This year’s Engage International Conference took place in Hull and was titled ‘The Whole Picture: Rethinking Diversity’. Hull-based artist Paul Collinson reports from the two-day event.
Want to avoid the high street this Christmas and support artists and visual arts organisations instead? Richard Taylor offers 10 ideas to get you started.
Looking for art-related books for Christmas gifts? Here’s eight ideas, including a phenomenal and phenomenological novel, a sumptuous survey of contemporary clay and ceramics, and an international exploration of artist-run art schools.
Sarah Bodman, whose popular Artists’ Books column provides a regular look into the world of artists’ publishing, picks her ten favourites of the year.
This Christmas, ditch the high street and discover original artworks and handcrafted gifts by independent artists and makers who will be opening their studios or putting up their market stalls at a range of venues throughout the UK.
a-n blogger Fiona Masterton is this month’s featured member on the a-n Instagram. The London-based artist talks to Richard Taylor about responding to place, and how this stretches her gaze both compositionally and geographically.
The Berlin and Beirut-based artist, who until recently was partly based in London, is one of six artists shortlisted for this year’s Film London Jarman Award. Fisun Güner talks to him about the importance of sound, politics, and why he doesn’t consider himself an activist.
Emerging activity in the city’s medieval gateways, towers and vaults complements Southampton’s new Cultural Quarter development.
The recent relocation of the Live Art Development Agency to a former Unitarian mission in Bethnal Green heralds a significant new chapter for the organisation, with new commissions, two ‘thinkers in residence’, and a search for local collaborators. Lydia Ashman finds out more from its co-founder and director Lois Keidan.
The artist Helen Cammock’s exhibition ‘Shouting in Whispers’ at Cubitt Gallery, includes an hour-long film of the same title that features historical footage of protest and explores the idea of multiple histories. Fisun Güner talks to her about photography, the importance of words in her work, and discovering the writing of James Baldwin.
In the exhibitions ‘Queer Art(ists) Now’ and ‘Notes on Queerness’, the idea of queer art is presented in an artist-led context, with work ranging from painting to film. Alistair Gentry speaks to some of those featured and explores what the amorphous, contested term ‘queer’ might mean for artists in the UK.
Following a project this year working with Yezidi women who escaped ISIS captivity, Hannah Rose Thomas continues her MA studies in London. Richard Taylor finds out how her interest in the diversity of people and cultures, as well as her commitment to relief work, drives a unique approach to portraiture.
A new exhibition in the Lake District explores the relationship between humility and ambition with ‘quiet’ works by 10 artists that in different ways evoke the spirit of Kurt Schwitters. Pippa Koszerek reports.
Culminating in a day-long symposium on the ‘ideas, impact and architecture’ of Robin Hood Gardens’ architects Alison and Peter Smithson, the group show ‘Parallel (of Life and) Architecture’ includes a collaboration between Assemble and London-based artist Simon Terrill. Chris Sharratt finds out more.
For the inaugural visual arts commission at Storyhouse in Chester, Bedwyr Williams has transposed stories collected from a local newspaper archive onto a digitally animated recreation of the town’s former Roman Fortress Bathhouse. Speaking to Fisun Güner, he laments the loss of British awkwardness, and describes how this new work will take the viewer on a journey to “a space that’s out of time”.
Sarah Bodman previews Angie Butler’s new artist’s book which she has created as part of a research residency exploring the diverse creative practice of artists making books in Bristol and the physical production of books in the city.
Ten artists and a-n members were awarded an a-n bursary to visit to the 57th Venice Biennale. They have been sharing their views via a-n Reviews and Blogs. AIR Council member Binita Walia, who visited the Venice Biennale at the same time, presents a collection of their thoughts and reflections.
Aidan Moesby has just finished a tour of festivals in the north of England, using his new weather-based installations to test responses, locations and situations for visual arts in festival contexts. Trish Wheatley talks to the artist about this work and how it sits with his practice.
Sculptor Laura Ford’s new commission for Brighton’s House Biennial draws on the history of town’s Royal Pavilion and in particular that of its early 19th century commissioner King George IV, who lived there as Prince Regent prior to taking the throne. Dany Louise talks to the artist about her work and finds out why Donald Trump has a starring role in her installation, A King’s Appetite.
Recent years have seen a renewed interest in clay as many contemporary artists embrace the medium in their work. As the British Ceramics Biennial continues in Stoke and Tate Modern hosts Ceramics Factory, Pippa Koszerek talks about its renewed appeal with the biennial’s artistic director and artists Clare Twomey and Jesse Wine.
Hull-based artist Clare Holdstock is this week’s featured a-n blogger on the a-n Instagram feed. She talks to Richard Taylor about her practice and where she places it.
The first Falmouth Art Publishing Fair takes place at Falmouth Art Gallery from 29 September to 1 October featuring artists’ books, editions, posters, leaflets, multiples, audio and ephemera. Sarah Bodman previews the event.
In November 2016 artist Keith Harrison was announced as the winner of Jerwood Open Forest, a £30,000 commission opportunity to produce a new public work for a forest context. He talks to Anneka French ahead of his sculpture-cum-performance, Joyride, which will see a full-size replica of a Rover 75 ‘launched’ from a ramp in the Staffordshire countryside.
Working with fifth generation tightrope walker Rasul Abakarov within the vast landscape of Dagestan, artist Taus Makhacheva’s film Tightrope has been lauded by critics following its exhibition at the Venice Biennale. Pippa Koszerek talks to the artist about the processes and risks involved in her work.
As Stoke-on-Trent welcomes the British Ceramics Biennial, artist, writer and AirSpace Gallery associate Selina Oakes provides an introduction to the polycentric city’s art scene.
Alternative insights into the visual arts, with fast-paced news, comment, debate.
Get in touch
[email protected]
a-n offers a range of memberships for individuals and groups – from £38 annually – find out more.
Supported by:
