Manchester contemporary Art Fund fund aquires Return to Ritherdon work

The Manchester Contemporary Art Fund acquires work by Nicola Ellis
Posted on www.castlefieldgallery.co.uk on 23 October 2019

Nicola Ellis’ Dead powder series: Yellow, 2019 was selected by The Manchester Contemporary Art Fund from hundreds of exhibiting artists at the 2019 The Manchester Contemporary art fair for acquisition into the public collection of Manchester Art Gallery.

Donors to The Manchester Contemporary Art Fund include Christian Anderton, James & Katie Eden, Pablo Flack, Mark Garner, Mark Hawthorn, Thom Hetherington & Sophie Helm, Alison Loveday, Jeremy & Jane Roberts, Howard Ratcliffe, Andy Spinoza, Martyn Torevell, and David Waddington.

Nicola Ellis (b.1987, St Helens, UK) is currently undertaking an Arts Council England funded project Return to Ritherdon which is built around a two-year residency at Ritherdon & Co Ltd, a manufacturer of steel enclosures based in Darwen, Lancashire which the work Dead powder series: Yellow, 2019 has come out of.

Helen Wewiora, Director, Castlefield Gallery said “Nicola Ellis is also currently showing work at Castlefield Gallery as part of No Particular Place to Go? 35 years of sculpture at Castlefield Gallery and is a member of Castlefield Gallery Associates, our development scheme for artists, writers and independent curators working in contemporary art, and comes ahead of our Castlefield Gallery solo presentation of Nicola Ellis work in the summer of 2020. Her solo exhibition at the gallery will be the culmination of her project Return to Ritherdon.

“At Castlefield Gallery we take a sharp focus on artist development – supporting artists to progress their practice and careers. The timeliness of our engagement with a particular artist or group is key, the gallery often working with artists over extended periods. Nicola Ellis is one such artist and we have been overjoyed to see the evolution of her work in the last decade.

“Nicola Ellis’ practice is ambitious, thoughtful, and demonstrates a great skill in her command of materials. Whilst living and working in the region, Ellis’ work can hold its own in an international context as was evident from the brilliance of her site-specific commission, Pole Jam (2018), Castlefiled Gallery supported her to develop for DOX Centre, Prague last year.

“It is therefore not surprising that this year the curators of Manchester Art Gallery, supported by The Manchester Contemporary Art Fund, have selected Ellis’ work to enter collection at Manchester Art Gallery.

“It is vital to see women artists’ work entering our UK collections, with their under-representation in public collections needing a re-balance. Moreover, it is important for our regional and national collections to be representative of art being made now in the UK, and in particular the regions. Castlefield Gallery is committed to supporting contemporary art, especially that being made by women artists in the regions, to enter our public collections, as demonstrated by our commissioning to collect partnerships.

“We are especially pleased by the Manchester Art Gallery Curator’s selection this coming just ahead of our Castlefield Gallery solo presentation of Nicola Ellis work in the summer of 2020. Her solo exhibition at the gallery will be the culmination of her project ‘Return to Ritherdon’ built around a two-year residency at Ritherdon & Co Ltd, a manufacturer of metal enclosures based in Darwen, Lancashire UK.”

Nicola Ellis

Nicola Ellis is a British visual artist based in Manchester, who explores the question of who values what—and why—in different contexts. Her work examines how information, tradition, and legacy are passed on and translated through materials, systems, and the people who work within them. Ellis works with materials sourced from places of industry, scientific research, and public institutions; therefore, her sculptures, drawings, and digital artworks often intercept and expand existing material cycles. Her work simultaneously celebrates the connections and distinctions between different contexts at specific points in time. Since 2018, Ellis has developed a long-term relationship with Ritherdon & Co. Ltd, a manufacturer of steel enclosures based in Darwen, Lancashire. The success of this residency led to the two-year Arts Council England-funded placement “Return to Ritherdon,” which resulted in an unprecedented invitation to remain in residence indefinitely. Ellis will continue to observe, participate in, and occasionally disrupt the ecosystem of the factory while working alongside—and in collaboration with—the Ritherdon workforce. Ellis is a member of Para-lab Manchester, a group of artists and material scientists interested in cooperation and collaboration, based in Greater Manchester and Yorkshire. She is also a member of Incidental Unit, the current iteration of the Artist Placement Group. The Incidental Unit draws out key ideas, methods, processes, and rationales for maintaining the independent and critical work of artists and curators, connecting the historical legacy of APG with the complex nature of social practice today. Incidental Unit In recent years, Ellis’s work has been acquired by private and national public collections, including the Government Art Collection and the Arts Council Collection. She is the recipient of a Henry Moore Foundation Artist Award, a Henry Moore Artist Research Fellowship, and several Arts Council England grants to support the development of her work. Most recently, Ellis was awarded Horizon Europe funding by Better Factory to participate in an eighteen-month “Knowledge Transfer Experiment” in collaboration with Ritherdon & Co. Ltd and technology provider Digiotouch. This project developed new technology and infrastructure to support the integration of robotics into a small factory floor, reduce waste, and expand the Ritherdon product portfolio to achieve lot-size-one production of bespoke powder coating finishes.

Archives