Matt Stokes: "Sacred Selections" Performance, Martinskirche, Kassel, Germany

Matt Stokes Sacred Selections Happy Hardcore organ recital Friday, 11 February 2011 9 p.m. at St. Martin's Church in Kassel Within the framework of his major solo exhibition No Place Else Better Than Here at Kunsthalle Fridericianum, Kassel Matt Stokes will initiate a concert linking two different musical genres. On a classical church organ, London-based organist Paul Ayres will perform a series of Happy Hardcore pieces. Happy Hardcore is a genre of music typified by a very fast tempo (usually around 160-180 BPM), often coupled with solo vocals and sentimental lyrics. Its characteristically 4/4 beat "happy" sound distinguishes it from most other forms of Hardcore dance music and is stark contrast to classical organ music. No Place Else Better Than Here runs until 20th February 2011 http://www.fridericianum-kassel.de/ Image: Matt Stokes Sacred Selections, 2005 (ongoing) Artifacts from a series of live pipe organ recitals: oak bench, velvet lined oak box, 3 stitched fabric flags with flagpoles in velvet pouches, flagpole holders, posters, handbills and audio CD (posters and handbills will be added to following future events. Courtesy of the artist and Workplace Gallery, UK

Matt Stokes: 'Echoes' Centre Culturel Suisse, Paris, France

Image:  Sacred Selections (Banner), 2005 stitched fabric banner, 90 x 210 cms, 35.46 x 82.74 inches. Courtesy of the artist and Workplace Gallery, UK. The first programme of 2011 is devoted to music and in particular the relationship between visual arts and music. This multidisciplinary project, bringing together artists from Switzerland, France and other countries, will extend throughout the Centre Culturel Suisse from 28th January to 10th April 2011, with two exhibitions and a series of special evenings. Visual artists have taken an interest in music in a variety of ways, and regularly on a reciprocal basis. From the correspondence between Arnold Schönberg and Wassily Kandinsky to Dan Graham's film Rock My Religion (1984) and from Piet Mondrian's interest in jazz and boogie-woogie to the elective affinities between Steve Reich, Philip Glass, Richard Serra, Sol Lewitt, Bruce Nauman or Michael Snow, and including the many album covers designed by artists or dominant figures active in both disciplines such as Laurie Anderson or Christian Marclay, the field of convergence between the two art forms is rich and fertile. Parallel to the two exhibitions, the CCS has also wanted to involve exhibiting artists like Saâdane Afif or Hugues Reip in the conception of different special evenings, thus sparking off new and original artistic collaborations. This is also the opportunity to highlight a network of artists with a passion for music working in and around Lausanne, in particular Francis Baudevin, the art centre Circuit, the musician Christian Pahud and the photographer Catherine Ceresole. EXHIBITION Echoes 28th January - 10th April 2011 Opening Friday 28th January / 5:00 - 9:00 pm / throughout the evening: screening of Long After Tonight by Matt Stokes (2006, 6'40) in the auditorium Exhibition visits with the curators: Wednesday 2nd February, Thursday 3rd March and Tuesday 5th April at 7:00 pm With: Abetz & Drescher (DE) / Saâdane Afif (FR) / John Armleder (CH) / Dominique Blais (FR) / Francis Baudevin (CH) / Thomas Bayrle (DE) / Alighiero Boetti (IT) / Valentin Carron (CH) / Philippe Decrauzat (CH) / Jeremy Deller (GB) / Dewar & Gicquel (FR) / Andreas Dobler (CH) / Isa Genzken (DE) / Philippe Gronon (FR) / Vincent Kohler (CH) / Rainier Lericolais (FR) / Constantin Luser (AU) / Jorge Macchi (AR) / Arnaud Maguet (FR) / Christian Marclay (CH/US) / Dawn Mellor (GB) / Dave Muller (US) / Christian Pahud (CH) / Sandrine Pelletier (CH) / Frédéric Post (CH) / Anne-Julie Raccoursier (CH) / Hugues Reip (FR) / Robin Rhode (ZA) / Dario Robleto (US) / Allen Ruppersberg (US) / Michael Sailstorfer (D) / Jim Shaw (US) / Hannes Schmid (CH) / Matt Stokes (GB) / Su-Mei Tse (LU) / Pierre Vadi (CH) / Jean-Luc Verna (FR) The main exhibition brings together soundless works referring to the music of 37 contemporary artists. What is the music "treated" by visual artists, when sound is absent from the work? Multiple angles of approach are up for discussion. Some of the artists like Alighiero Boetti, Valentin Carron and Constantin Luser have chosen to represent or revisit the "musical instrument" as an object, others, including Saâdane Afif, Philippe Gronon, Dominique Blais and Isa Genzken, have considered the sound equipment used for amplified music - amp, speakers, radio etc. - like an image, sculpture or micro architecture. Contemporary icons like Britney Spears, Michael Jackson, Ian Curtis or Morrissey are the source of inspiration for artists like Dawn Mellor or the duo Abetz & Drescher, while Anne-Julie Raccoursier and Hannes Schmid have concentrated on the imagery conveyed by music such as the body language and the look of musicians and their fans. Finally, identification marks, symbols, logos and specific typefaces can be seen in different formats from Matt Stokes, Jeremy Deller and Philippe Decrauzat.

