The Foundation Diploma in Art & Design and BED Art & Design students from Leek School of Art (Buxton & Leek College) ventured out of Leek for the day on an inspiration and research visit to the fantastic newly re-opened Whitworth Art Gallery followed by a visit to the Manchester Art Gallery.
First stop was the Whitworth to see the Cai Guo-Qiang 'Unmanned Nature' & Cornelia Parker. Fantastic exhibitions to inspire the FMP's of the students - such diverse and thought provoking work on display. A stunning first series of exhibitions to re-open with - third visit and planning another before the exhibitions come down! Very excited to see the next exhibitions
The gallery has had major renovation with two extensions – one glass and stainless steel, and the other red brick – to the rear of the existing 19th-century building located in Whitworth Park, Manchester - both stunning. Such a fantastic & beautiful space.
David Batchelor's new commission 'Plato's Disco', on the Grand Staircase - Hovering above Maria Balshaw's favourite new structural feature, the stone handled staircase, is Batchelor's light reflecting sculpture, and it's just beautiful'.
Dont miss this wonderful piece ouside the gallery at the Whitworth Park entrance - 'Nathan Coley's Gathering Of Strangers, outside in the Art Garden above the Promenade - This twinkling tribute to the power of galleries to bring up together, and now the new motto of the gallery, is among the best of the new outdoor sculptures'.
http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/whats-on/arts-culture-news/14-must-sees-whitworth-art-8625702
Cornelia Parker
'The Whitworth reopened with a major solo exhibition from one of Britain’s most acclaimed contemporary artists, Cornelia Parker – and her work invites you to witness the transformation of ordinary objects into something compelling and extraordinary.
It is an extensive exhibition, one that features a wide range of work made during Parker’s career, from her signature piece Cold Dark Matter: An Exploded View (1991) alongside two important new commissions and many other new works.
Ahead of her new Whitworth exhibition, Cornelia Parker worked closely with scientists at the University of Manchester, most notably Kostya Novoselov, who, with Andre Geim, was awarded the Nobel Prize for the discovery of graphene - the world’s thinnest and strongest material.
Working with gallery staff, Novoselov took microscopic samples of graphite from drawings in the Whitworth’s collection by William Blake, Turner, Constable and Picasso, as well as a pencil-written letter by Sir Ernest Rutherford (who split the atom in Manchester). He then made graphene from these samples, one of which Parker made into a work of art to mark the opening of the gallery and exhibition. A Blake-graphene sensor, activated by breath of a physicist, set off a firework display which returned iron meteorite into the Manchester sky. This meteor shower marked a spectacular and unmissable opening to the new Whitworth'. http://www.whitworth.manchester.ac.uk/whatson/exhibitions/currentexhibitions/
Beautiful architecural lines and shadows from the new extension at the Whitworth Park entrance.
The Foundation Diploma in Art & Design and BED students enjoying the Manchester sunshine outside the gallery.
Manchester City Gallery
Junko Mori
Based in North WaI am always drawn to the visual impact of an aggregate assembled with many small components and find infinite possibilities of the form multiplied by the vital power beyond the physical space, such as cell division through a microscope.
My work consists of multiples of individually forged steel or other metals, and the subtle difference of each piece results from hand hammering. No piece is individually planned but becomes fully formed within the making and thinking process. Repeating little accidents, like a mutation of cells, the final accumulation of units emerges within this process of evolution.
The uncontrollable beauty is the core of my concept.
House Proud
'House Proud, our new exhibition of glass, metalwork and furniture is inspired by the Gallery's pioneering Industrial Art Collection. During the 1930s the Gallery was one of the first to collect mass-produced or limited-edition home furnishings with a very strong, contemporary design aesthetic and to display them in an art gallery setting. The exhibition illustrates some of the ways in which the boundaries between art and design for the home have been challenged since then.
Some manufacturers deliberately chose to employ contemporary artists in order to improve the design and cachet of their products: the exhibition includes items designed for industrial production by artists such as Dame Laura Knight, Eric Ravilious and John Piper. Many of the designers included in the show were influenced by contemporary art, particularly Neo-Romanticism, Abstraction, Surrealism, Op and Pop Art. Modern art opened up new ways of looking at objects which, combined with developments in science and technology, led to new forms for traditional functional objects and novel sources for decoration.
This is an opportunity for visitors to see some of our 20th century ceramics, glass, metalwork and furniture while the Gallery of Craft and Design is being re-furbished. The exhibition includes paintings and works on paper that haven't been seen for several decades, alongside textiles and wallpapers from the Whitworth art gallery and some key works of art from the Arts Council Collection'.
Eastern Exchanges
'See the amazing history and future of East Asian craft and design and its global influence in this exhibition inspired by objects from Manchester Art Gallery’s collection. The show features over 1,500 years of the rich craft heritage of Japan, China and Korea: ceramics, metalwork, furniture, lacquer, textiles and sculpture, with exhibits ranging from magnificent court treasures, to masterpieces by contemporary makers.
With loans from leading public collections and contemporary makers and collectors, this show is a unique opportunity to explore how contemporary designer-makers keep the distinctive style of the East fresh and surprising whilst remaining true to traditional values of superb craftsmanship and profound philosophy.
There will be opportunities to see historic works from Manchester’s collection which have not been exhibited for over 30 years, including an exquisite early nineteenth century Japanese lacquer norimono (travelling carriage), sumptuous Chinese Imperial robes and hand-chiselled Japanese tsuba (sword guards), which are all being conserved especially for this show. Contemporary work includes Fumio Enomoto’s ‘Weave Stool’, commissioned specially from the award-winning designer, plus elegant ceramics by Yasuko Sakurai, Gwang Yeol Yu, Jin Ka Lee, Jung Hong Park, Jungwon Park and Jin Eui Kim'.
No comments:
Post a Comment