- Venue
- Prism Contemporary
- Starts
- Thursday, November 7, 2024
- Ends
- Wednesday, November 6, 2024
- Address
- Prism Contemporary 20 Lord Street West, Blackburn, BB2 1JX
- Location
- North West England
- Organiser
- Prism Contemporary
Throughout time, makers have garnered specialised, even niche skill sets in order to problem solve and carry out their creative desires. Beyond certain fundamentals within any given craft or trade, these cultivated dexterities become individualised, only making sense or being useful to that person’s particular needs. In the world of art and object making, the components utilised in form-giving may seem arbitrary, superfluous, or even silly to the eye of the observer. Is everything at our disposal nowadays? This thought is compounded by the image economy, the erosion of natural materials, and the contemporary forever surplus of waste and destruction. In truth and even so, an object’s “necessity”- its right to exist – will forever be validated by the fact that it simply already does.
Borrowing the term from hobbyist survivalism, Bushcrafters celebrates the frenzied sets of hands interested in taking whatever it is around them and turning it into something singular (useful or otherwise) through discernible, sincere, and straightforward actions. Just as those who take minimal supplies into the wilderness and forge what it is they need to get through their self-inflicted exile from modern society, this group of makers (six “local” from the UK and seven international) has been gathered for their shared impulse to cope with the world as it is today through seemingly ad-hoc yet deliberate production: each slice, stack, layer or remix to create something inherently familiar but always new, maybe even needed beyond the shadow of contemporary dread. The dividing line between their materials and forms of choice are split by the anthropocenic concept of locality – or what’s near; versus universality, what’s everywhere – raising questions around who has access to what, and whether creating is about living or merely about surviving.
Curated by Kellie Riggs & Alex Zawadzki with Artists
Adam Grinovich (US)
Bernhard Schobinger (CH)
David Clarke (UK)
Fabio Giorgi Alberti (IT)
Georgina Treviño (MX/US)
Hira Butt (UK)
James Ackerley (UK)
Jack Brown (UK)
James Tailor (UK)
Kieran Leach (UK)
Kostas Lambridis (GR)
Lucia Massari (IT)
Maisie Pritchard (UK)
Niki Colclough (UK)
Tamara Johnson (US)
Trey Burns (US)
THE SECOND ACT GALLERY
THE SECOND ACT is a young contemporary gallery with roots in the North of England and a space now in East London.
We deliver a programme with an emphasis on the inclusion of artists of the North; and also those from working class backgrounds to support the growth of a diverse ecosystem of British artists.
We choose to work with artists who make contemporary art with challenging concepts, narratives and research; creating a roster of individuals who we believe, should all have the opportunity to write their own Second Act.
