ARTISTS TALKING

# 63 [14 March 2009]

AirSpace Gallery is pleased to announce Trying to Cope with Things that aren’t Human (Part One) :-

An international touring group exhibition and publication curated by Ian Brown.

Artist: Alan Currall, Alex Pearl, Annika Strom, Francis Mckee, Ian Brown Heather and Ivan Morison, Johanna Hallsten, Mariele Neudecker, Paul Rooney, Richard Hughes, Richard T Walker and Ryan Gander.

This is the second in a series of exhibitions, which started at David Cunningham Projects, San Francisco in January 2009. The accompanying publication comprised of specially commissioned artworks by Paul Rooney, Heather and Ivan Morison, Richard T. Walker, Annika Ström, Ian Brown, Ryan Gander, Francis McKee and Alex Pearl will be also available at DCP, AirSpace Gallery and Amazon.

Trying to Cope with Things that Aren’t Human (Part One) is a group exhibition that includes work in a gallery format and in a publishable form.

# 62 [7 March 2009]

A New Age

Last week AirSpace showed the work of the Fine Art MA students from Staffordshire University.  It was a great atmosphere at the opening and it was wonderful to see so many people at the gallery. It reminded me how important these events are for networking for artists, I saw many faces I haven’t seen for a while and got to catch up with some artists and see how their work is progressing. The work that stood out was that of Russell Willett, a large scale drawing on the back wall of the gallery. Also worth noting was the amusing piece by Chris Parks, the description is of a man waiting for his girlfriend to try on clothes during a shopping trip, but what we see is a pigeon sitting on a fence. It was also good to see some eye-catching work in the window, Andy Nash presented a drill with fans attached, hanging from the ceiling and spinning around in the window space.

# 61 [7 March 2009]

Asdsan Workshops 2

AirSpace completed their second series of Asdan Workshops last month. Where they delivered Problem Solving workshops to 9 students from St Peter’s School. The students were taught drawing and photography techniques looking at the subject of self-representation. The workshops culminated in a self-curated and promoted show in the AirSpace window.

# 60 [11 February 2009]

Laurence Payot will be the first of the Dialogue Box 2009 exhibitors.

Her exhibition 'Back to the Future' will open in the gallery window on the 17th February and will be up until 25th February.

'Looking at today with the eyes of the future...'

'Laurence Payot's new work for Dialogue Box challenges people's perceptions of their everyday surroundings, of what is considered common place in our current culture, and how this would be perceived in 10 or 20 years time.

 In February 2009, these pictures were taken in the main streets of Hanley, in the style of postcards, inspired by photographs of Hanley in tourist prospectuses, and of black and white photographs of Hanley on the walls of the museum. These photographs were then manipulated to look like they had been left on windows for a long period of time, discoloured by years of sun and moonlight.'

For more information please visit www.laurencepayot.com

# 59 [28 January 2009]

AirSpace are back after a well deserved winter break.

 The Conjunction 08 festival was really well received and we are still getting positive feedback.

The next exhibition at the gallery will be 'Trying to cope with things that aren't human (part1)' curated by Ian Brown, that is currently on show at David Cunningham Projects in San Francisco. It will open at AirSpace on the 27th March. Check out the website for more details www.thingsthatarenthuman.com

Also coming up is the next series of Dialogue Box exhibitions, that will be a series of week long exhibitions in the AirSpace Window. This year Dialogue Box will also be hosting a Dialogue Box: Live Art event in May. For application details to these please visit the AirSpace Website www.airspacegallery.org.

# 58 [2 December 2008]

Conjunction 08 festival is in full swing with Artist talks and guided tours still taking place, including Gayle Chong Kwan’s talk on the 5^th this week at Staffordshire University. Gemma Thomas has been keeping a blog for the festival on the Conjunction website www.conjunction.org.uk so you can catch up on anything you have missed and keep track of everything that’s going on.

AirSpace will be hosting their next exhibition ‘Trying to Cope With Things That Aren’t Human (part 1)’ in March 2009. Curated by Ian Brown the show will be touring from San Francisco. In the mean time we will be hosting some exciting events to whet your appetite.

