WYSING ARTS CONTEMPORARY: PRESENTS

10 April – 23 April 2010. LAUNCH WEEKEND: 10 & 11 APRIL 2010

WYSING ARTS CONTEMPORARY – the trading arm of Wysing Arts Centre – PRESENTS: an artists’ art fair with Aid & Abet, Beyond, C-O-L-L-I-D-E-R, Kaavous-Bhoyroo, Lost Toys Records, Market Project, Outpost, PROJECKT, Semi Formal Discussion Network, Stew, YH485 Press.

Wysing Arts Centre in Bourn has invited artist-led initiatives and studio groups from across the Eastern region to re-locate to Wysing for six weeks in an unusual take on the established Art Fair model.  

The first of its kind in terms of context, location and duration and unlike most art fairs, exhibitors will have no fees to pay, 75% of all income through sales will go directly back to the exhibiting artists.  Wysing will build on the success of three major selling exhibitions and participation in the London art fair, Zoo 2009, providing a platform for exhibiting and the structure for the selling of work. 

With well over 50 artists exhibiting, WYSING ARTS CONTEMPORARY: PRESENTS will highlight the breadth of critically-engaged artistic output in the Eastern region.  From self publishing organisation YH485 Press working on a peninsula on the easterly edge of the British Isles, to artists multiples in Cambridge, the artists involved in PRESENTS have by-passed established systems, not only creating, exhibiting their own work, but also generating networks and support systems.

Demonstrating Wysing Arts Centre’s commitment to developing a commercial model unique to the centre, PRESENTS also displays success in uncovering, supporting and presenting artists working in the region.

A series of special events, including the launch of the new information network Beyond, will run throughout the duration of WYSING ARTS CONTEMPORARY: PRESENTS. 10 April to 23 May. Open daily, 12-5pm.

2010 is the year of The Improbable at Wysing Arts Centre

For more details or images please contact Ed Greenacre press@wysingartscentre.org 01954 717108 / 07973 678460    www.wysingartscentre.org

Wysing Arts Centre, Fox Road, Bourn, Cambridge CB23 2TX. +44 (0)1954 718 881

WYSING ARTS CENTRE is a research and development centre that practically tests out new ways of thinking in contemporary visual art where artists working from studios or undertaking international residencies are encouraged, alongside visitors, to take creative risks in a supportive environment in which the exploration of process and collaborative ways of working are paramount. Wysing was established in 1989 on the 11 acre site of a former farm, 8 miles west of Cambridge and is a registered charity (no.1039555.)

WYSING ARTS CONTEMPORARY curates selling exhibitions at its Bourn centre, manages collectives of contemporary art collectors and exhibits work at international art fairs.

Further details of artist-run and self organized initiatives involved:

Aid & Abet, artist-run space in Cambridge. Initiated by artists Sarah Evans, CJ Mahony, David Kefford Aid & Abet will provide a platform to showcase innovative, cutting edge and ambitious projects for a Cambridge audience, as well as creating opportunities for artists based in the region and the audience to be actively involved within the programme. The space aims to stimulate people’s perceptions of the visual arts by providing a framework that facilitates meeting, conversation and new forms of interaction, through a three-way relationship between artist, artwork and audience. Thus establishing a context which fosters a productive open network.  The initiative launches at WAC: Presents.

Beyond . Beyond is a new information network established through dialogue between Catherine Hemelryk, Kaavous Clayton, Julia Devonshire Lotte Juul Petersen and Laura Bowen. Beyond aims to share, to stimulate, to prompt discussion, to find new ways to produce and disseminate, to connect, to overcome distance, to have a collective discussion point, to be relevant, to learn, a flexible starting point for others to take further; to reject it, to react to or against, and to go beyond…The A4 page is the starting point. beyond grows one-page at a time. beyond is produced in different places simultaneously and is facilitated by curators and artists, cultural producers and writers; a board with dif­ferent interests who will not remain static, but shift and change over.

