ARTISTS TALKING

# 1 [28 May 2009]

Update on the Birmingham/Bordeaux exchange I am involved in.

The idea for this exchange show came out from conversations I had with Joss Burke -an artist formally based in Birmingham, but now living and working in the Bordeaux area. From her contacts and knowledge of artscene in Bordeaux, she wanted to bring artists working there, into contact with artists she knew from working in Birmingham. The aim is to develop a cross cultural and artistic dialogue between artists working in these cities. 

Last November, the first exchange show took place at Le hanger en Bois. This space is Bordeaux artist, Francis Viguera's workshop turned gallery. Francis offered to host this exhibition as part of Art Chartrons Festival ( an artist led open studios /alternative space art festival) that ocurrs twice a year in Bordeaux.

The exhibition was entitled The Bridge and was a very successful show, that was well attended and received by the Bordeaux art public.I attach a couple of images from that show for interest.

We are planning the return show at The Works Gallery in Birmingham in September this year. Here are some links to Bordeaux artists who will be showing: Isodore Krapo - Artist http://anamorphoz.fr/vv/atelier krapo/mezz.html

Veronique Lamare- Video and performance artist http://v.lamare2.free.fr/

Christophe Masse- Artist/Writer http://www.toffer.canalblog.com/

I will add other artists links involved in the show in future posts. We are working on making a website for the September show and will let you know the details when its finished. The French artsists don't get funded like we do here. Any ideas to get French companies to possibly sponsor the French artists?

I am showing work at DACS Kowalsky Gallery, Gt Sutton St,London in the 1984 exhibition. 27th May -21st August. Open by appointment or first Thursdays of the month. Pop in and have a look. Cheers for nowTom

# 2 [29 May 2009]

For those who are interested in finding out about what is going on in Bordeaux. Art Chartrons  is happening again in the French City, from Thursday 4th June to Sunday 7th June. Check out the following links for the artists showing at Le Hangar en bois and the other spaces.

http://arts-chartrons.info/

http://arts-chartrons.info/le- hangar-en-bois-1016.html.

 I will add another post soon with the links to the Birmingham artists and the remaing French artists.

The exhibition at the Works Gallery in Birmingham will be called RE: Place. I will talk more about this and how the artists involved will respond to this title.

Bye for now. Tom

# 3 [4 June 2009]

Here are the Birmingham artists statements for our Re-place exhibition at the Works gallery in September. Attached is one of my proposed images from trip to Blackpool.

UK artists’ statements

Peter Grego – re-place exhibition

For the exhibition re-place, Peter Grego will be developing an ongoing project Heartlands. The intention is to expand beyond the two coalmining areas featured originally in Heartlands, Nottinghamshire and Yorkshire, to include all coalmining areas involved in the 1984 national strike.

Heartlands is a photographic installation produced originally for the exhibition Lost, which was shown at the Museo de Arte Contemporaneo, Santiago, Chile; in 2007. The work focuses on the dynamics of disruption and dislocation as a force in the shaping of new identities. The installation, in the form of a split-screen projection, explored the aftermath of a key moment in post-war British history; the 1984 miners strike, prompting questions about the loss of manufacturing communities and the shaping of post-industrial Britishness.

Pamina Stewart

In this work I have created a collection of humanoids from seashells. Since the early 1990's artists have used found objects as raw materials to engage with contemporary society through its bi-products

The creatures made from shells that most people are familiar with are either mass produced in Asia, or comical crafted objects made by children in the UK after seaside excursions. I grew up by the sea and spent much time gluing and painting collected beach treasure. They therefore have a duality of referencing home craft and the mass produced products of an increasingly globalised world.

The sculptures remind viewers of the classified zoological collections of the Victorian era and collected curiosities. While some viewers find the figures comical, an equal number find them sinister. With these figures I intend to give the viewer the space to imagine personalities.

Tom Ranahan

Birmingham is the most landlocked city in England and as such, it seems appropriate to exhibit photographs from Britain’s coastal extremities. A fish and chip in Borth, a rusting steel cylinder in the Orkney Isles, a talking telescope in Blackpool are examples of images that caught the artists attention during visits to these locations. Intuitively reacting to the environment, the weather conditions and the feeling of being an outsider, the artist produces work that is quirky and shrewdly observed.

