Projects: Manchester is a new pop-up space aimed at emerging artists and run by Mark Devereux Projects (MDP), an artist production-development organisation founded by artist and curator Mark Devereux. Based in a former office building in central Manchester, the use of the space has been made possible through Castlefield Gallery’s New Art Spaces initiative.
“We want to create an environment for artists to spend time testing, developing and experimenting,” says Devereux, Director of the project. “We have a vast, open space within a central location in Manchester, which offers artists the opportunity to invite curators, producers and industry professionals to respond critically during the important developmental stages of making. It gives practitioners the freedom and time to develop work by removing as many restrictions as we can.”
Devereux set up MDP earlier this year in response to rising tuition fees and a lack of opportunities for artists, and the new space will be available to artists who are part of the MDP Associate Membership programme. Alongside the free use of the space, associate artists will also benefit from one-to-one mentoring sessions, exhibition opportunities, group critiques, guidance sessions and online advisory materials. The scheme is open to any artist based within the UK.
Devereux has a track record of working with artists in Manchester and further afield. After completing an MA in Fine Art at Staffordshire University on 2006, he set up Blank Media Collective, a not-for-profit arts organisation which he was director of until 2012. He played a key role in acquiring BLANKSPACE gallery in 2011, which he ran until leaving the organisation in 2012.
Support mechanism
In his production-development role, Devereux is currently working closely with three artists – Nicola Dale, David Ogle and Nicola Ellis – and there are ambitious projects in the pipeline. The inaugural exhibition at Projects: Manchester will feature 12 of the organisation’s associate members, selected by Devereux, Kerry Harker (Director, The Tetley, Leeds), Gill Park (Director, Pavillion, Leeds), and Tony Charles (Director, Platform-A, Middlesbrough). The focus of the exhibition, says Devereux, is emerging artists, a central tenet of Projects: Manchester.
“We want to offer early-career artists the support structure to enable their talents to be realised,” he says. “Every relationship with an artist is a journey and we aim to help them reach the next stage in their development. We feel there is a shortage of support for artists that have graduated and have been making for a number of years.”
Devereux explains that he was invited by Castlefield Gallery to visit the former office building. “We soon realised the potential of managing one of the eight floors within this expansive building. However, rather than segregating the space into individual studio spaces (of which there are many throughout the city) or launching a gallery space, we wanted to offer something different.”
It’s important to Devereux that the needs of artists remain the focus of the project. “Each practitioner requires something different,” he says. “Sometimes it might be a critically-engaged dialogue with their practice, some may need advice on being self-employed or operating a business-like structure, and some artists may just need a pat on the back and someone to listen. We want to be that support mechanism.”
Projects: Manchester launches on 8 November and the Beyond Merely Assembling exhibition continues until 20 November. For more information visit www.markdevereuxprojects.com
