When We Were Here

Matt Stokes: 'Pills to Purge Melancholy'

29 JULY – 16 SEPTEMBER

PILLS TO PURGE MELANCHOLY.
MATT STOKES.

Pills to Purge Melancholy sounds like a dubious chemical answer to Victorian depression, but is in fact a fusion of the sacred and the profane in the form of the first solo exhibition by Matt Stokes, winner of this years Beck’s Futures. Stokes’ projects combine anthropological enquiry with a love of underground music genres and communities, encompassing the likes of Northern Soul, pipe organ recitals, and other diverse subcultures.

FREE GUIDED TOURS Saturday 12th, 19th and 26th August, 2pm Collective Gallery
These free informal tours will be lead by gallery staff and act as an accessible and informative introduction to the work. Duration approximately 30 minutes.

SACRED SELECTIONS Thursday 24 August, 7.30pm (approximate duration 90 mins) St Giles’ Cathedral, Royal Mile, Edinburgh, EH1 1RE
An off-site performance in St Giles’ Cathedral of ‘Sacred Selections’, a
pipe organ recital featuring experimental transcriptions of underground
music; Northern Soul, Happy Hardcore and Black Metal. The performance in Edinburgh will offer the unique opportunity to hear the complete repertoire of music in the series for the first time. No need to book - Admission Free

PREMIERE Thursday 24 August, 9 - 10.30 pm Collective Gallery
Premiere screening of artist Matt Stokes' newly commissioned film.
Refreshments are available.

ARTISTS TALK Friday 25 August, 2pm Collective Gallery
Beck’s Futures winner Matt Stokes will be in conversation with the
Collective’s Director Sarah Munro discussing the work on show. No need to book - Admission Free
BOOK LAUNCH February 2007
The launch of Matt Stokes’ first monograph especially commissioned for the Collective in collaboration with Art Editions North.

Jo Coupe: 'Give and Take' at Firstsite, Colchester.

19 August - 7 October
Jo Coupe
Give and Take

The stunning scientific artwork of Jo Coupe comes to firstsite later this year.

Having already proved herself capable of creating the very best in art science Jo will bring her installation Give and Take to the leading contemporary art gallery.

Coupe is a master of Heath Robinson fascination. Her works are little miracles of interest that provoke childish enthusiasm and genuine enthralment.

Recent works have included Enough Rope: a work in which a pile of fruit is left to rot on a table.
The fruit is connected to an electric circuit. Coupe makes use of the little known phenomenon of acidic fruit creating an electric current. The fruit create a charge, this in turn powers motors strapped to the table legs. Each motor has a blade that cuts into the table leg.
As the fruit decays it powers the destruction of its support which ultimately crumbles and breaks beneath it.

The work appeared on the front cover of AN magazine when it was exhibited at Baltic last year as part of the group show You Shall Know Our Velocity.

The work at firstsite is entitled Give and Take and follows Coupe’s interest in all things scientific, fascinating and beautiful.
This new presentation of Give and Take sees roses placed in several tanks of metallic – copper - solution. A current passing through the tank means the flowers are slowly electroplated.
This principle – electroplating – is common in the creation of everything from cutlery to coinage. In Give and Take copper pipes are placed in the solution with a positive charge – the roses are placed in with a negative charge. The copper solution begins to settle on the roses which are slowly, and beautifully entombed in a growing accumulation of copper.

Coupe, 31, graduated from the University of Newcastle and obtained her MA last year from Goldsmiths College London. Earlier this year she had a solo exhibition at the Station Gallery Bristol. She has joined group exhibitions throughout the UK.

Darren Banks, Catherine Bertola, Cath Campbell, Peter J Evans and Richard Forster in "The Opposite of Vertigo"

Above: "Big Blob" (Detail) 2006, Darren Banks, Ink on Paper.

The Burren Annual is an annual exhibition of international significance that enables experimentation and innovation in the curation and site-specific exhibition of new work in visual art. This exhibition is made possible by the generous sponsorship of the Bank of Ireland.

In 2006 the Burren Annual has been curated by Locus+, a UK based organisation of international significance that has been described as "one of the foremost agencies for the promotion of public art" by Greg Hilty, Chief Executive of the London Arts Board.

Jon Bewley, of Locus+ said "There is a group of emerging artists in the North East of England who are developing a genuine profile and impact on the art world. This group of young artists who have either decided to stay after college or moved there have become visible in group shows, competitions and public art commissions at home and abroad. In addition these artists have been successfully represented at art fairs in New York,Chicago and Zoo (London).

A sample of this group are Cath Campbell, Richard Forster, Darren Banks, Kevin Mason, Layla Curtis, Catherine Bertola, Graham Dolphin, Peter Evans and Karl Nattress. This exhibition presents a body of work that is mainly abstract drawing and painting. The main principle behind the selection of these works is that they exercise an obsessive quality either through the process of their making or through their aesthetic. In many cases it's both."

The exhibition, which has the sub title 'The Opposite of Vertigo' consists of new work by nine artists from North East England. They are:

Darren Banks; Catherine Bertola; Cath Campbell; Layla Curtis; Graham Dolphin; Peter Evans; Richard Forster; Kevin Mason; Karl Nattress

The exhibition will take place in The Gallery at Burren College of Art, 12th August -22nd September 2006 and will be open 9.30am - 5.30pm Mondays - Fridays. There is no admission charge and all are welcome.

This exhibition has been jointly funded by the Bank of Ireland and Locus+, which is financially supported by the Arts Council England

Peter J Evans in 'Units Moved' at the Architecture Foundation, London, UK

Above: 'Supernova Moment' 2006, Peter J Evans, Beech Parquet.
(Photo: Wig Worland)

UNITS MOVED

28 July - 12 August

Units Moved is a group exhibition curated by Rich Holland, Iain Borden and Wig Worland. Artists include:

Kathy Barber
Nic Clear
Peter J Evans
Richard Gilligan
Sam Griffin
Alex Hartley
Richard Holland (The Side Effects of Urethane)
Toby Paterson
Sem Rubio
Toby Shuall (The Side Effects of Urethane)
Wig Worland

Units Moved explores re-appropriations of urban space in the work of eleven different artists. Some pieces relate to specific places, such as Toby Paterson’s interpretations of modernist tower blocks and Sam Griffin’s reconstruction of Nazi plans for Jersey, while others explore how we design, draw, write and remember, including new video work by Alex Hartley, and a site-specific installation by Kathy Barber.

The art collective, The Side Effects of Urethane, will be exhibiting two ‘Moving Unit’ sculptures for skateboarders, one new and one used. There will also be new skatable sculptures being installed at the The South Bank Centre, in the Undercroft area. These are being made from solid stone and will be usable / viewable by all as part of this show.