Kollektivyne's review of the exhibition.
"Upon approach, the setting for this triptych instantly stirred intrigue, set in the ground floor spaces of some exceedingly swish offices about three minutes stroll from Piccadilly Gardens, the arty takeover of the courtyard area seemed certain to provoke some sort of reaction from the buildings regular inhabitants. The day’s intense sun finally setting and the offices clearing, a fierce swell of folk were congregating in and around three initially bare but now individually distinctive rooms. The first of which is home to Free For All (Part I), one half of an open submissions exhibition curated by Emily Songhurst. While open submission exhibits can often be a mixed bag, this one deserves recognition as each piece justifies its inclusion through its quality and concept, on a personal level I was particularly drawn to the eerie series of portraits by Lyn Bannister whose depictions of murderers lent themselves intriguingly to the choice of oil paint on glass, the effect hinting at the various layers of the human personality and psyche. Mr. & Mrs. Mill also catch the eye with an interesting selection of works ranging from a giant teacup to an instrument made from kitchen utensils in a series that examines the notion of the kitchen being the heart of the home...."
Read more at...http://www.kollektivnye.com/?p=1488
Exhibition preview: Friday 30th September 2011, 6pm – 8pm
A selection of photographs from the opening evening.
Artist: Ela Tezyka
Ela Tezyka
Using inexpensive everyday products, such as the ones bought from pound-stores, Ela works to create the atmosphere of a non-existing nature.
“We are surrounded by the plastic beauty of shopping centres and virtual reality. I am trying to persuade people to reflect about the meaning of the world of nature in their lives.”
“To create my objects I use the items which to me seem the most common, and at the same time the most useless. By this I want to point to the fact that our lives have becomes more and more artificial. People are less likely to look for contact with real nature, and too often content themselves with the substitutes offered by the marketing machine driven by money."
Ela's work on display at Free for All.
Artist: Ann Charlesworth
Ann Charlesworth
“ …art is not just a series of pretty objects; it is rather a way we have of articulating our interior life.” How we understand Art – Parsons, 2008.
"My work is about communication and dealing with intense buried emotions, after the death of my father as a child. Art is my way of finally trying to deal with the emptiness, confusion and anger that has been allowed to build up over years; the engagement in the process and materials are all part of my emotional journey, encouraging dialogue and introspection.
Art as a significant and relevant vehicle for communication, metonymy and catharsis is my main enquiry and therefore is my most salient theme and my final degree pieces act as a microcosm of this belief.
The pieces that I have created also perform on a different level as the viewer gets drawn into the complex, ambiguous, abstract patterns that are formed as part of my process."
Ann's work on display at Free for All.
Artist: Estelle Woolley
Estelle Woolley
1. Nests, 2011, Mixed media
2. Dorment, 2011, Mixed media
Estelle Woolley is a contemporary artist based in Chester , currently studying for an MA in Art as Environment at Manchester Metropolitan University
Recent exhibitions include: Expo! - Telford’s Warehouse Chester, In The Woods Today - Alvanley Cliff Woodland, Yarrangall Green Farm, Memory Blanks - Axis Arts Centre, Wunderland - TactileBOSCH Gallery, Cardiff,Panoply - Piccadilly Place, Manchester, The Conversation - Christ Church, Chester.
Estelle’s practice explores the metaphorical and transformative potential of materials, and the context in relation to the space in which these are sited.
For Free For All, Estelle has made a collection of nests, which aim to question the varying opinions towards mental health illness, how it is treated, and our understandings of it. Sited in an industrial space, she is concerned with our relationships towards the man made and the natural; nature and nurture...
Artist: Mr. and Mrs. Mill.
Mr and Mrs. Mill's work on display at Free for All.
Mr. & Mrs. Mill
"Feed your lover, gorge on the love presented on a plate, bake an ode to Valentine".
Love and the Kitchen are intertwined. It is possible to be a Goddess in the kitchen, it is possible for domesticity to be a drudge. It is possible to have the best intentions and produce burnt remnants.
Mr. & Mrs. Mill present a selection of works exploring the spectrum of emotions relating to feeding your family/lover.
Including two works which celebrate the music of the kitchen.
You are encouraged to interact with 'The Kitchen Gong' and 'The Confessional'.
Mr. Mill is a musician on Exotic Pylon records. Mrs. Mill is an artist and designer. They live on the edge of the moors.
Artist: Katie Hare
Katie Hare
Katie's work on display at Free for All.
u made me feel like i was living in a teenage dream 2
Katie Hare, 2011
Video Installation
Primarily working in video and installation, Katie Hare explores the coming of age of young women in relation to domestic space and pop culture. Using blurred and distorted images to create barriers between the viewer and the bedroom depicted, u made me feel like I was living in a teenage dream 2 examines the protective power of groups and private space.
Artist: Lyn Bannister
Lyn Bannister
Lyn Bannister has always been interested in the complexities of the human psyche and has what may be called and unhealthy interest in the darker and more tragic side of human nature.
