Sodley-on-Sea in Blackpool.

Pieces from the ongoing series Sodley-on-Sea can be seen at five different locations in Blackpool from the 1st of March. Main site is Abingdon Studios which is at 16-20 Abingdon Street Blackpool FY1 1DE and there will be a drink fuelled preview there on the 1st between 6pm and 8pm. There will also be pieces in The Grundy The Library, The Winter Gardens and The Grand Theatre.
It has been organised by Garth Gratrix of Abingdon Studios and Andy Brydon of Curated Place. And has been funded by Arts Council England. 
It can be seen until 7/3/2016.

Sodley-on-Sea Is Showing As Part Of This...........

Sodley-on-Sea has taken on a life of it's own. It's moved on from just being some daft c**t sticking bits of paper together in the back room of a semi in Salford, to being an Arts Council funded project. Funny how things happen.

So not only did it receive funding it's also going to be shown as part of Enlighten Manchester - Festival of Light and Sound Art 2015  at Central Library Manchester this coming December.

If you click on the link it tells you when and how you can book. Although it's free you still need to book. You can also book onto a couple of workshops that I'm doing starting this Saturday (14/11/15) They are not free. 

Group Show 46 F*CKED UP.

 

 Sodley-on-Sea pictures featured in HUMBLE ARTS FOUNDATION, GROUP SHOW F*cked Up. It's the picture Beauty Spot Above Sodley-on-Sea, HERE

Ed Watts Does William Eggleston.

It's about time Manchester Photography did a post about a Manchester photographer. It's Ed Watts I'm referring to. I'm sure a lot of you know him. He's been organising photo related stuff at The Whitworth Art Gallery, Manchester and further afield with gems such as The Alternative Camera Club, Roast Beef and such like for ages.
Here though I'm interested in what he's been up to with his own photography. The above picture, that even the most photographically illiterate provincial council art gallery curator should spot is William Eggleston's 1973 piccy Greenwood Mississippi.
Watts, and I'm going to call him that rather than Ed so that I sound more impartial and professional, has been thinking about this photo for years. I can testify that he has wanted to recreate that space for donkey's. Well thanks to the folk at this years FORMAT Festival he's going to build that ceiling as a life size installation/sculpture and invite others to photograph this iconic scene. I wonder if that room was ever photographed by anyone else? It's so famous a ceiling but it's the only photo I know of the place which is unusual because as we all know photographers love to photograph the same thing over and over again. Just look at that canal/river in Hackney, I'm sick of the fucking sight of it.
Anyway Ed, I mean Watts is going to give all of us photographers the chance to photograph that red ceiling again and again and again and we can flood the internet with shit loads of versions of it so when we next type in Greenwood, Mississippi 1973 we will get the same but different.
As I said in the last post too many photographers call themselves photo artists without doing anything more than point and shoot. Watts is screwing that notion up with this piece.

Not At Arles in Body but........

It's Arles next week, I've never been. My work's been there twice now. First Semi's went to a little fringe show in 2010 and next week Art is Godd is going as part of ROAST BEEF presents. If you are going and you get the chance please go and have a look. It's at 8 Rue Favorin, Place du Forum Arles. It's on between the 1st and 4th July. More details in the previous post.

I've never been to Arles but I have an image in my head and I made the above still life in honour of the inaugural ROAST BEEF presents. As with my other still lifes it's 80% made from images sourced from the web.

ROAST BEEF presents....

I'm not a lazy bastard. I've been busy that's why I've not had time to waste on this blog. Besides making my own piccies I've been helping Ed Watts photo artist and our man at The Whitworth with the above, a show which is going on in Arles at the same time as the big photo festival. Although to be honest it's 99% Ed which is probably why it got off the ground in the first place. You can follow the progress at roastbeefphoto.tumblr.com and there is also a facebook page HERE so 'like it' and 'share it' and all of that.
                                             Good old line up, I think I'm on it because it's my ball so to speak. We hope ROAST BEEF presents will become an on going way to get British photographers work shown overseas. So Scotland if you go for Independence that's just one more opportunity you are going to fuck up.

