, discover their talents and produce saleable items.

The Art Studio and Gallery represents a large part of what Heartside does, existing as a “safe and catalysing environment for the expression of the emotions, ideas, creativity and spirituality.” The art programme space consists of large storefront windows, high ceilings and a supportive atmosphere that is “especially conducive to artistic endeavour.” The studio space is open to the public throughout the week, providing the opportunity for creation, learning and socialisation, and the gallery is open for special neighbourhood and city functions, and also showcases the work of artists participating in the programme.

Under the guidance of the Arts Coordinator, the often self-taught artists have produced a prolific body of work spanning various mediums, styles and subject matters. The Coordinator works to “encourage the intuitive and spontaneous artistic tendencies within each individual artist.”

Tom Salazar, one of the Heartside artists, has been interested in art from a young age. His to-scale intricate impression of the Sears Tower is hand-drawn, with not a computer programme in sight. Sears Tower impressively has every window and is draw foot for foot completely to a smaller scale. Tom also makes miniatures of some of his designs, and takes inspiration from architecture, cars and landscapes, as well as building his own furniture when needed.

Tom Salazar, ‘Hand Drawn Sears Tower’

Art for another participant of the Heartside programme, Katalina, began as a hobby, before quickly becoming part of who she is as a person. Speaking of the kind of work she produces, Katalina says: “I am a self-taught, mixed-media artist. I use acrylic paints, chalk, pastels, coloured pencils, water-colours, ink, found objects and a wide variety of other media that I come across.” As an artist, Katalina doesn’t limit herself – “any medium or found object can be used in creating art.” She uses vintage photos, and is interested in creating narratives with collage. Katalina adds a final thought: “Art for me is a very healing power. Not only do I create something, but I can also express how I feel at that particular moment by telling a new story.”

Katalina, ‘Family Album’

Katalina’s Family Album is a mixed-media collage made from magazine photos on book board with the addition of buttons and beads to add texture.

Katalina’s work on display at Heartside

Scott Robinson, a former street artist, grew up skateboarding – “and when I got too old to do that I traded it in for paints,” he says. Scott adds about his progression from skateboarder to artist that “it’s all connected anyhow – skateboarders just look at the world differently. When I see a bench I don’t see a place to see, I see it as an object. The lines in my paintings reflect that.” Don’t Do It was created by Scott after he became sick of the graffiti scene and the threat of incarceration, instead choosing to bring his work to canvas. It is a piece that initially had no meaning, before Scott noticed a pregnant woman and alcohol within the piece. The title came from an intuitive sense of what the image was; a pregnant mother being tempted by the alcoholic drink.

Scott Robinson, ‘Don’t Do It’

These are just three of the very talented artists working at Heartside Studio and Gallery. For more information on the organisation, click here.

Most of the art created on the programme is for sale via Heartside’s Etsy gallery, and is priced between $10 and $40, with proceeds directly benefitting the individual artists. To visit the Etsy gallery, click here.

April 12, 2013