- Venue
- Nostalgia Exhibition
- Location
- North West England
Bolton like many towns around the country has lost a huge chunk of business from its high streets and there are many shops lying dormant. The Neoartists, a not-for-profit organisation, have taken advantage of the economic climate by occupying the empty shops with the full support and blessing of the Council and moved into the town centre. As a result of this an army of Neoartists are growing in strength. Their membership of newly qualified art graduates and established artists is rapidly expanding on a daily basis. Their many projects require financial donations as they are only receiving funding for equipment for the workshops so they need more support from businesses and investors. With the workshops that they run and the small rents that they get from their studios at Corporation Chambers they are able to put on solo and group exhibitions in the town centre. Another temporary project space is at Merchant’s Place, River Street, donated by Charles Topham Investments.
One of their main exhibitions is currently running at the Market Place Gallery on the first floor next to H&M. The space was kindly donated by Agora Shopping Centres Ltd,
On entry, be warned, the pile of bricks at the Tate has nothing on Keiran McKeown’s stack of timber, OXB, which is the centre piece of the exhibition.
His dismantled artwork comprises all his Degree show, and is stacked high supplemented by his explicit hand-written instructions and diagrams on how to reconstruct the entire structure from scratch.
The Destructivism can be transformed into Constructivism for the princely sum of £19,588 which covers the entire cost of his Art Degree! The gargantuan debt hangs over the fragile display and begs the help of a wealthy patron.
Nostalgia is the theme of the exhibition and it is referred to, by the Neoartists, as ‘taking a trip down memory lane’ with the artists ‘offering the audience a glimpse inside their soul.’ The subconscious plays a great part in allowing them to purge their souls. Certainly, in Keiran McKeown’s case he has revisited his demon called debt and presented the gallery visitor with a mischievous conundrum.
The Neoartists diverse styles reveal individualism and eccentricities through the exploration of their different mediums.
Janine Williamson has created a series of embossed pots, Nostalgia 1, 2 and 3, reminiscent of the ‘old 1970s wallpaper’ forming torn rolls. Although they are in shades of brown the floral patterns are visually pleasing and would make a fantastic decorative display in the home. She alludes to the memories of rediscovering a box of her grandmother’s ceramics and the dated wallpaper exposing older layers beneath, ‘like peeling back the layers of the past.’
Yuk Kay Chan shows 3 small canvases, Feed, Never Give Up and Love as Deep as the Ocean which only hints at her weird mindset. If you had taken a trip to the Corporation Gallery you would not only have been faced with her eerie and surreal paintings but amazed at the many little creepy bears which populate a majority of her pictures depicting the macabre and unsettling scenes. One in particular is her Winter Safari, a stark white landscape upon which a large giant woman lies horizontally in the snow like a Lilliputian figure watched over by a tiny menacing bear.
She states that her paintings are ‘creating narratives open to personal interpretation.’ Her themes are indeed thought provoking especially her ideas ‘relating to Innocence and its evolution through life, good and evil.
To the visitor her paintings will remain a mystery full of disturbing and haunting imagery.
Julie Sandiford’s My Summer of ’74 is a large green canvas of floating shapes which immediately remind you of the past masters Kandinsky and Miro.
Sarah Haworth likes to work in different mediums on this occasion she has chosen very graphic photography portraying the clothes and styles of the punk era in her Rebellion 1,2 & 3.
Another Time, Another Place by Howard Fisher is a huge black and bleak canvas which draws your attention to two bright murky windows covered with layers of dirt. The light is a compelling visual. He explains this was his old Rogue Studios in Manchester overlooking the knitting factories, ‘looking through decades of filth and grime’ and the vague shapes ‘were creating an atmosphere through a frame.’ Over time he has become preoccupied with reflections and light, ‘noticing something about a space and situation that other people would ignore or take for granted.’ There is a distinct feeling from our discussion that he needs to have the right light source and working environment in order to produce his canvases.
His early paintings have been purchased for Urban Splash properties, Cosby Home interiors and many other exciting venues.
The Neoartists exhibition is undoubtedly well worth a visit and demonstrates the local artists’ multiple talents, inspiration and creativity as well as their wild and whacky sense of surprise.