Tom Wood

Tom Wood is one of most favouritistist photographers in the whole wide world ever so I am very happy that he has a new show at THE PHOTOGRAPHERS GALLERY starting today as well as a new book  coming out soon called 'Men & Women'
You can read more about old Tom HERE on the BBC website. Carry on and read the comments, that should leave us photo people in no doubt what most non Doc/Art photo people think about our twating about and the worth of what we do.
Now if only I had an archive of Jimmy Saville photo's people would buy into that shit.

Kelley Walker.

There's a Kelley Walker show opening tomorrow night at Manchester Art Gallery details HERE. Up top is a little film about his work. It's in French. I'm trying to add class to the blog. If like me you struggle with English let alone another language there's an interview HERE .

ILLUME

ILLUME is the title of the Blackpool & The Fylde College graduate show taking place at
THE CUBE GALLERY Manchester between the 18th & 22nd June and at THE HOXTON GALLERY London between 25th & 29th June. I've known loads of great photographers who've come out of Blackpool over the years and this looks like another 'bumber crop'. You can see work by the graduates thanks to the wonder of SOURCE MAGAZINE'S online graduate list thingy HERE. Above is an image by DOUG MITCHELL who's work stood out from the online selection. I look forward to seeing it all on the walls.

Grayson Perry @ MAG

Photo; fuck knows I tried to find the author but......


I love Grayson Perry. Not in the biblical sense, middle aged men dressed as small girls ain't my thing. No what I mean is I love his work. I like that whole British post war gloomy eccentric yet ordinary thing. A bit like if Philip Larkin and Lily Savage bred.
So as I like his work so much it's a good job then that a Grayson Perry exhibition opens at Manchester Art Gallery tomorrow. A small but perfectly formed exhibition, it showcases two recent acquisitions bought by the gallery along with two other pieces. There are also other items selected by a group of 15 to 18 year olds collectively known as The Creative Consultants, which they feel have connections to the Grayson Perry aesthetic. Amongst these bits n bobs is a really nice Paul Nash print and a big pair of pants. Eclectic.

Carey Young at The Cornerhouse.

Featuring photography, Carey Young comes to the CORNERHOUSE from the 5th of February.

Phantasmagoria!

Phantasmagoria. No not the 1985 Album that finally killed off for good any illusions that
THE DAMNED where a proper Punk band, but an evening (and afternoon for scared-ey cats) of Victorian inspired weird spooky marvelous-ness that our nineteenth century ancestors where so good at, and not a pickled two headed baby in a jar in sight. It's all to be held in what has to be the ultimate setting for this kind of thing, THE JOHN RYLANDS LIBRARY. So Ladies & Gentlemen, ROLL UP! ROLL UP! Details below.



"Monday 8th November Mervyn Heard, the world's finest Phantasmagoria Magic Lantern Projectionist, will be performing a show at John Rylands Library, Manchester.

4.30 - 5pm a family friendly show

7.30 - 9pm an evening event where things get a bit more sinister and spooky!
...

ALL WELCOME, the event is FREE! call 0161 06 0555 to reserve yourself a free seat or email jrul.events@manchester.ac.uk

John Rylands Library, 150 Deansgate, Manchester M3 3EH see
http://www.heard.supanet.com/html/performances.html
for more info about the show"

Ambience of Play @ THE GREENROOM.

Image copyright Katie Louise Dixon


Ambience of Play

Liz West, Katie Louise Dixon & David Morris

28 October - 18 December 2010, greenroom, Manchester

"From the award winning to the untrained, Blank Media Collective are pioneering the best creative talents from across the Pennines. Ambience of Play showcases three contemporary practitioners who are helping to keep the art scene in the North-West fresh and exciting. What makes these artists innovative is their playful approach to art practice as they set their own challenges to create their work.

The year 2010 continues to be a creative hotbed for original talent and this is definitely the case in reference to Liz West, Katie Louise Dixon and David Morris. From supermarkets to abandoned theme parks, these artists are constantly investigating social and urban practices, whilst retaining elements of fun and intrigue. Ambience of Play is an exhibition highlighting the mundanity that we see and often ignore."CONTINUED HERE.

BEARD-EEE BUGGERS.

