- Venue
- Paradise Works
- Starts
- Friday, April 28, 2023
- Ends
- Saturday, May 27, 2023
- Address
- Paradise Works East Philip Street Salford Manchester M3 7LE
- Location
- North West England
- Organiser
- Paradise Works
Preview: 6-9pm, Fri 28 April 2023
Open: Saturdays 12-4pm from 29 April – 27 May 2023
Where: Second Floor Gallery
Paradise Works are pleased to present a solo exhibition by Chris Alton, curated by Will Marshall.
“When we try to pick out anything by itself, we find it hitched to everything else in the universe” John Muir, My First Summer in the Sierra, 1911
Whilst this exhibition’s overarching concern is the climate crisis, Chris’s works also address other phenomena to which the climate crisis is tied, including; Britain’s colonial history, neoliberal capitalism, tax avoidance, nuclear infrastructure, deluge myths, extreme weather, extinction, and migration, amongst others. Exploration of such connections and interdependencies are common throughout his practice; and this exhibition draws out these overlaps.
Many of these concerns stem from Chris’s Quaker upbringing, which brought him into contact with people working towards a more just world at an early age. Since the age of 13 he has contributed to anti-nuclear and anti-arms campaigns, and he began participating in climate protests at the age of 16. However, Chris is reluctant to describe his artworks as a form of activism. Whilst their content is often overtly political, he is wary of overstating their immediate efficacy; particularly when faced with a cause as urgent and all encompassing as the climate crisis.
He has come to think of art (making, exhibiting, and encountering) as a space where this transformative work can take place. Art provides space for curiosity, learning, and critical thinking. Chris hopes that such spaces* might precipitate slow changes by providing nourishment and offering ideas, which subtly shift our perception of and relationship to the living planet. We need spaces to articulate alternative futures and to sow seeds that will feed us in the world to come.
*These spaces are not exclusively artworks or galleries; art does not hold a nourishment-monopoly. Chris has found such nourishment in novels, documentaries, walks, growing tomatoes, and attending Quaker meeting.
Bio
Chris Alton is an artist & curator, based in Manchester, UK. His practice spans a range of media and approaches, including; socially engaged projects, site specific artworks, video essays, textile banners, and publications. In 2012 he founded English Disco Lovers (EDL), an anti-fascist, pro-disco group. Other projects include; Adam Speaks (With New Mouths) (2017), a neoclassical treehouse commissioned by the National Trust; What Mortals Henceforth Shall Our Power Adore (2020), a video essay that frames the trident as a symbol of colonial intent; and Grief Must be Love with Nowhere to Go (2021-present) an ongoing exploration of grief and language in collaboration with Emily Simpson. Each project addresses an array of interconnected social, political, economic and environmental concerns. He is also an active member of the Quaker community and a skateboarder.
Chris was a participant in Syllabus III, an alternative, peer-led, learning programme (2017-18). Exhibitions & commissions include; The slabs whistle; a song under my wheels, KARST & Take A Part (2022); Throughout the Fragment of Infinity That We Have Come to Know, The NewBridge Project, Gateshead (2020); Link & Shift, Eastside Projects, Birmingham (2019); Survey, BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art; Bluecoat, Liverpool; g39, Cardiff; & Jerwood Space, London (2018-19); Bloomberg New Contemporaries, South London Gallery; & Liverpool John Moores University, Liverpool Biennial (2018-19); Adam Speaks, The National Trust, Croome, Worcestershire (2017); and Outdancing Formations, Edith-Russ-Haus, Oldenburg (2015).
This event is supported by Paradise Works and Arts Council England
Access: only accessible by staircase.
