Richard Rigg wins 'Visual Artist of the Year' at Journal Culture Awards, 2013

Richard Rigg, 'A Clearing' 2012, Corrugated Iron, Lead, Featherboard, Oak Beams, Siberian Pine, Plywood, Timber, Fibreglass, Glue, String, Nails, Screws, Iron Hinges, Latch, Paint, Carbide Lamp, Bulb, Cable, Wire, Plastic tubing, Newspaper, Castors, Peat, Twigs, Feather, Various Soils, Granite, Gneiss, Sandstone, Basal Quartzite, Limestone, Slate, Rainwater, Festuca Ovina, Gnaphalium supine, Deschampsia flexuosa, Carex capillaries, Carex curvata, Calluna vulgaris, Muhlenbergia rigens, Tortula Muralis, Dicranoweisia crispula, Sphagnum mosses, Tortella bambergeri, Cobwebs, Dust. 340 x 510 x 390 cm, Installation View: BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art, Photo: Colin Davison, Courtesy of the Artist and Workplace Gallery, UK Richard Rigg 'Visual Artist of the Year' Journal Culture Awards Workplace Gallery is delighted to congratulate Richard Rigg on being awarded 'Visual Artist of the Year' 2012 at the Journal Culture Awards hosted at Durham Cathedral last night. In 2012 Rigg's solo exhibitions included 'The Inhabitant of the Watchtower' at High Desert Test Sites, Joshua Tree, USA commissioned by Circa Projects; and 'LACUNA' at BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art for which he produced his most ambitious work to date 'A Clearing':         The ambiguous title of the work could refer to that moment where you finally find yourself out of the trees in an open space of a forest, an instance of apparent clarity or, conversely, it could signify something being erased. In the exhibition space visitors find a mountain cabin. Invited inside, they discover its interior to be a mountain landscape alive with plants. The project began with Rigg's observation of fog over a mountain and his meditation on how the mountain could at once be both absent and present. 'A Clearing' also uncovers our complex potential connections and disconnections with landscape. Un-tethered from time and place, the cabin is a design hybrid taken from many sources from various periods. The landscape found within it is unremarkable and has no discerning features. Its rocks and stones are mainly taken from Torridon, a series of mountains in the Scottish Highlands, and are largely from the little-known Precambian period that predates human life. Repositioned within the manmade structure of the hut, these natural objects reflect how our understanding of the past is framed and constructed. The contained mountain also provokes our capacity to imagine a space beyond our known landscape. Richard Rigg was born in Cumbria in 1980. He holds a BA in Fine Art from Newcastle University and was nominated for the Northern Art Prize in 2011. Recent exhibitions include: 'Glamourie', PSL, Leeds, UK; 'Quiet Works', Temple Contemporary, Philadelphia, USA; 'Broken Fall (organic)', Galleria Enrico Astuni, Bologna, Italy; 'The Glass Delusion', The National Glass Centre, Sunderland, UK; Richard Rigg 'Holography', Workplace Gallery, Gateshead, UK. He completed a residency at Eilean Shona, Scotland in 2012.