Eric Bainbridge: 'Modern British Sculpture' Royal Academy of Art, London, UK

Eric Bainbridge 'The Mind Of The Artist At The Beginning Of Time', 1996, Mixed Media, 89 x 142 x 57 cm. Courtesy the artist and Workplace Gallery, UK Royal Academy of Arts Modern British Sculpture    Main Galleries 22 January – 7 April 2011 Royal Academy of Arts Burlington House, Piccadilly London W1J OBD www.royalacademy.org.uk  Exhibition Preservation Partner: American Express Foundation Supported by The Henry Moore Foundation In 2011, the Royal Academy of Arts will be presenting the first exhibition for 30 years to examine British sculpture of the twentieth century. The show will represent a unique view of the development of British sculpture, exploring what we mean by the terms British and sculpture by bringing the two together in a chronological series of strongly themed galleries, each making its own visual argument. The exhibition will take a fresh approach, replacing the traditional survey with a provocative set of juxtapositions that will challenge the viewer to make new connections and break the mould of old conceptions. Key British works include: Alfred Gilbert Queen Victoria, Phillip King Genghis Khan, Jacob Epstein Adam, Barbara Hepworth Single Form, Leon Underwood Totem to the Artist, Henry Moore Festival Figure, Anthony Caro Early One Morning, Richard Long Chalk Line, Julian Opie W and Damien Hirst Let's Eat Outdoors Today. Through these and other works, the exhibition will examine British sculpture's dialogue within a broader international context, highlighting the ways in which Britain's links with its Empire, continental Europe and the United States have helped shape an art that at its best is truly international in scope and significance. The selection of works is not limited to the British Isles, but looks outward at Britain in the world including sculpture from Native American, Indian, and African traditions. These will be represented by a series of significant loans from the British Museum and the V&A, which will be shown alongside modern British sculptures from the period 1910-1930 to highlight the inquisitiveness of British artists when the Empire was at its peak and London was, almost literally, the centre of the world. The selection will also explore the choices constantly faced by the sculptor: the choice between figuration and abstraction; a choice that highlights the inherent tension in sculpture between its commemorative and political functions. Key juxtapositions exemplify these choices, including the striking comparison between Phillip King's Genghis Khan and Alfred Gilbert's Queen Victoria and Edwin Lutyens' Cenotaph and Jacob Epstein's Cycle of Life that opens the exhibition. Another juxtaposition encapsulates the choice between abstraction and figuration as represented by the work of Barbara Hepworth and Henry Moore, and tells of the emergence of British sculpture as a brand on the international stage in the post-war era. The exhibition will show how, for over 100 years, London and its museums have had a powerful appeal for sculptors, and how the Royal Academy itself has played a significant and controversial role in shaping modern British sculpture. ORGANISATION Modern British Sculpture has been organised by the Royal Academy of Arts. The exhibition has been curated by Dr Penelope Curtis, Director of the Tate Britain, and sculptor Keith Wilson, in conjunction with Dr Adrian Locke, Exhibitions Curator, Royal Academy of Arts. DATES Press View: Tuesday 18 January, 10am – 2pm Open to public: Saturday 22 January – Thursday 7 April 10am – 6pm daily (last admission 5.30pm) Late night opening: Fridays until 10pm (last admission 9.30pm) TICKETS Tickets are available daily at the RA. Advance bookings: Telephone 0844 209 0051 or visit www.royalacademy.org.uk. Group bookings: Groups of 10+ are asked to book in advance. Telephone 020 7300 5995, fax 020 7300 5781 or email groupbookings@royalacademy.org.uk For public information, please print 020 7300 8000 or www.royalacademy.org.uk Royal Academy of Arts, Burlington House, Piccadilly, London W1J OBD *Image above: Arts Council Collection, Southbank Centre, London © Boyle Family / DACS 2010.

