Twenty-four graduate artists have been selected for New Art West Midlands 2014 (NAWM), a three-month exhibition, curated by Lisa Beauchamp and Rachel Bradley, beginning February next year.
Now in its second year, NAWM is supported by Turning Point West Midlands (TPWM) – a network set up in 2010, in partnership with Birmingham City University and Arts Council England, to strengthen visual arts in the West Midlands.
With an impetus to recognise good work and the place in which it is produced, the initiative provides an open call for BA, MA and PHD graduates from visual arts courses in the region. The 2014 selection panel was David Harding OBE, artist and founder of Sculpture and Environmental Art, Glasgow School of Art; Paul Goodwin, curator, lecturer and urban theorist; and Mel Brimfield, artist.
Says Wendy Law, Director of TPWM: “The selectors are people who work nationally and internationally, bringing a vast contextual knowledge of contemporary visual arts to the NAWM process.” The selection process is open to graduates from Staffordshire University, Birmingham City University, Coventry University, University of Wolverhampton and University of Worcester.
Network of partners
“The exhibition is part of a suite of projects led by TPWM to raise the profile of artists,” explains Law. “Essential to its success are the network of universities from which the artists have been selected and the partner galleries who host the work: Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery, The Barber Institute, Grand Union, and Wolverhampton Art Gallery.”
As well as celebrating the region’s creative talent, the exhibition acts as a platform for graduate artists at a crucial stage in their career. “Our lead partner, Birmingham Art Gallery, has been instrumental, enabling each graduate to work with curators for the first time,” says Law.
“The exhibition catalogue places graduates’ work alongside critical essays by the selectors and curators. We want the catalogue to be useful to artists in following up project, residency, commission and/or gallery opportunities in the future.”
The 2014 selection includes 2012/13 Degrees unedited users Ali Reed (who was featured in a-n’s 2013 Degree Shows Guide), Sikander Pervez, and Barbara Witkowska.
Also on a-n.co.uk:
For more information on graduate artists gaining opportunities and accessing the professional realm, see a-n’s Signpost guide.
Read career profiles of practitioners who have made their own stamp on visual arts in their region, at www.a-n.co.uk/students