Eric Bainbridge: "Drawing Biennial 2013" Drawing Room, London, UK

Image: Eric Bainbridge Sculpture Drawing (3) 2013, Permanent ink on paper, 29.7 x 21 cm, Courtesy of the artist and Workplace Gallery, UK   Drawing Biennial 2013 Drawing Room Tannery Arts, 12 Rich Estate, Crimscott Street, London SE1 5TE http://drawingroom.org.uk   18 April - 15 May Tues to Fri 11am - 6pm and Sat 12 - 6pm    Auction Finale on Wed 15 May 6 -9pm Now firmly established in the art world calendar Drawing Biennial 2013 presents the latest developments in contemporary drawing and demonstrates the crucial role that drawing plays in contemporary art practices. Curated by Drawing Room directors, over 200 artists are invited to make an original drawing in any medium on an A4 sheet of paper. The Biennial presents an insight into contemporary artists approach and relationship to drawing, often exposing the first intimations of a new body of work, providing insights into previously hidden working processes or revealing atypical modes of work. The artists also kindly donate their drawings to raise crucial funds for Drawing Room's programme, with the works available on our online auction throughout the 4 weeks of the exhibition. Since 2003, Drawing Room has been gifted over 1,300 drawings by established and emerging national and international artists. Participating artists include those who may not be known for their drawing and often their donated drawing initiates a new body of work: From a starting price of £250, the format of the silent auction means anyone can bid (either on line, on the phone or in person) for an original work of art, whether it is their a first ever purchase, or an acquisitions for a major collection. Drawing Biennial 2013 Artists:  Roger Ackling (UK), Jonathan Allen (UK), Guy Allot (UK), Wendy Anderson (UK), Axel Antas (FI), Leonor Antunes (PT), Athanasios Argianas (GR), Salvatore Arancio (IT), Michael Armitage (UK), Sue Arrowsmith (UK), Jesse Ash (UK) Edwina Ashton (UK), Kate Atkin (UK), Ed Atkins (UK), Jesse Ash (UK), Annie Attridge (UK), Tonico Lemos Auad (BR), David Austen (UK), Sam Austen (UK), Silvia Bächli (CH), Eric Bainbridge (UK), Bobby Baker (UK), Fiona Banner (UK), Brígida Baltar (BR), Sara Barker (UK), Anna Barham (UK), Anna Barriball (UK), David Batchelor (UK), Becky Beasley (UK), Basil Beattie (UK), Andrew Bick (UK), Juliette Blightman (UK), Catrine Bodum (DK/CH), Andrea Bowers (USA), Sarah Bridgland (UK), James Brooks (UK), Adam Broomberg and Oliver Chanarin (UK),  Pavel Büchler (UK), Jane Bustin (UK),  Simon Callery (UK), Bonnie Camplin (UK), Brian Chalkley (UK), Paul Chiappe (UK), David Chipperfield (UK), Adam Chodzko f(UK), Toby Christian (UK), Jocelyn Clarke (UK), Ruth Claxton (UK), William Cobbing (UK), Marcus Cope (UK), Anne-Marie Copestake (UK), Marion Coutts (UK), Kit Craig (UK), Cullinan Richards (UK), Layla Curtis (UK), Angela de la Cruz (UK), Tony Cruz (PR), Dexter Dalwood (UK), Kate Davis (NZ/UK), Kate Davis (UK), Richard Deacon (UK), Ben Deakin (UK), Jane Dixon (UK), AK Dolven (NO), Marcel van Eeden (NL), Aleana Egan (IRL), Laura Eldret (UK), Nogah Engler (IRL), Haris Epaminonda(CY), Mark Fairnington (UK), Simon Faithfull (UK), Geoffrey Farmer (CA), Leo Fitzmaurice (UK), Jess Flood- Paddock (UK), Luca Frei (CH), Alex Frost (UK), Franziska Furter (CH), Francesca Gabbiani-Ruscha (USA),  Vidya Gastaldon (CH), Pippa Gatty (UK), Joy Gerrard (IRL), Margarita Gluzberg (UK), Pamela Golden (US), Dryden Goodwin (UK), Rachel Goodyear (UK), Nick Goss (UK), Lothar Götz (DE), Richard Grayson (UK), Antony Gormley (UK), Oona Grimes (UK), Monika Grzymala (DE), S Mark Gubb (UK), Michael Gumhold (AT), David Haines (UK), Mathew Hale (UK), Anthea Hamilton (UK), Alex Hartley (UK), Andy Harper (UK), Nicholas Hatfull (UK), Mona Hatoum (UK), Friedemann Heckel (DE), Arturo Herrera (VE), Louise Hopkins (UK), Rachel Howard (UK), Nick Hornby and Sinta Trantra (UK), Knut Henrik Henriksen (D), Fergus Henderson (UK), Susan Hiller (UK), Nicky Hirst (UK), Will Holder (UK), Louise Hopkins (UK), Donna Huddleston (AUS), Kevin Hutcheson (UK), Per Hüttner (SE), Melanie Jackson (UK), Elin Jakobsdóttir (IS), Benjamin Jenner (UK), Peter Jones (UK), Sarah Jones (UK),  Kerstin Kartscher (DE), Tina Keane (UK), Conor Kelly (UK), Ian Kiaer (UK), John Kindness (UK), Tania Kovats (UK), Michael Landy (UK), Peter Liversidge (UK), Gareth Long (CA), Mateo Lopez (CO), Sarah Macdonald (UK), Sara Mackillop (UK), Antoni Malinowski (UK), Melanie Manchot (DE), Paul McDevitt (UK), Bea McMahon (UK), Jeff McMillan (UK), Emma McNally (UK), Sam Messenger (UK), Haroon Mirza (UK), Susan Morris (UK), Niamh O'Malley (IRL), David Musgrave (UK), Henna Nadeem (UK), Timo Nasseri (DE), Elizabeth Neel (USA), Mariele Neudecker (DE), Ben Newton (UK), Paul Noble (UK), Rupert Norfolk (UK), Humphrey Ocean (UK), Brian O'Doherty (USA), Niamh O'Malley (IRL), David Osbaldeston (UK), Sally Osborn (UK), Nicolas Paris (CO), Cornelia Parker (UK), Seb Patane (UK), João Penalva (PT), Peter Peri (UK), Garrett Phelan (IRL), Ciara Phillips (UK), Ana Prada (SP), Elizabeth Price (UK), Ruth Proctor (UK), Ishmael Randall-Weeks (PE), Paula Rego (PT), Tobias Rehberger (DE), Anahita Rezvani-Rad (IR), Damien Roach (UK), Oliver Robb (UK), Danny Rolph (UK), Alessandro Roma (IT), Karin Ruggaber (DE), Alessandro Roma (IT), Karin Ruggaber (DE), Eva Rothschild (IRL), Karen Russo (ISR), Juliao Sarmento (PT), Matt Saunders (UK), Boo Saville (UK), Samara Scott (UK), Seher Shah (USA), Tai Shani (UK), George Shaw (UK), Raqib Shaw (IN), Dan Shaw-Town (USA), Bob & Roberta Smith (UK), Terry Smith (UK), Renee So (UK), Emily Speed (UK), Georgina Starr (UK), Sarah Staton (UK), Emma Stibbon (DE), Jo Stockham (UK), John Strutton (UK), Michelle Stuart (UK), Emma Stibbon (UK), Neal Tait (UK), Emma Talbot (UK), Chooc Ly Tan (FR), Jennet Thomas (UK), John Timberlake (UK), Mark Titchner (UK), Suzanne Triester (UK), Francis Upritchard (NZ), Michael Van den Abeele (BXL), Marcel van Eeden (CH&NL), Markus Vater (DE),  Julie Verhoeven (UK), Jessica Voorsanger (US), Roy Voss (UK), Mark Wallinger (UK), Roxy Walsh (UK), Franz Erhard Walter (DE), David Ward (UK), Ian Whitfield (UK), Claudia Wieser (DE), Emma Wilde (UK), Alison Wilding (UK), Keith Wilson (UK), Bettina Wind and Alexandra Ferreira (UK), Jesse Wine (UK), Uwe Wittwer (CH), Bill Woodrow (UK), Rose Wylie (UK).lic funding, by Arts Council England; ACE Grant for the Arts and Lancashire County Council's Museums Service.