Apparently Beards are all the RAGE at the moment with Manchester Northern Quarter/Chorlton Types (mainly with the men although not exclusively) putting this pu-biccy form of attention seeking to good use, some of the most ridiculous Dedicated followers of facial hair, have parked up their 'FIXIES' donned some tweed and posed for Manchester photographer Gill Moore so as to produce a calender all in the name of charity. The photographs can be seen at COMMON BAR with a launch of the calender this Thursday. Go see Gill's Pictures even if this much face fuzz makes you end up with a little bit of sick in your mouth....... More details below.



The launch of the "Beards of Manchester" calendar will be at Common Bar this Thursday 21st October from 6pm.

It's a hairy initiative to find the best beards in Manchester and all in the name of charity. The brainchild of Sam (b & n magazine) and Chris (Oh Digital), I was delighted to be asked to work on this project and played my part by taking all the photographs featured in the calendar in and around Manchester over the last few weeks. The sun came out once and not even torrential rain stopped us.
All images featured in the calendar will be exhibited in Common Bar, Northern Quarter, Manchester aswell as a huge framed compilation of all the hairy entries which didn't make the cut.

The charity calendar will be on sale on the night and at venues around the city after that.

There may be beer. Could well be cupcakes.
Would love it if you can join me. Thanks for reading and hope to see you Thursday.

Gill x

FACE TO FACE.

The mighty mighty Brian Griffin has a big retrospective outdoor show in the nations 3rd city, Birmingham. It's called FACE TO FACE and goes on until the 21st November.

36exp

HERE for the BLOG, below for more info.

'36EXP.' EXHIBITION


EASA GALLERY, MANCHESTER
43 HULME ST. MANCHESTER M15 6AW
PRIVATE VIEW & BOOK LAUNCH :
6:30pm - 9:30pm Thursday 30th September 2010


‘36EXP.’ is a photographic exhibition involving 36 artists and 36 contact sheets. The concept of the exhibition is based upon a standard 36 exposure photographic film. Over the past six months, ‘36EXP.’ has been accepting submissions from artists, photographers and students from all over the world, some as far as Canada, India, Israel, China and Australia. The outline of the brief was simply to return to photographic film, whether 35mm, 120mm or slides, and to produce a contact sheet from the roll of film used. The exhibition features a selection of photographs from each artist as well as their contact sheet, providing an unusual combination of ‘finished photograph’ alongside an accompanying contact sheet.


Commissioned and curated by Jack Howard
Assistant curator: Sarah Hill


Participating Artists:


Jon Austin / Marsha Balaeva / Philip Bedford / Ben Bishop / Jessie Bond / Samuel Boxall
Chris Butler / Katarina Thölin Chittenden / Nadia Connell / Ashley Cullen / Graham Darlington / Sophie Determann / Mark Devereux / Victoria Erdelevskaya / Helen Flanagan Robert Flynn / Sam Francis / Ayse Hasan / Sarah Hill / Simone Hodgson / Jack Howard Simon Jones / Scott Ramsay Kyle / Carita Laamanen / Eleanor Marechal / Katarzyna Perlak Lucy Ridges / Vidisha Saini / Helen Smith / Chris Spackman / Matthew Thomas / Darn Thorn / Al W. / Liz West / Alexander Williamson / Frances Wilson

Preview of Rafael Lozano-Hemmer's 'RECORDERS' @ Manchester Art Gallery.

This may prove to be the show of the year as far as Manchester is concerned. Bit of a coup getting Rafael Lozano-Hemmer's RECORDERS, a show by a proper and current big time international Artist, something we don't always seem that fussed about in Manchester. RLH is a leading Digital Artist having shown all over the place including The Venice Biennale. The show takes up the two galleries on the top floor turning them into a kind of biometric/surveillance theme park. Serious questions about sinister topics brought to you in a kinda fun accessible package. You can have your heart beat read and used to create your own light display in the piece 'PULSE FIELD'. You can have your finger prints read and used along with the stored prints of other gallery goers to produce a changing image in the work 'PULSE INDEX' (see above)

Your words will be recorded, your image will be recorded, your finger prints will be recorded and even you heartbeat will be recorded. Hey if your going to do something!