Cath Campbell: 'Enter Slowly,' The Lab, San Francisco, USA

Image: '50 Ways To Leave Your Lover (No.48)', Cath Campbell, 2009, Cut modular exhibition panels, 500 x 350 x 300 cm, Courtesy of the artist and Workplace Gallery, UK ENTER SLOWLY, Anna Barham, Cath Campbell, Maud Cotter, Laura Gannon, Alexandra Navratil, Linda Quinlan Curated by David Cunningham The Lab, San Francisco, USA January 14th - February 19, 2011 Gallery Hours: Thursday - Saturday, 1-6pm Join us on Saturday January 15th at The Lab for artist talks by Maud Cotter and Laura Gannon. ENTER SLOWLY, is an international group exhibition featuring the work of six emerging artists from Europe whose individual practices (while collectively diverse), frequently overlap, intersecting in areas of common interest. Sharing a preoccupation with the ways in which architecture, language and memory function as framing devices and filters deployed in the manipulation of perception and the construction of 'meaning', their work simultaneously critiques, reveals (makes visible), undermines and reverses the systems, structures and technics involved in these fabrications, reflecting them back on themselves. Working across categories, sometimes collaborating with architects, dancers, engineers, mathematicians, musicians and experts in other fields of specialization, these artists approach their work as a form of research or field of inquiry that tests the limits of what is known, what is possible and what can be described. Often employing found or self-devised rule-based systematic structures or 'games', working with and against a set of limits to paradoxically establish fields of potential and freedom where meaning as commonly understood is not pinned or fixed but mutable, the artists in this exhibition open up multiple points of entry to the work, exhibiting a heightened concern with, and sensitivity to, the speed at which a work can be entered. A concern with interiority and the temporal, marked by some form of inversion (literally turning 'inside out') is a further characteristic of many of the works. Limning the boundary between thought and utterance, evoking linguistic and philosophical concepts such as 'speech acts' and 'language games' the ghosts of early modernism's mavericks and problem children (Samuel Beckett, Eileen Gray, Frederick Kiesler, James Joyce, Adolf Loos, Ludwig Wittgenstein and others) quietly haunt the works in this exhibition, which in its turn gently invokes and re-extends an earlier invitation stenciled on the interior wall of a certain - 'house beside the sea' – the last built thing Le Corbusier would have seen as he drowned. "… formulas are nothing; life is everything" – Eileen Gray Using the ancient Roman city of Leptis Magna, as both metaphor and material, Anna Barham makes drawings and videos in series, charting anagrams derived from the letters in the city's name. Positing the appropriation, displacement and re-assembly of fragments of the actual ruins in Libya (to construct a 'new' imaginary ruin at Windsor Great Park for King George IV in 1816) as an architectonic analog for language and imagination, Barham presses the individual letters into service as 'building blocks' for fantastical new poetry and prose. The exhibition will include '(Tangram) Posture' a recent large-scale sculptural installation, its anagrammatic alter ego 'Proteus' (video) and an audio installation of Barham's reading of the entire text of her just published 'Return To Leptis Magna', 2010. Cath Campbell will present only the second full scale realization to date of an installation from her series of fifty proposed architectural interventions titled '50 Ways To Leave Your Lover' - along with an accompanying video and a selection of cutout drawings of real and invented architectural spaces rendered in paper and steel. Palimpsest-like and often inspired by spaces that are inaccessible, the drawings (like the interventions) borrow their titles from sentimental pop songs suggesting that architecture can be used as a metaphor for states of being. Cath Campbell is represented by Workplace Gallery, Gateshead (UK). Maud Cotter's large-scale modular sculpture 'More Than Anything' situates itself at the interface between architecture and sculpture. Installed differently at each location, Cotter pushes and tests the limits of the piece until it's nature shifts in direct relationship to the place in which it is exhibited, landing somewhere between sculpture and structural system. Starting with a small basic unit it formally clusters and swarms becoming a mechanism or collective force that ingests space. Infinitely reconfigurable the piece has no single identity or fixed reading. Maud Cotter is represented by Rubicon Gallery, Dublin (Ireland). In her Film 'A House in Cap-Martin' (shot at Eileen Gray's seminal modernist House E.1027) Laura Gannon creates a fictional performance allowing us to 'enter' into the history(s) of this contested site, creating an opening in an already heavily mediated story which over time has assumed the status of a myth. The name of the house derived from a simple game in which the initials of Gray and her then lover were intermingled and represented by their numerical order in the alphabet. Standing as a 'ruin' for almost 30 years the house is currently undergoing a restoration, which is scheduled to be complete in early 2011. A new drawing installation by Gannon will accompany the film. Alexandra Navratil will debut anew video work, 'Objects Perceive Me', 2010. Drawn from her extensive personal archive of research and source material this piece functions as a memory map, an index of associations and a network of ideas - further developing and extending her ongoing engagement with historical concepts of perception and their correlation with systems of representation in cinema, architecture and politics. Alongside the video she will present several new drawings derived from her research into monolithic architecture and lighting design. Studies in luminosity, opaqueness and transparency, the drawings (and the video) are strongly influenced by Wittgenstein's 'Remarks on Colour'. Alexandra Navratil is represented by Angels Barcelona, (Spain). Linda Quinlan's video work 'Side Step', 2009 oscillates between two constructed images generated from a single source (a photograph taken by cave explorer Max Kaemper at Mammoth Cave in 1908). Emitting a rhythmic visual pulse, with each beat foregrounding the emergence of something attempting to take form, this motif of stacking and pleating is echoed in an accompanying audio work 'Step On', in which the contraction and expansion of the space between two spoken words enacts a paradoxical collision of assertion and contradiction - testing the reverberation of their meaning. Drawn to situations where things exist in a constant state of formation and a kind of perpetual motion, Quinlan is interested in how words and images rub against and interfere with what is heard and perceived, opening up a third space where alternate readings and perceptions can emerge. This exhibition has been generously supported by:- Imagine Ireland, Swissnex, Prohelvetica - Swiss Arts Council         Very special thanks to:- Michael Goldwater, Michael Damm, Richard T. Walker, Daniel Healy, Jorge Bachmann, Michael Ryan, Terrance Graven, Honey McMoney, Scott Tsuchitani, Ernesto, Randy Colosky and Miguel Arzabe for their time and assistance with fabrication and the installation of this exhibition and Eilish Cullen, Mary Anne Kluth, Bryan Von Reuter and the board and programming committee of The Lab for their generous invitation to curate an exhibition in this very particular space. For more information/ images please contact info@davidcunninghamprojects.com | tel:- 415.341.1538 | www.davidcunninghamprojects.com