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Miles Thurlow: 'Variable Foot' Kunstraum, London

Miles Thurlow 'hrh' 2010, Epoxy Resin, Courtesy of the Artist and Workplace Gallery Miles Thurlow: Variable Foot Kunstraum 15a Cremer Street London E2 8HD 44 (0) 7949 919 835 kunstraum.org.uk   Opens Friday 19 April, 6 till 9pm Exhibition continues until 25 May Kunstraum is open Thursday to Saturday 12:00 - 18:00   In 'Variable Foot', Miles Thurlow presents three sculptural works in epoxy resin, including the major new work 'All The Gods' (2013) made especially for Kunstraum. The exhibition borrows its title from the American poet William Carlos Williams (1883-1963) whose seemingly contradictory idea of the 'variable foot' described a sense of measure in poetry which has no fixed reference points. The apparent contradictions, tensions and polarised positions within cultural production make up the landscape within which Thurlow's sculptures take their irreverent stances. 'All The Gods' is an epoxy resin casting of a provisional assemblage made from two monolithic blocks of polystyrene. Down the sides of this edifice come a few trails and blobs of expanding foam, painstakingly reproduced within the resin. The work makes a playful reference both to Richard Serra's monumental steel forms and to renaissance statuary - the blocks sitting off- parallel obliquely evoke the classical device of 'contraposto'. By touching on either end of a historic narrative of sculpture, Thurlow positions his own practice in a critical relationship with the past, while acknowledging his continuity with it. Thurlow's works inhabit and problematise the ways in which cultural values are signified. 'All The Gods' approaches two poles of this signification: At the one end is the permanence and inherent value of materials or labour; at the other the transience of materials, in which objects are simply stand-ins for momentary thought. The work's underlying form - two polystyrene blocks and expanding foam - points to one end of this spectrum, it is a coincidence of materials which is necessarily light and momentary. But by rendering this moment in resin, Thurlow spins the work towards a very different register, towards material value associated with the foundry, and the labour value of intricate craftsmanship. But in each aspect there is a twist: the resin cast has associations of mass production of action figures, rather than the grandeur of bronze; and hours of labour go to produce an indistinguishable replica of something that was produced from inexpensive materials in a moment. Like 'All The Gods', 'hrh' (2010) and 'Small Abyss' (2011) solidify in resin the momentary coming together of materials. 'hrh' is a cast from a plaster bust of an ancient Greek thinker, built up with gouged hand-fulls of clay. The title, which could refer to 'his/her royal highness' or else to an exclamation of dumfounded confusion, is suggestive of a schoolboy prank on the figure of establishment. In the same way Thurlow's use of ubiquitous synthesised materials such as polyurethane and epoxy resin acts to neutralise the grandiose associations of the materials from which this sculptural moment was produced. Just as William Carlos Williams' poetry eschewed the high-minded classical traditions in favour of the local and colloquial, 'Small Abyss' refigures an everyday studio object into a site of profound knowledge, and plays with the romantic notion of the artist entering the unknown in a search for truth. The work is a resin cast - with meticulous trompe l'oeil detailing - of Thurlow's clay bucket at the end of a day's work, the interior landscape of which was sculpted blindly not as an investigative process, but as a means to an end. Throughout, the works in 'Variable Foot' conspire to conflate the poles of 'high' and 'low' culture and to push together the ordinary and the esoteric. about Miles thurlow: Miles Thurlow was born in Colchester, Essex in 1975 and studied Sculpture at Loughborough College of Art & Design (1995-1997) and at Newcastle University (1998 - 2000). He has exhibited his work widely including Glasgow International, Baltic, Gateshead; Royal Standard, Liverpool; Malgras Naudet, Manchester; Edinburgh Art Festival. Miles is Co - Founder and Director of Workplace Gallery in Gateshead. He lives and works in Newcastle upon Tyne and Gateshead. about kunstraum: Kunstraum is a London-based project space with a focus on solo exhibitions of artists based in London's neighbouring cities in Europe and the UK. Kunstraum, literally meaning 'art room' in German, seeks to form new relationships with the interconnected art scenes of Europe and the rest of the country.