Of course it's obvious comment is the surveillance world we live in, privacy is dead even in an Art event and as RLH said in his introduction to the work, "There are few countries doing this more than the UK so get over it. I may not like it but it's a fact of life". My favourite piece is a new commission called 'PLEASE EMPTY YOUR POCKETS' because I did the wiring for it. Check out my cables, a work of Art in their own right....... RECORDERS by Rafael Lozano-Hemmer opens Saturday 18th September until 30th January at Manchester Art Gallery and is free. You can read an interview HERE.

Savignano Immagini Festival

I have absolutely no knowledge what so ever of the Italian language. Not a sausage (or Salami) So I'm a little frustrated at receiving yet another e-flyer from the land of never ending tomato supplies. I wish I knew what it said, I think it's a festival. It features, I think the work of Roger Ballen, Mark Steinmetz and Simon Roberts, (well two out of three ain't bad to quote Meatloaf.) I know what ever it is, is happening on the 10, 11, 12 of September other than that...... If your Italian is better that mine check it out HERE.

The Modern Lesbian.

Image copyright Rachel Adams

Well it's that time of year again when all Manchester becomes 'Gay for a Day' well a long weekend actually. And this year at MANCHESTER PRIDE my old mate Andy Brydon from CURATED PLACE has curated an exhibition and series of events together with the documentary photographer Rachel Adams.

Details below

The Modern Lesbian Produced by Curated Place For immediate release: 12th July 2010Venue: 52 Princess Street , Manchester , M1 6JXExhibition Dates: 20th August - 4th September 10am-5pm weekdays, 12pm-5pm Weekends.
Event dates: 28th-30th August 12pm-5pm

Extending the Pride fringe into new territory Curated Place and Rachel Adams will be setting up a live photo studio with an open call going out to gay and bisexual women in Mancheser for Pride to add their images and voices to their Modern Lesbian project over the big weekend (28th August – 30th August). By creating a new lesbian space within the context of Pride, The Modern Lesbian examines the "guest status" of women within the male-centric gay community. To get involved women should visit http://www.themodernlesbian.co.uk/.


This year Pride celebrates its 20th anniversary while the Lesbian and Gay Foundation (LGF) celebrate its tenth birthday. Both organisations have been pivotal in breaking down the barriers of ignorance in the North West seeing Manchester recognised by many as the gay capital of the UK . However, women often fade into the background of this story with their voices and experiences being subsumed within a generic “gay scene”. The Modern Lesbian is a photographic project and live photographic event that seeks to redress the balance by presenting the stories of gay and bisexual women across four generations who have been instrumental in shaping the cultural, commercial and social history of gay Manchester . The Modern Lesbian is the first project developed and delivered by Curator Andy Brydon’s arts and cultural production company Curated Place following the demise of Urbis. Supported by the National Lottery through Arts Council England, Pride’s Community fund and Bridge Properties it will feature as a central event as part of this year’s Pride Fringe with an exhibition at 52 Princess Street , Manchester . Three days of public events, where women can contribute to the project, will also take place over the Big Weekend.


The Modern Lesbian is an exploration of the hidden history of gay and bisexual women in the North West . Over the last year artist, Rachel Adams documentary photographer and resident lenswoman at Contact Theatre and Band on the Wall, has been interviewing influential gay women who have impacted on the Mancunian cultural, social and economic landscape. These interviews have informed the locations and tone of the photographic portraits she will be shooting throughout July. The resulting works will be exhibited as part of the Pride Fringe from the 21st August – 4th September at 52 Princess Street thanks to the support of Bridge Properties http://www.52princess.com/.

Linking women’s stories across the generations the exhibition will trace how gay women have shaken up the mainstream across activism and politics through to club culture and entrepreneurism. Participants include: Jackie Crozier, Pride Director; Mary Murphy, long standing Manchester Councillor; Steph Kay, Vanilla proprietor; Rosie Lugosi, activist and burlesque artist; Josie Pickering, septuagenarian dominatrix; Carol Ainscow, the original Village developer; Yvonne Edge, Pankhurst Centre director; Philipa Jarman, Piccadilly Records; Joey Hately, third sex performance artist; Jayne Compton, music entrepreneur; Claude Cunningham, Black Angel promoter; and Kath McDermott, legendary Flesh DJ.