Mike Pratt - Preview: Friday 14th January, 6-9pm

Images: (left) 'UH', 2010, Mike Pratt, Oil, sericol and enamel on canvas, 280 x 220cm, (right) 'Blue Neckless', 2010, Mike Pratt, Oil, sericol and enamel on canvas, 280 x 220cm. Courtesy of the artist and Workplace Gallery, UK. Mike Pratt Good Mourning Bell Preview: Friday 14th January, 6 - 9pm 15th January - 12th February 2010 Tuesday - Saturday, 11am - 5pm (or by appointment) Workplace Gallery is pleased to present Good Mourning Bell our first solo exhibition of work by Mike Pratt. Pratt's work confronts the established conventions of painting, through an immediate and unashamedly direct indulgence in painting as an activity in its own right, combined with an ethically questionable position of borrowing,  remaking and 'wrongful' appropriation. Authenticity, style and the cycle of assimilation that exists both within contemporary art and popular culture are central concerns in Pratt's work. Contemporary artists such as Christopher Wool and Paul McCarthy as well as 20th Century artists who reshaped the process of Art such as Basquiat, Polke and Warhol, all become the fodder for Pratt's lexicon. However, rather than paying homage to his forerunners Pratt borrows and steals, walking a fine line between mimicry and imitation. Through this method of sampling and remastering Pratt combines stylistic quotation with deadpan observation and dumb mark making, layering and obliterating his paintings until work is deemed at an end, yet never resolved. "The works engage with frank and simple imagery, they stand as a remark; there is nothing sentimental or 'worldly', just a curiosity into the processes... Each action obliterates the last until the 'right' gesture has the final say. I have no problem recycling the ideas of others; I see this as my viewpoint - to select and covet from the existing to make the new. I see everything as a physical structure; this in itself demands reasoning, a competence to relate not only to its environment but to itself. The idea that a piece of work becomes self aware and insecure..." (Mike Pratt, 2010) Pratt's new large-scale works combine painting with large format screen prints taken from close up detail sections of an earlier painting. The extracted details are shifted and repeated creating a blurring of half tones, a digitized and interrupted suggestion of a painterly background. These works are complex and uncertain statements of contradiction and affirmation, they become neurotically charged phrases that 'confess all' whilst at the same time disguising and camouflaging themselves. Pratt's work is a head-on collision with the history of the present. The satire in his work plays like relentless canned laughter to the intuitive handling of the material and the romantic allusions of painting, striking a careful and sophisticated balance that takes you on an invigorating new journey through seemingly familiar territory. Mike Pratt was born in Seaham, UK in 1987. He completed a BA in Fine Art at Northumbria University in 2009 where he received the Paul Mason sculpture prize. Solo exhibitions and projects include Cumberland Sausage, Extraspazio, Rome; HUBBA HUBBA, Satellite Gallery, Newcastle, UK; Workplace Gallery at The Manchester Contemporary 2009. Group exhibitions include aggetti - progettazioni - proiezioni - prominenze - protuberanze - sporgenze, Extraspazio, Rome; NADA Art Fair, Miami, Workplace Gallery; JAMBON, Moving Gallery, Newcastle Upon Tyne, UK; Captain of all Pleasures, EMBASSY Gallery, Edinburgh, UK; Psychic Geography, Workplace Gallery, Gateshead, UK; Some people deserve everything they get, The Royal Standard, Liverpool, UK. Mike Pratt lives and works in Newcastle, UK. Workplace Gallery was founded by artists Paul Moss and Miles Thurlow. Based in Gateshead UK, Workplace Gallery represents a portfolio of emerging and established artists through the gallery programme, curatorial projects and international art fairs. Workplace Gallery opened in 2005 at 34 Ellison Street, Gateshead - part of Trinity Square Shopping Centre particularly noted for its iconic Brutalist car park designed by architect Rodney Gordon for the Owen Luder Partnership, which featured as a key location in Mike Hodges 1971 cult British gangster film Get Carter starring Michael Caine. Since the original gallery was demolished in 2008 Workplace Gallery has relocated to The Old Post Office in Gateshead, a listed 19th Century red brick building built upon the site where the important British artist, engraver, and naturalist Thomas Bewick (1753-1828) lived and died. The next exhibition at Workplace Gallery will be a solo exhibition of new work by Cath Campbell opening on 18th February 2011. To celebrate the opening of Good Mourning Bell please join us afterwards at Central Bar in Gateshead. Kindly supported by

Seasons Greetings from all at Workplace Gallery

Laura Lancaster Untitled, 2010 Oil on board 110 x 160 cm, 43 1/4 x 63 in (LL0391) Courtesy of the artist and Workplace Gallery

Catherine Bertola: "Beyond Pattern" DLI Art Gallery, Durham, UK

Catherine Bertola Beyond Pattern DLI Art Gallery, Durham, UK 04 December 2010 - 16 January 2011 http://county.durham.gov.uk http://www.orieldavies.org/en/exhibition/beyond-pattern Artists: Catherine Bertola, Michael Brennand-Wood, Nisha Duggal, Leo Fitzmaurice, Doug Jones, Adam King, Steve Messam, Henna Nadeem, Angharad Pearce-Jones, Pamela So, Andrea Stokes. An exploration into the cultural meanings of 'pattern', through exhibition, commission, publication and debate, with work that utilises 'pattern' as a social, cultural and political commentator. With new commissions by Steve Messam, Catherine Bertola and Angharad Pearce-Jones and work by Michael Brennand-Wood, Nisha Duggal, Leo Fitzmaurice, Doug Jones, Adam King, Pamela So, Henna Nadeem and Andrea Stokes. Pattern is all around us, whether we are conscious of it or not. It penetrates every aspect of our lives and can be found in the home, workplace, street, garden or in the landscape. Pattern's existence is not confined by our own manufacture as it forms the foundation for many aspects of the natural world. However, it is the manner in which we utilise pattern in our lives that forms the basis of this exhibition. We often think of pattern simply as an adornment or perhaps even as a form of disguise, but it can also reflect a desire to communicate through a specific visual language. It might be that it represents cohesion and a sense of balance, thereby providing visual stimulation or a space for meditation. It can symbolise status or even be a device to convey ideas, express identity or specific ideologies, as well as presenting political beliefs or maintaining cultural traditions. Work by eleven artists take us on a journey to explore these ideas and highlights how pattern can be, or has been, used as a social, cultural and political commentator that reaches beyond ornamentation and decoration. Whether these artists reference the domestic or public space, draw on contemporary or historical situations, comment on or observe aspects of society, subvert the familiar and question perception, they present a diverse reflection on the subject of pattern. Beyond Pattern represents both conceptual and craft focused practices whilst reflecting an array of media; from metalwork to embroidered textiles and temporary public installation to hand cut collages. Individual works have been carefully selected to create intriguing, profound and sometimes surprising departure points for conversation. Oriel Davies is delighted to commission work by Catherine Bertola and Angharad Pearce-Jones for the exhibition and also to commission the temporary site-based work titled Clad by Steve Messam. A full colour publication accompanies this project with essays by Laura Mansfield and Lesley Millar. An Oriel Davies Touring exhibition curated by Alex Boyd. This project has been made possible through an Arts Council of Wales Beacon Company Award 2008-10. Supported by the National Lottery through Arts Council England and The Laura Ashley Foundation. Image: Catherine Bertola Installation view of From the palace at Hillstreet, 2009 and Bluestockings (Fanny Burney), (Hester Chapone), (Elizabeth Carter) and (Elizabeth Vesey), 2009 "Beyond Pattern" Oriel Davies Gallery, Newtown, Wales. Courtesy of the artist and Workplace Gallery, UK.