“I have a strong belief that things are never as simple as they at first appear. Painting portraits of individuals that I find fascinating and difficult to understand seemed a logical method of addressing these issues in my practice.”
In this series of works Lyn uses the medium of paint and the abstraction and mediation of the image as a metaphor for the layers of the personality. Lyn believes that this dismantles not only the representation of the individual but also the concept of painting itself.
“I view my work first and foremost as marks and gestures in paint, not as statements passing judgement on any individual, only opening up the possibility of different interpretations and understandings. As paintings the works are not intended to be true likenesses of the individuals, only to trigger some recognition and emotional empathy in the viewer and as such I hope they can be at once visually appealing and challenging. “
Artist: Julia Taylor
Julia Taylor.
“…..the point is to start somewhere.”
Hand-carved French limestone, Black Mulberry base.
The adventure of the everyday is a constant source of inspiration. The inter-connectedness of all things, through time, materiality and intention is a fascinating concept.
This piece sets out to express that concept through a combination of spirit, emotion and physicality. Using familiar tools and carving techniques, slow working by hand allows Julia to make an attachment to the material, a connection with the making process and a space for contemplation of the idea.
Julia's work on display at Free for All
Artist: Rachael Gittins
Rachael's work on display at Free for All.
Rachael Gittins
Each of the pieces exhibited here are based on a series of electron microscope images. Rachael was struck by the surrealism of these images, and how opposed this seemed to the cold, scientific way in which they were produced.
The images appeared to be almost like their own worlds, and Rachael wanted to treat them as such; to turn them into landscapes and narratives that run parallel and separate to our own. The images have been subverted and distorted from their original scientific context, firstly by being turned into fictional short stories and then by being made out of select materials.
“These materials are intentionally fake, intended to complement the fictions they were depicting. They are also all hand-made, to remind the audience that, for the time being, they are no longer in reality, they are within the artist’s imagination.”
Rachael believes that we live in an age where this idea of “meaning” is fixated on and obsessed over, where we can no longer find a concrete one in the ways we have before; such as religion or community, and so we have to create our own. Rachael is constantly guided by her imagination, and wants to be filled with as much creativity and fantasy as possible, rather than settle for the bland or the ordinary. Paradoxically though, the processes used to create each piece are intentionally a play on this idea of monotony; they use techniques that involve some level of repetition and routine to create; either through the use of geometric nets or several different versions of the same object..
Rachael was interested in creating something completely surreal, with little to no grounding in conventional forms or ideas, but doing so using very ordered, clinical techniques, and very traditional, everyday materials; using the ordinary to create the bizarre.
Artist: Rebecca Wild.
Rebecca's work on display at Free for All.
Rebecca Wild
Using the scanner as a microscope, the concept of abstract art is transformed into a clinical inspection of the very makeup of paint, examining the colours and textures invisible to the naked eye. The paint is transformed from medium into subject matter, creating a piece open to the viewer’s imagination of what they think they see. The works blur the borderline between fine art and digital art, touching on both aspects whilst belonging to neither.
Artist: Inès Elsa Dalal
Inès Elsa Dalal
The spontaneous portraits represent the colour drenched, ambient, fun filled and fast paced nature of Ines Elsa Dalal’s digital work. The photograph exhibited is from a larger series called ‘Sweet Crawl’: an assortment of adventures shot over three years in a variety of locations across the globe. From Berlin to Birmingham , London to Istanbul
Travel/ documentary photography are Ines’ long term ambition. Ines recently graduated Manchester School of Art and returned to Birmingham to apply for a National Lottery Heritage Grant and pursue a social-documentary-turned-living-history-project on the quintessentially English, utopian garden suburb; Moorpool Estate, Harborne.
Inès work on display at Free For All
Free for Arts Festival
Friday 30th September - Thursday 6th October 2011.
The Free For Arts Festival is a not-for-profit celebration of art and performance.
http://freeforartsfestival.co.uk/
The Free For Arts Festival is a not-for-profit celebration of art and performance.
http://freeforartsfestival.co.uk/
Free for All (Part I) features the best of this year’s Free for Art Festival’s open submissions.
The exhibition, which is at Piccadilly Place for the second year running, displays a wide range of exciting work using an array of mediums; from photography and painting, to video installations and sculpture with vibrant performance art during the exhibition’s preview.
Artists:
Lyn Bannister, Ann Charlesworth, Ines Elsa Delal, Rachael Gittins, Ben Harding, Katie Hare, Mr. and Mrs. Mill, Julia Taylor, Ela Tezyka, Rebecca Wild, Estelle Woolley, Bryn Lloyd-Evans.
Curator:
Emily Songhurst.
Preview:
Friday 30th September 2011, 6pm – 8pm.
Opening hours:
Saturday 1st October 2011 – Thursday 6th October 2011, 12pm – 4pm daily.
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