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A Q&A with… Simeon Barclay, artist exploring the construction of identity
Leeds-based artist Simeon Barclay brings to bear in his work a 16-year career in manufacturing and an interest in how identity is shaped. Amelia Crouch discusses a practice that encompasses sculpture, film and installation.
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“A blank canvas for artists to experiment and create new work”: Sheffield’s Site Gallery reopens after £1.7m development
After an 18-month closure for redevelopment including a major extension, the Sheffield gallery has trebled its public areas and created a new 262m² gallery. Amelia Crouch reports as it reopens with the group exhibition ‘Liquid Crystal Display’.
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Scene Report: Bradford – resourceful, energetic, looking to the future
For the latest in our series providing a snapshot of visual arts scenes across the UK, Amelia Crouch reports from Bradford.
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CVAN conversation: We need to talk about the value of ALL artists
CVAN’s recent The Value of Artists event at Leeds Art Gallery was billed as a ‘national conversation’. Leeds-based artist Amelia Crouch went along and found plenty to talk about but room for more discussion.
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British Art Show 8 review: common threads, bleak narratives, alternative meanings
The British Art Show happens every five years, bringing together a selection of work by UK-based artists who in the view of the exhibition’s curators have made a ‘significant contribution’ to the country’s art scene in that time. Now on its eighth edition and this year featuring 42 artists, it begins its four-city tour at Leeds City Art Gallery. Amelia Crouch reports from Yorkshire.
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British Art Show 8: how Leeds’ independent and artist-led scene is responding
British Art Show 8 opens in Leeds on Friday 9 October and the city – currently bidding to be European Capital of Culture 2023 – is responding with a raft of additional activity. Leeds-based writers and artists Amelia Crouch and Lara Eggleton report on what the city’s homegrown and artist-led organisations are up to as Leeds City Council throws its support behind a showcase of the city’s buoyant visual arts scene.
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Artist-led philanthropy: more work for artists or an opportunity to demand fair pay?
A recent event in Leeds organised by Arts Fundraising and Philanthropy asked whether artists were the key to making a step change in arts and culture giving. Amelia Crouch went along and found that the issue of low pay for artists was all-but ignored – but that the idea of artists as fundraisers may not be all bad.
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York Art Gallery: “a rich and unique collection”
After an £8million redevelopment project designed to open up new dialogues between its collections of decorative and fine art, York Art Gallery is preparing to reopen. Amelia Crouch speaks to the curator of the gallery’s core collection of ceramic art Helen Walsh, and to fine art curator Laura Turner, about how this dialogue is continuing with a series of new commissions by contemporary artists.
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‘Public’ art on campus: strategy and reality in UK universities
The Curating the Campus symposium, held to mark the launch of the University of Leeds’ Public Art Strategy, brought together speakers from across the UK to discuss commissioning and presenting public art on campus. Amelia Crouch reports.