Laura Lancaster: "Fade Away" Transition Gallery, London, UK

Laura Lancaster Transition Gallery, London, UK 03 - 24 December 2010 http://www.transitiongallery.co.uk Henny Acloque, Phillip Allen, Tim Bailey, Nathan Barlex, Mike Bartlett, Alice Browne, Lindsey Bull, Nick Carrick, Clem Crosby, Theo Cuff, Kaye Donachie, Sarah Douglas, Sarah Dwyer, Andrew Graves, Paul Housley, Thomas Hylander, Hannah Knox, Laura Lancaster, Robert Lang, Sarah Lederman, Eleanor Moreton, Mali Morris, Alex Gene Morrison, Nadia Mulder, Jill Mulleady, Mahali O'Hare, Scott O'Rourke, Joanna Pawlowska, Joanna Phelps, Benjamin Senior, Shaan Syed, Zack Thorne,Gavin Toye, Helen Turner, Claire Undy, David Webb, Robert Welch, Andy Wicks, Jo Wilmot. Fade Away is the first in an ongoing series of exhibitions at Transition with different guest curators focusing on the diversity of contemporary painting and exploring the ways in which artists are engaged with it. Fade Away, which is curated by Alli Sharma, with an accompanying text by Barry Schwabsky, features paintings that oscillate between representation and abstraction. With widely diverse references and subject matter, they all share a strong material presence. Whatever the creative enquiry, they make you think about paint and the act of painting. Some of the Fade Away artists work directly from the perceptible world; others use the representational as a point of departure into the abstract, or conversely, explore the abstract, which reveals itself as subject. The dialogue between surface and illusion, representation and abstraction performs a paradoxical balancing act where surfaces are brushed, scored, erased, layered, revealed, dripped and collapsed. Compositions teeter on the verge of illegibility where images emerge and fade away. Image: Laura Lancaster Untitled, 2010 Oil on canvas 30.5 x 25 cm (LL0270)

Matt Stokes: "No Place Else Better Than Here" Kunsthalle Fridericianum, Kassel, Germany

No Place Better Than Here Kunsthalle Fridericianum Kassel, Germany 04 December 2010 - 20 February 2011 In his works, many of which are filmic or event-based, the British artist Matt Stokes (born in Penzance, England, in 1973) deals with subcultures. In meticulous research, he explores the origins of certain music scenes and groups, investigating the specific local development of, say, the folk movement in Camden and Newcastle, Northern Soul in Dundee, and punk rock in Austin, Texas. Stokes is interested in the way in which music creates a collective feeling, serves as a catalyst for certain groups, and shapes and influences people's lives and identities. He immerses himself in a certain environment, gets involved with the community of a subculture, and in this way manages to convey the characteristics of certain scenes in an artistic manner which is not only documentary, but also personal and expressive. From his long-term research, in which he collects impressions, stories, and materials, he creates films, exhibition projects, musical works and events which develop their own conceptual and aesthetic life. In terms of context, many of Stokes' works often closely relate to the musical history of the places for which he conceives an exhibition. In 2003, the artist initiated the continuous project Real Arcadia, which looked back at 1980s British rave culture and the 'cave raves' which were celebrated not in clubs but in caves in the open countryside. For the undertaking, Stokes established close contact with the performers of the day, collected film material, related TV reports and a number of objects such as cassettes, records, posters, flyers and T-shirts, on the basis of which he not only archived the history of this culture, but also revived it. The film Long After Tonight (2005) engages with Northern Soul, a British music movement and subculture which emerged in northern England and Scotland at the end of the 1960s and had a decisive impact on people's lifestyles. During an artist's residency in Austin, Texas, Matt Stokes created the work these are the days (2008) for Arthouse, in which he explored the punk, post-punk and DIY movements in Austin. Since the 1970s, these alternative music scenes have represented a kind of anti-attitude to the mainstream in Austin, developing into influential subcultures in the city. The film work The Gainsborough Packet (2008-09) emerged within the framework of a solo exhibition at the Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art in Gateshead and at the Project Space 176 in London. Reminiscent of the music video format and in the style of costume films, The Gainsborough Packet focuses on the move toward industrialisation in the mid 19th century and to the decisive importance of music and song in the daily lives of the young urbanised population. With his Kassel exhibition Matt Stokes devotes himself to the phenomenon of the lasting effect of underground music as a counter-movement to the mainstream and its ability to spawn subcultures which influence people's opinions and lifestyles, issues which run through Stokes' entire oeuvre. Against this background, he will combine the film The Gainsborough Packet with sculptural and object works emerging from the cultural context of rave, and with a large film installation which Stokes is producing specifically for his show in Kassel. Installed in a semicircle which will dominate the main wing of the Fridericianum and recall ancient amphitheatre architecture, this new film work will take a penetrating look at the hardcore, grindcore and death metal music cultures that played a big role in Kassel's underground music scenes in the 1980s and 1990s. For this project, Stokes selected six hardcore singers, one from Kassel and the others from various countries outside Germany. Using a musical composition, Matt Stokes will combine their typical singing, which is usually devoid of words. The auditive aspect, the singers' movements and body postures, as well as the recording locations that form the background of the film will contribute to the special atmosphere of this work. Image: Matt Stokes Real Arcadia (Never Been to Belgium), 2003 (ongoing) 12 x archive inkjet prints on paper (MS0007) Courtesy of the artist and Workplace Gallery