Paula Woof

Paula Woof works mainly as a painter, but has also explored many other art forms. She has exhibited widely, both as a solo artist and in group shows such as the National Portrait Gallery portrait competition. After winning first prize in the Derby Open exhibition in 2007, her solo show "Remembered and Forgotten", which took place earlier this year, was enthusiastically received.

Among many other projects, she was artist in residence at Birmingham Markets, recording the lively hustle and bustle of the old Bullring before its redevelopment.

She is at present working on portraits and a series of still life paintings which celebrate subjects often overlooked and ignored.

# 4 [9 June 2009]

Hi, I thought I would update folk on how the planning for the Re-place exhibition is coming along. The summer is upon us and September is looming nearer. We are liasing with Birmingham City Council's Arts Team to link in with their publicity campaign to the promote ArtsFest weekend in Brum. Hopefully that will help promote our exhibition regionally, and we have offered to promote Artsfest activities and events at our venue at the Works Gallery. We are developing a website for our exhibition with the help of Maria (a Curating Graduate from BCU) who has agreed to help us with designing a website and promotional/publicity activity.

In France Joss and Veronique are trying to get funding for the Bordeaux artists to help with their costs. There is no Arts Council system is France for Visual Artists. They will be meeting with Bordeaux Council Officials to see if they can give any assistance. So this a big challenge for the French artists to get public funding for their practice.

Another consideration in working with artsists based in another country, is the linguistic and cultural differences. Our main contact in Bordeaux is Joss Burke who was born and brought up in Liverpool, who acts as a translator and co-ordinator for us. Without Joss this project couldn't happen, as the French Artists speak only a little English and we have very little French. So communication is proving to be an interesting dimension to our project.

Anyway, I am posting images from my colleagues Pamina Stewart, Paula Woof and Peter Grego. Pamina's link is :www.paminastewart.co.uk. The next post will concentrate on Bordeaux based artists Joss Burke, Richard Biardeau and Francis Viguera. Until next post. Best wishes. Tom

# 5 [23 June 2009]

Hi, In these blogs I hope to give you an insight into the artists involved with this project, as well as update you on progress towards our exhibition in September.

I thought I would tell you a little about Bordeaux artist Francis Viguera. Francis makes work from collecting recycled materials such as tin cans, beer cans, vegatable boxes, packaging and creates sculptures and wall based constructions. He uses the text from packaging and advertisements in a playful and aesethic manner. Francis though French, has Spanish origins and he has explored his roots through imagery such as the bull. He is also greatly interested ancient civilizations -such has Babylonian and Cretan cultures. He exhibited at the Museum. D'Aquitaine recently and a summary of his exhibition can be found below. The Full article in French can be found at www.la critique.org/article-le-veau-d-or-ou-l-esthetique. Attached is an image of Francis's work.

Francis also runs le hangar en bois in Bordeaux which is an alternative gallery space and is involved with Art Chartrons. 

# 6 [30 June 2009]

Dear interested readers,

Joss Burke is currently in the UK organising a summer school at BCU for Japanese University students. She has sent me some information on two Bordeaux artists that I thought it would be good to share with you.

Isodore Krapo is currently exhibiting at a gallery in Nerac, while Veronique Lamare is running video /performance workshops at Bordeaux's main contemporary art gallery CAPC. She is at the gallery from 25th June to 1st July and the workshops come under the heading Ateliers du regard/traces. Here is information on Isadore show: I have tried to modify from a pdf page -so formatting is a little strange. It's also in French so hope that provides some insight in how people talk about art in another language other than English.

Que faisiez-vous le 20 juillet 1969 à 03:56 ?

Que faites-vous

le 26 juin 2009 à partir de 19h?