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Catherine Bertola : "Flicker" Gawthorpe Hall, Padiham, UK

Image: Catherine Bertola Flicker (Scene 3: An Edwardian Lady, 1910),  2013, Digital Film (Still), Duration 4.42 Minutes,  Photo: Simon Warner, Courtesy of the artist and Workplace Gallery, UK   Catherine Bertola Flicker Gawthorpe Hall Burnley Road Padiham, Lancashire BB12 8UA, UK http://www.midpenninearts.org.uk/gawthorpe-hall Twitter: #GawthorpeHall #CHFlicker   23rd March - 3rd November 2013 Wednesday to Sunday (and Bank Holidays) 12 noon - 5pm Flicker is a new installation by renowned British artist Catherine Bertola at historic Gawthorpe Hall in Padiham, Lancashire. Flicker was commissioned by Mid Pennine Arts and Lancashire County Council's Museum Service as part of Contemporary Heritage. Flicker was inspired by the artist's first visit to the Hall, when she discovered a family photograph album from the early 20th Century. Catherine was struck by the difference between the rooms as they currently appear and the photographic images. From this the idea developed to try and recreate a sense of how the spaces in the Hall may have looked at different moments in time. "I am fascinated by how photography captures and preserves fleeting moments of time, allowing us a glimpse into the past from the present. The images in the albums provided a different view of the rooms I had walked through, illustrating how they were once inhabited, filled with the clutter of everyday life as opposed to the stripped back and orderly manner in which the rooms are now presented. I am interested in how the space can be seen from different perspectives, through the eyes of different people who have occupied the space over the course of its history." Camera obscura devices are located in the Great Hall (or Dining Room), the Drawing Room and the Long Gallery.  Each lens captures an image of the interior space in which it stands.  Into these static images, scenes from the past flicker into view, allowing glimpses of events and people who have occupied the building over the course of its existence - from meetings during the Civil War period, to Victorian dinner parties and children playing in the 1950s. Alongside each camera obscura is a pamphlet, written by Catherine Bertola, with contributions from Pennine Ink Writers' Workshop, which offers you another glimpse of the past in the present. You can download versions of them here:  Great Hall (or Dining Room); Drawing Room and Long Gallery. Catherine's practice involves creating installations, objects and drawings that respond to specific sites, collections and historic contexts. Underpinning the work she makes is a desire to look beyond the surface of objects and buildings, to uncover forgotten and invisible histories of places and people as a way of reframing and reconsidering the past. The pieces she has created were made with the involvement of the local community, some of whom live in the vicinity of the Hall. The work acknowledges the Shuttleworth family who called Gawthorpe home for over 300 years, as well as the extensive textile and costume collections housed onsite. Catherine Bertola was born in Rugby in 1976; she studied Fine Art at Newcastle University, and currently lives and works in Gateshead, UK. She has worked on a number of commissions and exhibitions, nationally and internationally with institutions such as; Museum of Arts and Design (New York, USA), Kunsthalle zu Kiel (Kiel, Germany), Whitworth Art Gallery (Manchester, UK), Oriel Davies (Newtown, UK), National Museum Wales (Cardiff, UK), V&A (London, UK), Artium (Vitoria Gastiez, Spain), Cornerhouse (Manchester, UK), The Government Art Collection (UK), Millennium Gallery (Sheffield, UK), The National Trust and Vital Arts (London, UK). She has work in several public and private collections and is represented by Workplace Gallery, Gateshead and M R Fricke, Berlin. Supported, using public funding, by Arts Council England; ACE Grant for the Arts and Lancashire County Council's Museums Service.

