Taking time away from her very busy schedule including Open Studios, teaching drawing at the Haute école des arts du Rhin (HEAR) Mulhouse, applying for an artist in residency in Iceland and her beautiful and bountiful allotment, artist and friend Jan Claire Stevens introduced me to key members of the Upper Rhine artist’s network. I will be following up on a provisional exchange project with Didier Kieffer, printmaker and tutor at HEAR and meeting personally with the director of the CEEAC, Evelyne Loux,more about this later. Jan’s studio in Guebwiller’s industrial district is a good example of urban renovation, low cost, no frills spaces available for small businesses, artists, designers and others. Some studio envy could be felt as I thought of the prison cell I might have in London for similar costs.
On to Mulhouse, the industrial town near the Swiss border was where I lived and worked in the textile industry following my Masters at Manchester. The two share the same industrial past and were fierce rivals during the race to discover synthetic dyes during the mid 19th century. Mulhouse also boasts a number of world class museums including the Museum of Printed Textiles where worked in 2000, following the demise of the textile industry itself. Happy Days! My interest in colour theories and in particular, the laws of simultaneous contrast stem from this time.
The Kunsthalle, a converted foundry, is a magnificent combination of industrial heritage and modern architecture. It shares its building with Upper Alsace University and promotes a concept of exhibitions and artistic events dedicated to the exploration and creation of contemporary art. A number of residences and international platforms are available and I’ll follow up on these with the help of Jan Claire Stevens. I will also re visit the art school in Mulhouse on a return trip in October to discuss a collaborative print exchange between students and staff from HEAR and and an equivalent organisation in the UK.