Isidore Krapo,

notre trésor régional, gascon jusqu'

au bout des pinceaux et des rabots,

choisit Nérac:

carrefour du Grand Sud-Ouest béni

des dieux par la Baïse

(affluent de la Garonne),

des princes

(cour de Marguerite de Valois où le bon Henri IV vécu sa première histoire d’

amour

avec une certaine “Fleurette”),

des poètes et écrivains

(Marot, Georges Sand, Shakespeare?...),

des artisans, ingénieurs-entrepreneurs

(Eugène Haussmann, editions Pierre Mainard, pour ne citer qu' eux)

et par des gens comme vous et moi qui ont eux aussi pas qu’ une corde à leurs

arcs;

pour fêter les 40 ans de “on a marché sur la Lune”.

Venez donc à

Nérac

Galerie des Tanneries

 Vernissage le 26/06/09

# 7 [14 July 2009]

Dear interested readers. Here is another update on our looming exhibition at the Works Gallery this September during the ArtsFest weekend in Birmingham. Plus some information and image on Bordeaux artist Richard Biardeau. The exhibition will run from 10th September-13th September 2009

We had a meeting last Monday to discuss the website Maria is designing for us. The website will provide information on all the artists both from Birmingham and Bordeaux. People will be able to view artists images, the exhibition statement, as well as weblinks and cv details. There will also be an archive of the first exhibition held in Bordeaux last November 2008 for people to browse.The domain name for the website will be bought soon and by the end of July we hope to have it up and running at least a month before the exhibition opens. I will update you again at the end of the month as we get down to organising the practical details of the exhibition.

Richard Biardeau is a Bordeaux artist who is interested in erotic art. He uses both his own body and that of female models to create compositions. There is also a surreal quality as well a playful character to his work. He has produced painting , drawings and photographic works. There is an example of his work attached to the post and his work can be seen on his website. Details were given in earlier post.

That's it for now. Till next time. Cheers Tom

# 8 [29 July 2009]

Dear interested readers, Here is another post for our exhibition which is getting closer now! I am pleased to say that the Council's Artsfest team have included our details in the publicity and website. For those interested in looking at the Artsfest website it is www.artsfest.org.uk 

Although we are not officially part of the Artsfest program it is really helpfull to get our details in the marketing campaign, and will provide greater profile for our event. We have been working on our own website and Maria (who is Spanish) has done a great job putting it together. We still need more information from our French colleagues, and more work on tweaking the website. However it should be live now on www.re-place.webs.com .

Re-place is the name of the exhibition and will take place 10th -13th September at the Works gallery Birmingham.

# 9 [13 August 2009]

Dear interested readers. We are now just 4 weeks away from the opening of our exhibition. It's just those final details of getting the publicity done, press release written, mailing list and promotion in place. Also making logistical arrangements for the French artists that will be coming over for the exhibition.

The cultural exchange element of this exhibition is the driving force behind this project. Communication through our artwork and language is an exciting challenge. The theme of the show is a personal response by artists to place in the widest interpretation. My work features photographs from coastal places -including German Bunkers on the French coast not far from where the French artists are from. Being based in landlocked Birmingham -miles from the sea -it seems appropriate for me to exhibit these works.

I attach an e-flyer with details of exhibition and PV if anybody is in the area. I will post again just before the exhibition and once more after to note feedback from show and reflect on the experience.

# 10 [11 September 2009]

Dear interested readers,

Here is the penultimate blog for the Re-Place exhibition. The show is now up and open to the public from the 10th Sept -13th Sept. We made it into the Council's Artsfest publicity materials, so that will hopefully attract a good audience for the show.

Joss Burke and Francis Viguera drove up from Bordeaux with a van load of work, and had a long drive and ferry trip to get to Birmingham Tuesday morning. Veronique Lamare arrived in Birmingham from France by plane on Tuesday morning  aswell. We spent Tuesday afternnon and Wednesday setting up the exhibition which I have to say looks really good. I will post some images from the show in my final post when I reflect on the experience of organising an international show like this.

What has been interesting is to see what Francis and Veronique make of Birmingham as a City. They have never been to Brum before so showing them around is a refreshing experience. Francis is also doing a visual diary of the trip to Birmingham and of the exhibition using a digital camera. I hope to see the results when I next visit Bordeaux!

Christophe Masse has written a blog (in French) about re-place exhibition and is called le blog de Christophe Masse. I listed his website in an earlier post.

So, the private view is tonight! I will sign off now until the final post.