Selected on account of their reputation as groundbreakers in the gay and lesbian scene and the role they have played in shaping Manchester's cultural sector beyond that community, these women tell the story of how underground lesbian culture has quietly, but radically, influenced the mainstream.In addition to the exhibition of notable women, Adams will be setting up an event space inside the exhibition over the big weekend (28th August – 30th August). By creating a new lesbian space within the context of Pride, Adams ' project examines the "guest status" of women within the male-centric gay community. To do this she is inviting gay and bisexual women attending Pride to contribute their portraits and voices to the project at a pop-up photo studio over the Big Weekend inside the exhibition. To get involved women should visit http://www.themodernlesbian.co.uk/ .

Leading academic Sarah Green, of Manchester University , comments:“Public spaces, including gay ones, tend to be dominated by men. The sense of ‘culture’ tends to include a sense of belonging to a relatively publicly visible group of people, but lesbians have rarely been as socially visible as gay men. This was something Manuel Castells noticed even in the 1970s. In his study of San Francisco he argued that lesbians actually did not form a community or social group as a result of that lack of visibility in public spaces.”

Rachel Adams comments:“With this project I want to highlight the unrecognised achievements of gay women in and around Manchester , especially those that have dared to act ahead of the curve in politics, activism and culture. To bring their achievements into the present I want to create an exciting and dynamic cultural space during Pride – where everyone is invited to explore the history of Manchester lesbians and where women are given the chance to take part in a truly representative project.”Photo opportunities of Adams ’ shooting portraits are available throughout July. While shoots are still being finalised please contact Curated Place for up to the minute details tel: 0161 408 1814 or info@curatedplace.com.

Editor’s notes 52 Princess Street will be open daily for the Modern Lesbian exhibition from 12pm-5pm from the 21st August until the 4th September.Rachel Adams’ photographic studio event will take place on the 28th, 29th and 30th of August. Both the exhibition and event are FREE but women wishing to participate in the event must register on http://www.themodernlesbian.co.uk/ The project is produced by Curated Place , Minshull House Innospace, 47 Chorlton Street, M1 3FY .Tel: 0161 408 1814 http://www.curatedplace.com/ Curated Place (http://www.curatedplace.com/) is a production company and blog set up by Andy Brydon following the closure of Urbis. Adams and Brydon were in the early stages of producing a major Gay Manchester retrospective exhibition when the venue was closed. The Modern Lesbian, supported by Pride, is an element of the original idea that has survived that closure.

• Andy Brydon is the curator and producer behind Hacienda 25: Fac 491, Reality Hack: Hidden Manchester and HomeGrown: The Story of UK Hip Hop.
  
• Manchester Pride is one of the longest running pride events in the country and attracts thousands of visitors to the city's Gay Village , which centres around Canal Street , each year. This year over 50,000 people are expected to buy tickets. The first "gay pride" event in Manchester was held in 1990 seeing this year mark 20 years of Pride in the city. EuroPride was hosted in Manchester in 2003, and since 2004 the title "Manchester Pride" has been adopted. The event comprises a Pride march and several days of various arts, music and cultural events all over the city as well as a festival during the August bank holiday weekend within the gay village itself. Original objectives for the birth of Manchester 's Pride celebrations were to raise awareness around the legal and political struggles faced by the LGBT community and to raise funds for local charities.
  
• The Lesbian and Gay Foundation (LGF) is a charity based in Manchester . It was formed with the merger of Healthy Gay Manchester and Manchester Lesbian and Gay Switchboard Services in April 2000. This year the organisation is celebrating its 10th birthday. The organisation provides more direct services and resources to more lesbian, gay and bisexual people than any other charity of its kind in the UK through services, advocacy, information and research. They deliver accessible community, health and support services such as face to face counselling, clinical services, a helpline and a range of support groups. In addition, The LGF aim to provide high quality and accurate information and advice, including a range of leaflets and booklets, a monthly magazine - outnorthwest - and regular updates via their online news pages and email newsletters. Their initiatives include campaigns to end homophobia in schools and strengthening the LGBT community by establishing business and strategic partnerships.