# 57 [1 December 2008]

Artist Talk Gayle Chong Kwan 5^th December 2008

1-2pm Artist Talk and 3-4pm Q&A

Film Theatre, Staffordshire University, College Road, Stoke on Trent ST4 2DE

Gayle Chong Kwan will discuss her artwork, which can be seen as part of the Conjunction 08 Festival at The Potteries Museum and Art Gallery, and will relate that to the other works and commissions she has produced during her career.

Gayle has had solo exhibitions at Artsway New Forest, Tate Britain, National Portrait Gallery London, Chinese Arts Centre Manchester and MAC Birmingham. She has also exhibited at the Venice Biennale, South London Gallery and Tate Modern.

For more information on the festival please see www.conjunction.org.uk

To book a place please e-mail fantastic@conjunction.co.uk or call 01782 261221

# 56 [13 November 2008]

Good Samaritans Foiled by Art’s New Enfants Terribles

Last night two members of the public tried to rescue a man whose voice could be heard calling for help from the boot of a crashed car at Staffordshire University. The Good Samaritans smashed into the front of the car in order to reach the boot only to find that the voice was a recording on loop as part of the new art work by Littlewhitehead. The piece was commissioned as part of the Conjunction 08 festival, Stoke on Trent’s Arts Biennial organised by AirSpace Gallery and partners.

Littlewhitehead are muliti sensory installation artists who play with ideas of reality and fiction. This is the second time that the Glaswegian duo’s work has caused extreme reactions in the public. Their work in the New Contemporaries exhibition, as part of the Liverpool Biennial, has recently been attacked by members of the public; where visitors to the exhibition were seen punching and kicking life size hooded and balaclava clad figures

The Conjunction festival runs until the 13^th December across various places in Stoke on Trent’s City Centre, including AirSpace Gallery. For more information please see www.conjunction.org.uk or call 01782 261221

# 55 [4 November 2008]

Conjunction 08; FANTASTIC, FOUND and FAKE.

 'Conjunction 08 will open on 7th November across the city and will run until 13th December 2008. The festival will involve over 30 artists, including 25 new commissions by artists of international, national and regional significance. The theme is FANTASTIC, FOUND and FAKE, and it is to this stimulus that the artists have been invited to respond, seeking the extraordinary in the everyday.'

So we are drawing near to the opening of the festival and there is a buzz about the gallery. Artists have been coming and going all week installing their work. Including Stephanie Davidson's 'Found Space Tiles' that has been installed in the bathroom of the AriSpace Gallery. The pristine white wall tiles serve as a contrast to the fading paint work and the mirror a little unwelcome when you're not expecting it! But the back rest proves a comforting addition to the space. We are excited to see the rest of the artwork taking shape across the city.

The festival opens on the 7th November 6pm-8pm at the Potteries Museum and Art Gallery, Bethesda Street, Hanley.

For more information visit www.conjunction.org.uk

or e-mail

airspaceinfo@btinternet.com

# 54 [14 October 2008]

Intercom-Johanna Hallsten

10th October-1st November 2008

Johanna Hallsten’s latest work begins in the window of the AirSpace Gallery, whilst looking into the Gallery window you will see an idyllic forest like setting, cut out of the landscape and transferred into the window box. The sound of birds whistling vibrates through the glass and projects out onto the pavement, interspersed with a badger and a human voice; a conversation between the three.

Inside the Gallery is Intercom, upon first sight a minimal exhibition of an ancient looking intercom system salvaged from a disused potteries factory in Stoke on Trent. But after time you discover that the intercom system is still working, with regular announcements being made in a thick Stoke accent ‘Can security please go to the entrance, security to the entrance.’ For the private view the speaker was a live performance by Janet Jenkins from the Wedgwood factory in Stoke on Trent; her accent bursting through the speakers at intervals and reducing the viewers to a hushed silence. Throughout the remaining three weeks the sound will continue to play, with the addition of live speakers throughout the day.

The private view brought many new and familiar faces to the gallery space, a lasting congregation considering that there was not a lot to see in the space. But all listened intently to the announcements and waited eagerly for the artist to appear. The gallery held a great atmosphere and the debut of the new laminated gallery floor was met with much approval.

The exhibition continues until the 1^st November 2008 and Johanna will be delivering an artist’s talk on the 25^th October at 3pm in the Gallery, all are welcome.