Workplace Gallery at NADA Art Fair Miami 2010

Workplace Gallery at NADA Art Fair 2010 Booth 315, Napoleon Room Deauville Beach Resort 6701 Collins Avenue Miami Beach 2nd - 5th December http://www.newartdealers.org/ Eric Bainbridge Darren Banks Sophie Lisa Beresford Catherine Bertola Marcus Coates Jo Coupe Laura Lancaster Mike Pratt Richard Rigg Cecilia Stenbom For a full list of available works please contact info@workplacegallery.co.uk image: Sophie Lisa Beresford Hindu Goddess, 2007 Giclée Print, mounted on Aluminum Courtesy of the artist and Workplace Gallery

Sophie Lisa Beresford: Film Screening, The Heuristics Laboratory, Sideshow, Nottingham, UK

Film Screening - Pizza Shop Dance Sideshow, Nottingham http://www.sideshow2010.org 25 November 2010 8:00PM In conjunction with exhibition The Heuristics Laboratory 9th November - 2nd December The Heuristics Laboratory would like to invite you to our inaugural exhibition, a series of experiments, exhibitions and events commissioned by Sideshow in the Malt Cross gallery, Nottingham. Three experiments by three Nottingham based artists Georgie Park, Ruth Scott and Pete McPartlan will take place throughout November that use the Malt Cross gallery as a laboratory. We are presenting exhibitions and events that explore different modes of problem solving - persistence, intuition and trial and error. The exhibits will show intuitive interactions, work in progress and document genuine experiments as the artists play with an unfamiliar skill or process. Exhibitions Tuesday 9- Saturday 13th Nov : In Telecine Pete McPartlan is using the gallery as an ad hoc laboratory to convert celluloid into pixels. Using home video equipment to seize control of the means of post production. Tuesday 16- Saturday 20th Nov :  Ruth Scott's Line Walk is an exploration of balance and imbalance through learning to walk on a tight wire. A free standing tight wire structure shall be installed in the gallery space, where she shall engage in this practice. The struggle and tension of this process is presented through live performance and recorded footage. Tuesday 23 - Saturday 27th Nov : In orchestrated rumination on her connection to the home, Georgie Park is incessently wood-turning until the last day of her exhibition, producing as many chair legs and banister poles at an electric lathe as she can. Her exhibition will show the results of her persistence. Events Thursday 25th Nov from 8pm: Join us on the for a night of film and performance. With films by Phil Niblock, Melati Suryodarmo and more. Thursday 2nd Dec from 8pm: The exhibition concludes with an evening showing the outcome of the three exhibitions with films, performances and the launch of our publication Lab Notes. All events are free. The Malt Cross, 16 St James Street, Nottingham, NG1 6FG www.theheuristicslaboratory.org.uk www.sideshow2010.org image: Sophie Lisa Beresford still from Pizza Shop Dance, 2008 Single Channel Video 4 min 06 sec (SLB0001) courtesy of the artist and Workplace Gallery

Joe Clark: "New Contemporaries 2010" ICA, London, UK

New Contemporaries 2010 ICA, London http://www.ica.org.uk 26 November 2010 – 23 January 2011 The Institute of Contemporary Arts is proud to announce the return of Bloomberg New Contemporaries 2010 this autumn. Featuring the work of 49 artists across a range of media, the exhibition provides a unique opportunity to engage with new practice and ideas from across the UK. Featuring: Greta Alfaro, Holly Antrum, Caline Aoun, Johann Arens, Ed Atkins, Nick Bailey, Nathan Barlex, Melis van den Berg, Alice Browne, Amir Chasson, Joe Clark, Matthew Coombes, Patrick Coyle, Keren Dee, Sophie Eagle, Claas Gutsch, Guy Haddon-Grant, Jessica Harris, Rowena Harris, Emma Hart, Darren Harvey-Regan, Raphael Hefti, Ian Homerston, Chris Shaw Hughes, Rowena Hughes, Vasileios Kantas, Krister Klassman, Sam Knowles, Alec Kronacker, Agnieszka Kucharko, Dan Lichtman, Agata Madejska, Russell Maurice, Ella McCartney, Nick Mobbs, Murray O'Grady, Chloe Ostmo, Siôn Parkinson, Peles Empire, Laure Prouvost, Kristian de la Riva, Kiwoun Shin, Theodoros Stamatogiannis, Sue Tarbitten, Edward Thomasson, Naomi Uchida, Mark Walker, Pablo Wendel, Joel Wyllie. Established in 1949, New Contemporaries is a highly regarded annual initiative that gives art students and recent graduates essential support and recognition at a crucial stage in their development through a high-profile exhibition. Participants are selected by a panel comprised of influential arts figures, predominantly artists—who have often themselves previously exhibited as part of New Contemporaries—and through a rigorous process that is open, fair and democratic. The selectors for 2010 are Gabriel Kuri, Mark Leckey and Dawn Mellor. New Contemporaries was originally presented at the ICA between 1964 and 1989 when a series of highly acclaimed exhibitions aimed to reflect the shape of art to come and offer young artists the chance to exhibit at an organisation associated with radical, bold and experimental art forms. image: Joe Clark Somewhere in West Virginia, 2009 Interactive Installation: Custom Electronics in Console Housing, Micro-Controller (Arduino), Computer, Data-Projector, Projection Screen, Firewire Camera, Wood, Buckets, Hose, Pond Pump, Black Velvet and Angle-Poise Lamp. 1.5 x 1.5m (JCL0075) Courtesy of the artist and Workplace Gallery

