The conceptual artist Ryan Gander sums up his degree show thus: “My strongest memory of my degree show is the smell of emulsion, which I always equated with enthusiasm.
“Even now when I go into someone’s flat and they’ve had it decorated, that smell is one of excitement and optimism, and an unjaded view of reality, which maybe when you get to 40 you tend to lose.”
Gander is interviewed for the a-n Degree Shows Guide 2018, and with the guide and a new dedicated website published last week, degree shows are now beginning to open across the UK.
For the next two months we’ll be providing a weekly pick of new degree shows, selected from the a-n Degree Shows Guide 2018 listings.
As London-based artist Rehana Zaman says on www.a-n.co.uk/degree-shows: “A degree show can be a really stressful experience. But there’s something really positive about people helping each other out and seeing each other’s work come together.”
We’re sure you’ll find plenty of enthusiasm and positive energy at this week’s selected degree shows, which are:
University of Chichester
This show features 26 of the University of Chichester’s graduating Fine Art students exhibiting work including painting, drawing, sculpture, textiles, printmaking, installation, photography and video.
PV 10 May, 11-17 May, artOne, Bishop Otter Campus, College Lane, Chichester, PO19 6PE.
www.chi.ac.uk
www.twitter.com/ChichesterArt
www.instagram.com/chichesterart
www.facebook.com/University-of-Chichester-Fine-Art-Department-255547527826975
Coventry University
Under the title ‘the Collective at Coventry Festival’, students from the School of Art & Design, School of Humanities and School of Media & Performing Arts will exhibit and perform their work in Coventry University and across the city. On show will be work by a variety of designers, artists, performers, photographers, filmmakers and writers through a range of events, including an Industry Night for potential employers and a Friends and Family Celebration Evening.
10-26 May 2018, Coventry University, Priory St, Coventry, CV1 5FB.
www.covdegreeshow.coventry.ac.uk/about-us/
www.twitter.com/coventryfah
www.instagram.com/coventryfah_
www.facebook.com/coventryfah
Oxford Brookes University
This show by over 30 of Oxford Brookes final year students is titled ‘Hoi Polloi’, which roughly translates to ‘the masses’ or ‘the common people’. It covers a range of themes in a variety of mediums, from figurative painting and embroidery to live performance and sound art that will ‘reveal the deep secrets and complex theories on what it means to be human’.
12-17 May, The Glass Tank, Abercrombie, Headington Campus, Oxford, OX3 0BP.
www.brookes.ac.uk
www.twitter.com/obuarts
www.twitter.com/glass_tank
www.instagram/brookesfineart
Teesside University
Titled ’31 Collective’ and presented across three buildings at Teesside University, this year’s final-year Fine Art students include Emily Chapman whose work (pictured top) explores “an interest in identity and the human body”. She says in the a-n Degree Shows Guide 2018 that she hopes the show will “demonstrate my ability to work with a variety of mediums”.
PV 15 May, 14-25 May, Athena, Constantine and Waterhouse Buildings, Teesside University, Middlesbrough, TS1 3BX.
www.instagram.com/exhibition31
Writtle School of Design
Taking place in Writtle’s design studios, which are located in a beautiful 220 hectare estate, this year’s degree show features work by students from not only the college’s Art & Design courses but also its Landscape Architecture & Garden Design and Professional Floristry courses.
PV 16 May, 17-20 May, Writtle University College, Lordship Road, Chelmsford, Essex, CM1 3RR.
www.writtle.ac.uk/UG-Art-and-Design
www.twitter.com/WrittleOfficial
www.facebook.com/WrittleUniversityCollege
Just published: a-n Degree Shows Guide 2018
New site resource
The magazine-style guide is hosted on a brand new digital resource at www.a-n.co.uk/degree-shows with additional features including:
- An interactive map and expanded listings to help you find a show near you
- Longer reads including an interview with Goldsmiths graduate Rehana Zaman in which she discusses the importance of people from less privileged communities having access to art education
- Further degree shows insights from this year’s graduating students
- All the latest news and views from the degree shows as they happen including highlights of a-n Instagram takeover coverage
- New graduate resources. These will be added as degree season progresses and our focus shifts to supporting graduating students to sustain practice and explore options after study.
a-n Degree Shows Guide 2018 is available on a-n.co.uk/degree-shows alongside more news, views and pictures from this year’s shows.
You can view on Issuu here or join the conversation on social media using the hashtag #andegrees18.
Be part of a-n’s Degree Shows 2018 coverage
We’re offering a-n members around the UK a chance to take over the a-n Instagram to promote this summer’s degree shows.
See jobs and opps for full details. Deadline for applications: midday 11 May 2018.
Not yet a member? Sign up at www.a-n.co.uk to take part. And you can catch up with our 2017 Degree Shows takeovers here.
Images:
1. Emily Chapman, Untitled, 2018, Teesside University, Fine Art final-year student, 2018. Courtesy: the artist
2. Sue Kim, installation as part of Fine Art BA show, Goldsmiths, London
More on a-n.co.uk:
Artists including John Akomfrah, Tracey Emin and Jeremy Deller condemn exclusion of arts subjects from English baccalaureate
Members’ events: neighbourly rivalry, Persian poetry, and a Latin-American manifesto
Bringing the outside in: why it’s time to open the art world to ‘outsider’ artists
