New Exhibition
- April 2006
Wednesday
17 May - Sunday 18 June 2006
Work by David Wright, Andrew Livingston & George Morris
ArtsMill Gallery
was established in June 2003 and is a not-for-profit arts space, run entirely
by volunteers. The aim of the gallery is to bring high quality work by
internationally-renowned and emerging artists to the region as well as
exhibiting the work of local and regional artists. Exhibitions have included
work by Paula Rego, Frank Auberbach, Bridget Riley, Goya and Quentin Blake
as well as work by Yorkshire-based artists Neil Pittaway, Simon Manfield
and Claire McNamee
David Wright:
born Birmingham, 1929.
On leaving
school David was drafted into the RAF, spending two years in Signals.
On his release he gained entrance to the Slade where he came in contact
with Coldstream, Claude Rogers, Buckland Wright, Reg Butler and others,
proceeding to Birmingham College of Art to acquire an ATD in addition
to his Diploma in Fine Art.
Thus followed
a varied professional career; architectural designer; textile designer;
radio and television; and teaching on Art Foundation courses at Wolverhampton
College of Art, Kidderminster College and then Wakefield College, where
he was head of the School of Art until its transformation into the Faculty
of Performance Media and Arts, which he helped create in 1993. He gave
up that position in February 1994 and now concentrates on his painting.
His studio is in Linden Mill where he has been the mainstay of the Artsmill
Gallery since its inception in 2003.
Andrew Livingston
& George Morris
Often surreal,
certainly bizarre, Livingston & Morris are artists with an extraordinary
take on the modern world.
Andrew and
George met in 1985 whilst working at Hull Truck Theatre Company. Both
became disillusioned after many years in the industry, left within six
months of each other and began painting. Their first paintings were
based on ‘show biz’ and entertainment – cynical but
humorous representations of the falseness of the business. During this
period both were listening to the music of Frank Zappa and began working
on a series of paintings inspired by his songs, which culminated in
Paintings Inspired by the Music of Frank Zappa (2003). This was followed
by an exhibition of paintings reflecting the obsessive and ridiculous
side of human nature in The Collectors (2005). This was the first time
they had worked jointly on paintings.
“Our
style and colour palettes are similar, but we do bring different things
to each piece which seem to be complementary and so work well together.
The work tends to grow organically as the paintings progress. Sometimes
the work is inspired by music, as in the case of the Zappa paintings,
or ideas can be sparked by something in the news or events in history
that seem particularly relevant today. Humour is very important in our
work and we both share a similar sense of humour which makes working
jointly quite an easy thing to do. The work is
often quite surreal and bizarre but most of all, we hope, humorous.”
Andrew Livingston:
born Carlisle, 1956
Left school
and went to Art College, but was lured into acting, appearing notably
in many theatre, television and film productions (including Victoria
Wood’s Dinner Ladies, London’s Burning and The Full Monty.)
Returned to painting 6 years ago.
George Morris:
born Brighton, 1966.
Lighting
Designer on National and International Theatre productions, for companies
including Major Road, Hull Truck, The Theatre of Comedy and Hampstead
Theatre. George began painting 6 years ago.
Coming
Soon - New Exhibition
9
February - 20 March 2005
Wed - Sun, 11am - 4pm
The
Collectors
New Work by George Morris & Andrew Livingston
NEW
EXHIBITION OF PAINTINGS CELEBRATES THE MUSIC OF FRANK ZAPPA
Images of
the work
Electronic
images are available of some of the paintings as Jpegs.
The artists
Andrew Livingston
and George Morris have been working collaboratively as artists for the
last 3 years. Previous work includes a series of paintings on the entertainment
industry. Their most recent collaboration was 'Couch Potatoes' which featured
in the 2003 Hebden Bridge Sculpture Trail at Hardcastle Crags.
Frank Zappa
Born Dec 21
1940 in Baltimore. One of the most original and yet complex figures to
emerge from American rock culture and hailed by some music critics as
a genius, he came to prominence in the early 60s with his band, the Mothers
of Invention, with what he called 'sonic mutilations'.
His huge body
of work - more than 60 albums since 1966 - embraces heavy metal, jazz-rock,
blues-rock, R & B, Country doo-wop, big band suites, avant-garde and orchestral
music. His classical chamber music and orchestral compositions have been
conducted by Zubin Mehta and Pierre Boulez. The Lyons Opera Ballet of
France commissioned choreographers to create dances to his music.
Targets of
his lyrics included sexual mores, the music industry and the education
system. He backed up his words with political activism, taking on the
then Senator Al Gore's wife, Tipper, over her efforts to curb access to
records with raunchy lyrics.
In testimony
before the congressional panel in 1985 he ridiculed her assertion that
lyrics promoted deviant behaviour saying:
"I wrote
a song about dental floss but did anyone's teeth get cleaner?"
He died 4 December
1993, aged 52 of prostate cancer.
Bradford Gallery
& Yorkshire Craft Centre
This £4 million
development, made possible through an Arts Council of England Lottery
Award and the European Regional Development Fund, was opened in March
2000 by the Rt Hon Chris Smith MP, the then Secretary of State for Culture.
The Centre
includes a full range of craft workshops including hot glass, jewellery
and bronze casting, the beautifully refurbished 300 square metre Bradford
Gallery, which still retains the charm of its origins as a dye house,
as well as a stylish Cafe Bar. The Bradford Textile Archive, containing
some of the most inspiring fabric and design samples to be found in Europe,
completes the provision. Within the extensive collection there are rare
original samples of dress fabrics designed by Salvador Dali as well as
an exquisite selection of the textiles of India dating from 1868 which
were donated to Bradford by the Secretary of State for India.
The Centre
forms part of Bradford College's School of Art, Design and Textiles, whose
former pupils include internationally acclaimed artists David Hockney
and Andy Goldsworthy. |