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Mike Pratt and Miles Thurlow: "Title" NewBridge Space, Newcastle, UK

Top: Mike Pratt 'Some Hole' 2012, Enamel and Sericol on Canvas, 230 x 160cm, Courtesy the artist and Workplace Gallery. Bottom: Miles Thurlow 'All things are equal, constant and turning (Mystic Ring)' 2012, Epoxy Resin, 120 x 60 x 60cm, Courtesy the artist and Workplace Gallery Title Rachel Adams Luca Bertolo Samantha Donnelly Graeme Durant Andrew Maughan Mike Pratt Miles Thurlow   TITLE explores a re-emergence of non-objectivity among a new generation of artists who share an interest in constructing images and objects through the build-up of materials and surfaces. The works develop from and engage in their own materiality as stuff is manipulated in to things. Rather than a concept or an idea it's often the materials that act as a starting point and through kinaesthetic processes, trial and error and experimentation, are assembled into new forms/objects/things. The human qualities (mistakes, slippages, imperfections and unexpected results) become integral both to the form of the work and the viewer's reading of it.   Preview: 6 - 9pm Thursday 11th April 2013 Open Monday 15th April, 10am - 5pm & by appointment   Newbridge Space 18 Newbridge Street Newcastle, UK http://thenewbridgeproject.com

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Workplace Gallery at Dallas Art Fair 2013

Image: Jennifer Douglas 19/21, 2013, Powder Coated Steel, Silicone, 88 x 70 x 265 cm (35 5/8 x 27 1/2 x 104 3/8 in) Courtesy of the artist and Workplace Gallery, UK   Eric Bainbridge Cath Campbell Hugo Canoilas Joe Clark Jacob Dahlgren Jennifer Douglas Laura Lancaster Cecilia Stenbom   Dallas Art Fair 2013 April 12 - 14 (preview Gala April 11th)   FIG (Fashion Industry Gallery) 1807 Ross Avenue Dallas, TX 75201 http://www.dallasartfair.com   for a full list of available works please email: info@workplacegallery.co.uk

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Joe Clark: 'Uncle Vern's Dog' Gallery North, Newcastle, UK

Image: Joe Clark Asset Management #3, 2012, Matt C-type print 172.7 x 119.4 cm (JCL0079) Courtesy of the artist and Workplace Gallery Uncle Vern's Dog Gallery North Squires Building, Sandyford Road Northumbria University Newcastle, NE1 8ST 05 April 2013 - 03 May 2013 Mon - Fri 10:00 -16:00 Preview 05/04/13  18:00 - 20:00 Review  03/05/13  17:00 - 20:00 Francesca Anfossi Rebecca Birch Katerina Botsari Sarah Bowker-Jones Joe Clark Gordon Dalton Bill Dane Luke Drozd Lee Friedlander Luke Gottelier Rachael Macarthur Norbert Prangenberg Jo Ray Mike Ryder William Stein Laura Taylor Sarah Kate Wilson 'Uncle Vern's Dog' is an exhibition about happy accidents, about looseness and risk-taking, about thinking but not over-thinking. It is about paying attention when unexpected things come your way. It is about looking closely and listening to your intuition. The artists included in the exhibition know exactly how to do their work, even if they sometimes don't know what it is they are working on until it's done. The photographer Lee Friedlander once observed how unpredictable the process of taking pictures could be: The net is indiscriminate unless you point it and then are lucky. I might get what I hoped for and then some - lots of then some - more than I might have remembered was there. I only wanted Uncle Vern standing by his new car (a Hudson) on a clear day. I got him and the car. I also got a bit of Aunt Mary's laundry and Beau Jack, the dog, peeing on the fence, and a row of potted tuberous begonias on the porch and seventy-eight trees and a million pebbles in the driveway and more. It's a generous medium, photography. 'Uncle Vern's Dog' is curated by the artists Sarah Bowker-Jones and Mike Ryder. The exhibition arises from the curators' recognition of a shared ethos amongst diverse artists; whether they make paintings, videos, sculptures, installations, collages, digital images or photographs, these artists all recognise the joy that Friedlander registers at the inadvertent munificence of his chosen medium. In their own ways, they have designed their nets to be similarly indiscriminate, in the hope of catching something as miraculous as Uncle Vern's peeing dog. UncleVernsDog.blogspot.co.uk @UncleVernsDog Courtesy of the artist and Workplace Gallery