Curwen & New Academy Gallery’s 22nd annual Northern Graduates exhibition provides a showcase for the best of this year’s graduates from the North of England. These select few are all artists who have stood out amongst the hundreds of graduates all completing their degrees this summer and show the most promise for becoming successes of the art world in years to come. The work in the exhibition covers various mediums including painting, drawing, sculpture and installation and also a great variety of styles and methods.
Some of the work in this exhibition is intentionally thought provoking. Other works are more light hearted and intend more to make one smile. Some works require participation and others shout out their message. Nazmin Abdullah is one of the latter with her wonderfully produced paintings of cultural identity, and the same can be said of Shona Rannachan’s darkly comedic cartoons of the British Armed Forces. In contrast to this are the subtle landscapes by Vicky Mykytiuk, reminiscent of faded drawings from the
Kyle Saxton’s ‘light graffiti’ shows a different aspect of the urban setting. The dominating essence of graffiti is its temporary nature, Kyle’s graffiti is gone at the speed of light and never seen as a whole by the naked eye, but he captures it to glorious effect via long exposure photography and film.
Chris Porter’s work is only fully appreciated through participation. He has used found bits of old technology, such as TV screens, sound systems & computers, and subverted their original use until they become objects of the sublime. James Daltry is another artist forcing one to interact with everyday technology in an unfamiliar way with his unsettling series of child mannequins. Also reflecting on the fast pace communication of our technological age is Katie Bartley. She creates a wonderful irony by using the patient art of paper cutting to represent images of her web profiles and camera lenses.
On the other side of a lens is Jonathan Lynch producing haunting photographs of desolate interiors, empty of all but the sense of their past. Jenny Gilberg’s work begins with a photograph of an every day item such as a dirty sink, but by the time her work is complete, the image has been elaborated until one is left intrigued as to where the photograph ends and the painting begins.
Also shifting focus on the seemingly banal are the blurred abstractions by Tommy Stables. Some other artists that stood out this year for their playful use of paint include Katherine Holden with her oil resist abstractions and the tactile multi layered blocks of Tara Roberts. Last year’s trend of a renewed appreciation for traditional etching, continues this year through Larissa Greenwoods etchings on old copper circuit boards.
This year’s geographical remit has stretched slightly to include Loughborough and so allows us to include Benjamin Cohen’s incredible paintings.
Northern Graduates ’09 will be split across two separate venues. The main show will be at Curwen & New Academy Gallery, in
Images of work by all artists can be seen via our website http://www.curwengallery.com/gallery/ngrad09/title.htm
