The Artist & The Other - a-n The Artists Information Company

Venue: Aire Place Studios
Starts: Friday, August 26, 2022
Ends: Thursday, September 29, 2022
Address: Kirkstall Rd, Leeds LS3 1JL
Location: Yorkshire
Organiser: Aire Place Studios

There have been great strives within the visual arts sector to support artists from marginalised communities. However, does there become a point where the artists ‘other’ becomes the focus over the artwork?

This project builds on Aire Place Studios’ aim to support artists from communities that face barriers to participation. We invite you as viewers to explore this exhibition and join the conversation on how we can promote a wider awareness and recognition of the value of diversity.

Supported with funding from Leeds Inspired, part of Leeds City Council.

Exhibition Dates: 26 August – 29 September 2022

Gallery Open Times: Wednesday – Friday (11am – 3pm)

Sarah Francis

Artist Curator Sarah Francis is a Leeds based Artist Curator who focuses on bringing under-recognised artists and narratives to the public, using empathy and warmth to build self-confidence in creatives left behind by the mainstream system. Fascinated by complex possibilities lying dormant in ‘familiar’ environments, setting a challenging dialogue between cultural identity and the inner worlds which we as artists manifest within our work. This conceptual framework draws parallels between artists from differing socio-cultural worlds, whose work follows similar lines in metaphysical realms. Francis' interpretation of the curator is that of a caretaker of other worlds, working in collaboration as the tour guide and storyteller, bringing these converging manifestations to our physical spaces. Francis’ artwork centres around her neurodiverse and queer identity, building her own language and worlds to explore and understand ‘how I made me’; a reference to an early body of work that investigated her inner trauma and re-articulation of her current self. Her work has been shortlisted for the Saatchi Gallery’s Art of Giving Prize, selected by Richard Billingham for Curator’s Choice Noise Young Talent 2009, and recognised in Aesthetica’s 100 Best Contemporary Artists in Europe. In addition to her work, Sarah Francis is the Founder and Director of Aire Place Studios, Leeds. @sarahfrancis.art & @aireplacestudios

Aire Place Studios CIC

Aire Place Studios is a creative studio which holds spaces of equality and solidarity. We host comfortable studios spaces, hold safer spaces for workshops and a bold gallery space centred around innovation and inclusivity. Aire Place Studios also features a collective of associated artists who exist to radically uplift under-represented creatives with empathy and warmth to realise the potential of those often overlooked by traditional art institutions. This dynamic collaboration builds trust and collective accountability to serve our communities.