Darren Banks: "Hello World" Embassy Gallery, Edinburgh, UK

Hello World Darren Banks, Luke Collins, Jonathan Horowitz, Seth Price, Corin Sworn, Stina Wirfelt Embassy Gallery Roxy Art House, 2 Roxburgh Pl, Edinburgh, EH8 9SU Opening: 19.11.10 7-9pm Exhibition Runs: 20.11.10 - 05.12.10 Thursday - Sunday 12-6pm Hello World is a project in two parts taking as its starting point the emergence of the Internet over the past 20 years as one of the primary means of the dissemination of information. Part 1: The first part is a physical exhibition that will take place at the Embassy featuring the work of 6 artists. The work in the show will approach the way in which the Internet has influenced cultural production, in specific relation to practices of appropriation. The increasing digitalisation and distribution of media has spurred a new generation of artists to approach the image in a similar way to that of the supposed 'pictures generation', taking extant images and recontextualising them, augmenting meaning or offering new ways of seeing. As part of this project we are distributing a font based on the paintings of John Baldessari. This is currently only in beta format with just capital letters but will appear in a fuller format next week. CLICK TO DOWNLOAD BALDESSARI.TTF Part 2: The second part will be an experimental seminar with a new link being shared daily, through the sources listed below for the duration of the exhibition. 21.11.10 Teen Image by Seth Price 20.11.10 The meaning of open is obfuscated an interview between Geert Lovink and Andreas Hirsch These links will also be shared through the Embassys presence on the following social networks http://www.facebook.com/embassy.edinburgh http://www.twitter.com/embassygallery Notes: Jonathan Horowitz's inclusion precedes his first ever solo exhibition in a UK public gallery at Dundee Contemporary Arts. Minimalist Works from the Holocaust Museum combines newly commissioned works alongside key works from the last two decades of the artist's practice. 27.11.10 to 20.02.11 http://www.dca.org.uk Stina Wirfelt will have an exhibition of new works opening at 44 141 Gallery, Glasgow on the 03.12.10 7:30-9:30pm running until 18.12.10 http://www.swg3.tv Darren Banks appears courtesy the artist and Workplace Gallery, Gateshead Jonathan Horowitz appears courtesy the artist and Gavin Browns Enterprise New York image: Darren Banks Clusterfuck, 2010 (detail from Fade Away 2010) Mixed Media Installation incorporating Art, House, Work 2005, Puppet Cinema 2005, Fade Away 2010, Introducing Delia Deetz 2010, Suppertime 2010, David and Medusa 2010, Clusterfuck 2010. Courtesy of the artist and Workplace Gallery, UK

Darren Banks: "Re-make/Re-model" National Glass Centre, Sunderland, UK

Re-make/Re-model National Glass Centre Liberty Way Sunderland SR6 0GL 14th October 2010 - 27th February 2011 Monday - Sunday, 10am - 5pm Artists: Darren Banks, Ruth Claxton, Nick Crowe & Ian Rawlinson, Jacob Dahlgren, Steven Emmanuel, Leo Fitzmaurice, Lothar Goetz, Christian Graser, Lucy Harvey, Charlotte Hughes-Martin, Amikam Toren. Glass is theoretically infinitely recyclable once formed, it takes less energy to recycle than to melt down the original raw materials. Glass can be melted and reused, without compromising its quality, time and time again. We are more aware today, than at any other time, of our impact on the environment. With Christmas approaching - the most poignant reminder of our disposable culture, fueled by consumerism - this exhibition takes a look at artists work and projects that reuse and transform materials, that reconfigure or alter pre-existing objects. In some cases this touches upon the actual recycling of materials, in others it is the making of new work that is more than the sum of its parts. Curated by National Glass Centre and Matthew Hearn. Image: Darren Banks Jump the Shark, 2010 mixed media incorporating Fallen Angel and Public Sculpture/Private Radar Courtesy of the artist and Workplace Gallery.