C-O-L-L-I-D-E-R. The artist group wishes to work together and explore the theme of encounter through the use of narrative and location specific work. The formation of this group was inspired by the Escalator Visual Arts Retreat Neither Here Nor There (June 2009), where the artists met. Eight out of ten participants of this retreat wished to extend the positive exchange between peers into this initiative. C-O-L-L-I-D-E-R consists of Will Clifford, Sarah Evans, Bettina Furnée, Catherine Hemelryk, Hayley Lock, Rachel Oxley, Mark Ross and Caroline Wright.

Kaavous-Bhoyroo. Kaavous-Bhoyroo is an arts agency founded by Jane Bhoyroo and Kaavous Clayton in 2008 to commission and show new work by emerging and established artists and to curate contemporary art projects. Kaavous-Bhoyroo Quarterly Editions commissions the production of multiple artworks released on a seasonal basis that provides an opportunity for the artists to explore the nature of an edition, often resulting in a series of unique and individual works that are based upon a common theme. Kaavous-Bhoyroo has for example worked with artists such as Simon Liddiment, David Kefford, Lee Marshall, Coco Crampton, Rob Filby and Leo Fitzmaurice. For PRESENTS, Kaavous-Bhoyroo is launching a new edition by RJ Hinrichsen. www.kaavous-bhoyroo.com

Lost Toys Records, Andy Holden & Johnny Parry . Lost Toys Records make a series of hand made, numbered, editions, both by Lost Toys artists and specially selected guests to the label. Each edition will be designed by the artist in collaboration with Lost Toys, with a sleeve that is put together by hand in the LT's studio with the help of everyone involved in the project. http://losttoysrecords.com

Market project. Market project is an artist group from the Escalator Visual Arts Retreat, Economics of the Art System consisting off Annabel Dover, Laura Earley, Julie Freeman, Alistair Gentry, Helen Judge, David Kefford, Annabelle Shelton, Elaine Tribley and Martha Winter. The artists named above have unanimously agreed that they stand to benefit most by working collectively. This fluid collective will collaboratively research and actively engage with new methods of improving and sustaining their careers as professional artists, with particular focus on creative engagement with economic and revenue aspects of the art world.  

OUTPOST. OUTPOST is an artist-run contemporary gallery in Norwich which was founded in November 2004. It supports an artist membership of over 300, and is run by a voluntary steering committee made up of artist members. To date OUTPOST has presented over 60 solo shows in the gallery and three annual Members Shows. It has developed a number of off-site projects, most recently including Outhouse, a series of short-term artist residencies in Norwich, Zoo Art Fair 2009, and Rotate at the Contemporary Art Society Offices, London. In January 2010 OUTPOST Studios opened to artist members. http://www.norwichoutpost.org/

PROJECKT. PROJECKT was established on 01 January 2009. PROJECKT is focused on independent curating, publishing and research, realising projects across local and international locations in collaboration with individuals, groups, institutions and organisations. Through curatorial experimentation PROJECKT provides new and innovative contexts for contemporary artists and practices. Contributors: Charles Danby, Bea De Souza, George Unsworth (Testcard), Maria Fusco (A Rather Large Weapon), Emma Hart (Hole -Future project). Rob Smith & Rebecca Birch launch the Field Broadcast project at WAC: Presents. http://www.projeckt.org.uk/

Semi Formal Discussion Network. Semi Formal Discussion Network is initiated by Mark Wilsher & RJ Hinrichsen. The semi formal discussion network is a conceptual model designed to generate in-depth discussion about art among artists. It is manual for support and establishing groups and self organised support systems.

Stew. STEW is an artist led gallery and studio space in the centre of Norwich, England. The name is derived from the shared ideal of food playing a central role in the space and analogous to the diverse practices within the building. The earliest board meetings were based around cooking, eating, discussion and decision making and this holds true within the space with the installation of a kitchen and communal eating area. http://www.stew.org.uk/

YH485 PRESS. YH485 PRESS is a publishing and curatorial initiative based in Great Yarmouth, started in March 2009 by visual artists and writers Aaron Juneau and Jonathan Watts and curator Harriet Mitchell. Working on a peninsula on the easterly edge of the British Isles, it follows that YH485 Press is on the edge of the contemporary art world as urban phenomenon. YH485 Press does not suffer willful marginalization or provincialism. http://www.yh485press.org/