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Launching January 2009 Wysing Arts Contemporary   Matthew Slotover, Director of Frieze Art Fair launches Wysing Arts Contemporary on Saturday 17 January from 4.00-6.30pm.  Speeches at 4.45pm followed by a performance at 5pm by Matt Cook.  Inaugural exhibition runs Sunday 18 January – Sunday 1 March from 12-5pm.  Wysing Arts Centre presents Wysing Arts Contemporary – a brand new approach to the collection and sale of contemporary visual art. Exactly one year on from our re-launch Wysing Arts Centre is launching a brand new initiative called Wysing Arts Contemporary. With three exhibitions per year and a series of events around collecting contemporary art, Wysing Arts Contemporary will provide a major new platform for artists working at the forefront of contemporary art practice.  With this initiative Wysing aims to show that working commercially with artists is not only an opportunity to enable art lovers to purchase exciting new work, but that art collectors can positively impact on the careers of emerging artists.  Wysing Arts Centre has a successful track record of supporting its 24 studio artists through bespoke professional development programmes, and Wysing Arts Contemporary is an extension of that work. Wysing Arts Centre’s highly respected curatorial team is building a national reputation for its nurturing ethos - giving artists the creative space to develop their ideas in an environment that values artistic process above all else.  This enables artists to innovate, push boundaries and ultimately create work that is open and uncompromised.   As a not-for-profit organisation, Wysing Arts Centre’s new initiative will also run along not-for-profit principles, with income reinvested back into the centre, enabling it to continue to improve its facilities for artists.  “Wysing Arts Contemporary is about outstanding work at a fair price but even more than that it is about supporting artists who are building their careers and providing a platform to showcase their work, which is an essential part of our role in developing and supporting artists at Wysing.” Donna Lynas, Director, Wysing Arts Centre. “There is an increasing demand from art lovers who are keen to support and collect work by artists working here” says Donna Lynas.“Through Wysing Arts Contemporary we aim to present some of the most exciting work being made in the East and give both an insight into contemporary art practice and offer the opportunity to develop a deeper understanding of the artists work.”  Wysing Arts Contemporary’s inaugural exhibition is entitled ANIMATED, presenting playful and witty works by Jo Addison, Julie Brenot, Matt Cook, Sarah Evans, Simon Liddiment, Anne-Mie Melis, Alex Pearl and Simon Woolham; that explore notions of energy, movement and imagination in a wide range of media from moving image and installation to drawing and sculpture.                                                                                                                             

The window room at Wysing Arts Centre has been invaded by a series of fragile paper sculptures. These tiny paper constructions are animated by their placement; hiding, creeping, nesting, camouflaged in the corners and nooks and crannies that fill the room. They are not crying out for your attention rather going about their own business.

For my part I particularly enjoy the most discreet of these interventions; the long thin paper shards emerging from the screw holes left in the walls from previous exhibitions (which are so subtle due to the white on white that it is only a light shadow that makes you alive to their presence), the black fringe of teeth or nails creeping in through the gaps of the window, a tiny nest tucked into the corner of a high window ledge.

click on the image below to see more images in Flickr

Simon Woolham and I have just finished installing the next exhibition in the Window Room series.

Here is a sneak preview:simon-woolham.JPG

Together we have created a subtle intervention in the space using bags full of various paper sculptures gathered from his studio and the existing architecture. The thing I like about Simon’s work is it’s unmonumentality, it is quiet and unassuming and imbeds itself within a given space as if it has been there forever. His sculptures are certainly animated and there is a feeling that the room is ‘alive’ with a strange tension. Another aspect of his work which I admire is the way that it forces us (as the viewer) either passively or consciously to re-discover our everyday ‘familiar’ environment with fresh eyes. Those overlooked and marginal spaces are given reference for a tiny moment . There is a serious playfulness to Simon’s approach and I thank him for allowing me to be a part of that process for an afternoon. I enjoyed the freedom of “seeing what the possibilities are”…………………….

For the next instalment in the series I have invited Simon Woolham to collaborate on a ’subtle intervention’ in the space. However, due to its possible delicate and fragile nature we have decided to postpone the install day until Tuesday next week (after friday nights activities).

Since graduating from Chelsea College of Art with an M.A. in 2000 Woolham has had shows and residencies both nationally and internationally. His first solo show was at the Hoxton Distillery Gallery in London at the end of 2000. This was followed by numerous group shows including Becks Futures student prize at the ICA, Pizza Express drawing prize, Oriel Mostyn 11, where he was the prize winner in 2001, and other group shows in Belfast, Düsseldorf, Berlin and Madrid.

Since then he has had solo shows at The Lowry Gallery, which was also part of a commission and residency and Floating IP Gallery in Manchester, he was also in 2005’s emergency 05 at Aspex Gallery, Portsmouth and Perspectives 05 in Belfast.

During 2006 Woolham completed a BALTIC/ Creative Partnerships residency, this was followed by a residency at the National Glass Centre and was also commissioned for a Per Cent for Art residency/public art project in Ireland. In 2007 as well as having numerous group shows including ‘Paper Cuts’ a touring show curated by Yasmin Canvin, Woolham was The Museum of Garden History ‘Artist in Residence’ curated by Danielle Arnaud and funded by Arts Council England, culminating in a show and publication.

Also in 2007 he had solo shows at BLOC space in Sheffield and Leicester City Art Gallery. For 2008 he has been commissioned by Animate and RSA Arts and Ecology, and making new site specific work for a project with Danielle Arnaud for the up and coming Tatton Park Biennial where his work will be ‘invading’ the parks formal gardens.

This is an example of Simon’s work - see more about me on the Axis site.