Creative Future, an organisation based in Brighton, aims to promote the work of artists and writers who need extra support through publications, exhibitions and workshops. The organisation also has two milestone events; Tight Modern and the Impact Art Fair, with an in-the-making Literary event on its way. I work part time for the organisation, as their Data and Communications Officer, and have spent the past couple of weeks installing exhibitions at two different venues in Brighton. One of the exhibitions is currently taking place in the corridors of Community Base in Brighton; the home of the Creative Future office. Each mezzanine level has two artworks by Creative Future artists, with pieces ranging from digital prints to acrylic paintings. The second exhibition we have been working on is taking place at The Fed’s new Space for Change, where you can see the colourful, fantastical work of Stephen Humphrey,
Community Base Corridor Exhibition
Works by Richard Sitford and Stephen White
Stephen Humphrey Exhibition at Space for Change
Stephen Humphrey, ‘Medieval England’ and ‘The Beauty of Nature’Stephen Humphrey, ‘Lancaster Bomber’, ‘Mother Nature’ and ‘Beauty Street’Stephen Humphrey, ‘Mother Nature’, ‘Nature Within’ and ‘The Beauty Within’
For more information, you can visit Creative Future’s Website:
Shadows of a Dream, a collaborative exhibition between Creative Future and Outside In, opened last Sunday (16th September) at Outside In: Gallery located in Wellington House Day Centre, Brighton. The exhibition showcases works by Maria Kuipers, Mercedes Gil Simon, Michelle Roberts, Jessica Levine and Neal Pearce.
Jessica Levine’s work stems from sources including ‘personal travels, Kentish landscape, current affairs, childhood memories and textile designs.’ Jessica often explores ‘ideas using collage as… this is a useful process in realising finished pieces of work or in translating ideas using paint.’
Jessica Levine, ‘Mexico’
Maria Kuipers’ work focuses on ‘self’, and is underpinned by her interest in the human condition and passion for meaningful art. She often uses mixed media and aims for ‘material presence as well as mysterious imagery.’ Maria is an artist led by materials, and by taking an intuitive approach, she reaches into her inner self and works from the unconscious. She hopes that by trusting the creative process, she can make an art that is ‘beyond what is seen into the unseen.’
Maria Kuipers, ‘Into the Dark (Breaching Boundaries Series)’
Mercedes Gil Simon’s Black Paintings have evolved from photographs that she took as source material. They focus on night scenes of Brighton, or other cities which Mercedes has a connection to. The photographs are taken in the early hours of the morning to capture the unnerving calm of a city still sleeping. The works explore themes of Film Noir, and ‘convey an emotional and mysterious quality, creating highly evocative, atmospheric and subdued vistas.’
Mercedes Gil Simon, ‘Black Paintings’
Michelle Roberts has drawn and painted throughout her life; as a young girl, she accompanied her grandfather, a watercolour painter who often worked outdoors. She spends much of her free time drawing and painting, with the evolution of her works often taking weeks. Michelle creates ‘colourful and complex worlds, each with a distant logic and meaning that connect to her own life.’ Michelle is supported by Project Art Works, based in Hastings, who ‘produce pioneering visual arts projects for individuals with profound intellectual disability and multiple impairments.’
Michelle Roberts, ‘A Mouse For Your House’
Neal Pearce’s ‘The Infinite Codex’ was born in 1992, marking his departure from artistic and intellectual over-striving. Inspired by Douglas Adams’ Hitchhikers trilogy, Neal was intrigued by the depiction of Earth as the ultimate super-computer. ‘Could it be that each of us is encoded with invaluable data just waiting to be tapped – information far beyond the reaches of our worldly, tutored minds?’
Neal Pearce, ‘Wellington House Codex’
Shadows of a Dream is running until 21st Janurary 2013
Outside In: Gallery
Wellington House Day Options
Wellington Street
Brighton
BN2 3AX
Shadows of a Dream is an collaborative exhibition between Outside In and Creative Future which will explore emotion, surrealism, light and dark through painting, drawing, collage, prints and textiles.
The exhibition will present work from Jessica Levine, Mercedes Gil Simon, Maria Kuipers, Michelle Roberts and Neal Pearce.
The exhibition will run from the 17th September 2012 until the 21st January 2013, and will be taking place at the Outside In: Gallery in Brighton, which you can find at:
Wellington House Day Options Wellington Street Brighton, BN2 3AX
For more information on the artists involved, please use the following links to be taken to their personal webpages or their Outside In online galleries.
Tight Modern (a miniature version of Tate Modern) has just finished a stint at Royal Brompton Hospital in London. The exhibition will be in Brighton from the 9th until the 12th of August 2012 at East Street Bastion.
An online auction being held by Studio Upstairs between 12th July and 23rd July 2012. A viewing night of the artworks will be held at The Royal Academy of Arts on the 20th July 2012. The auction is a collaboration between Studio Upstairs and The Royal Academy of Arts to raise awareness of the fact that one in four people will suffer with a mental illness in their lifetime.
The deadline for the national competition is 20th July 2012. Maginalised artists are able to submit up to 2 pieces of work from their Outside In online gallery to the competition.
Flash of Splendour Artists @ Threadneedle Street, London
Ongoing
Flash of Splendour Artists is a “groundbreaking and highly acclaimed not-for-profit creative arts organisation working with music, poetry and the visual arts to effect societal change.”
The exhibition itself will focus on the work of 5 young British artists who are mentored by Flash of Splendour Arts.
The organisation itself specialises in “fostering creativity and self-determination in children and young adults, with a passionate interest in empowering those disempowered, for whatever reason, by their societal positioning.”
50 works will be selected from submissions by marginalised or disabled artists to go on a touring exhibition across Sussex and London. The gallery is a minute replica of the Tate Modern, will dimensions of 8 ft x 5 ft with a 12 ft high chimney.
Images that are submitted should be original, photographs, collages or computer generated, measuring 18 x 13 cm or 13 x 13 cm. Each artwork entered will cost £5.
There are prizes of £250, £175 and £75.
DEADLINE: 4TH JUNE 2012
Once selections are made, the exhibition will take place at the following venues, on the following dates:
London: 13th – 17th June @ Royal Brompton Hospital
Brighton: 9th – 12th August @ East Street Bastion
London: 10th October @ Gillet Square, Hackney
Chichester: 9th – 11th November @ Pallant House Gallery
The artworks on display in this exhibition mirror the struggle of the Tridacna; a creature which when put in peril will vanish, leaving behind just a skeleton.
The exhibition includes pieces that represented “suspended dreams” and a “romantic merging of humanity, nature and animal.”
KDOA 