Cecilia Stenbom - Preview: Friday 19th November 2010

Cecilia Stenbom Homeland Security 20th November - 23rd December 2010 Tuesday - Saturday, 11am - 5pm (or by appointment) Preview: Friday 19th November, 6 - 9pm Workplace Gallery is pleased to present Homeland Security the first UK solo exhibition by Swedish artist Cecilia Stenbom. Bringing together works from across media including: performance to video, painting, sculpture, installation, and drawing, Homeland Security explores Stenbom's investigation into her conviction that in the consumer driven culture of a 21st century over saturated with information, fear has become a more powerful motivating factor than sex. Appropriation and re-enactment are central to Stenbom's methodology. Taking her source material from public distribution media such as television, movies, advertising, government information broadcast, 24-hour news, and the internet, Stenbom frequently casts herself as the protagonist of a pastiche that examines our anxieties and desires, reinterpreting scenarios within mass media, retail, and domestic life. "...I have become specifically interested in what triggers fear in contemporary life and how that fear is used to capture our attention and imagination, making us 'happy customers' and ultimately controlling us." State of Emergency is a 6 channel video installation based on interviews extracted from Rescue 911, the hugely popular US docu-drama from the 1990's hosted by William Shatner about real life rescue situations and amazing stories of survival. In State of Emergency Stenbom performs 6 characters from the Emergency services; the 911 Dispatcher, the Police officer, the Paramedic, the Fireman, the Doctor and the Nurse, all talking simultaneously of their experience, delivering a constant barrage of almost indecipherable narrative. You've Had Me Again is an installation of paintings made on the underside of clear acrylic Perspex. The images are a mix of symbols and detail taken from Stenbom's ongoing collection of material associated with real life drama including: 'The Swine Flu Suit' sold to provide the public with protection from the virus, Gas Masks sold for domestic use, a list of resuscitation drugs, and emergency service equipment and patterns. They are presented  alongside patterns and objects that are taken from everyday life, this is echoed in Play Dead, a diptych of giant self portrait ink drawings depicting the artist entirely in monochrome save for a pair of marigold gloves and a red and white gingham apron. Happy Endings Stenbom's series of highly glossed paintings also derive from the overly sentimental concluding scenes of Rescue 911 that brings together everyone involved in the accident to react to it's outcome. A counterpoint to the sensationalism of Stenbom's interpretations of mass media, The Scene is a silent, looped video animation based on emergency vehicle lights. Projected into the darkened domestic interiors of Workplace Gallery's upper floors The Scene recalls the effect of an event outside, spilling in through the window and trailing around the room prompting a more poignant moment of reflection. Much of Stenbom's new work plays on her own susceptibility to be manipulated by mass media and popular culture and her real anxiety around how best to navigate fact and fiction. The sculptures Bio-Terrorism vs. Natural Defences bring together the container of one of the worlds most popular pro-biotic drinks with the Latin names of bacteria and viruses used in biological warfare. DEFCON is an installation comprised of 2 line drawings covering 2 walls of the gallery. The first image is a fictitious depiction of NORAD (North American Aerospace Defense Command) taken from the 80's film War Games; the second image is a flowchart diagram of Stenbom's own personal list of threats to her daily existence. Alive - An Essential Guide to Survival is the latest in an ongoing series of video works in which Stenbom performs an unsettling monologue to camera. Past works have included a guide to her collection of gadgets and a sideways look at US fat fighting drugs. In this case she provides us with a contemporary survival guide made up of official and unofficial advice on how to stay alive such as how to avoid being killed by an accident, by an infectious disease, or how to survive a terrorist attack. In Homeland Security Stenbom presents a humorous and self defeating world of narcissism and neurosis where everything from washing up to watching TV is fraught with danger and the potential to discover another way to die. Cecilia Stenbom was born in Stockholm, Sweden in 1976. She completed a Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree from the Academy of Fine Arts in Helsinki, Finland in 2003 and a Master of Fine Art at Glasgow School of Art in 2005. From 2009 to 2010 she was artist in residence at ISIS Arts in Newcastle. Past exhibitions include: 13th Media Art Biennale, WRO 09 Expanded City, Wroclaw, Poland, Trickle-down Theory, Korjaamo, Helsinki, Finland, The Public Realm Project, Curated by /sLab, Sunderland, TOMORROW THE FUTURE, Fishmarket Gallery, Northampton, All my favourite singers couldn't sing, Workplace Gallery, Connecting Principles, Culture Lab, Newcastle, Breslau CV Rydek, Wroclaw, Poland, King Fisher's Tales, Union Gallery. London, False Witness, Workplace Gallery, Gateshead, Daily Escapes, MUU Gallery Helsinki, Helsinki International, Korjaamo, Helsinki, Formal Dining, Hales Gallery, London, Blue Star Red Wedge, Glasgow International, Glasgow, Glasgow/Beijing, Museum of Central Academy of Fine Art, Beijing, China, Exit Strategy, Tramway, Glasgow, UK, The Games We Play, Magyar Képzömüvészeti Egyetem, Budapest, Hungary, When Subjectivity Meets Reality, Gallery 3:14, Bergen, Norway, One Day Stands, ID:I Gallery, Stockholm, Sweden, Crowd Pleasers, The San Francisco Art Institute and Academy of Fine Arts, San Francisco U.S.A. and Helsinki, Finland. Cecilia Stenbom lives and works in Gateshead, UK. Workplace Gallery was founded by artists Paul Moss and Miles Thurlow; based in Gateshead UK, Workplace Gallery represents a portfolio of emerging and established artists through the gallery programme, curatorial projects and international art fairs. Workplace Gallery opened in 2005 at 34 Ellison Street, Gateshead - part of Trinity Square Shopping Centre particularly noted for its iconic Brutalist car park designed by architect Rodney Gordon for the Owen Luder Partnership, which featured as a key location in Mike Hodges 1971 cult British gangster film Get Carter starring Michael Caine. Since the original gallery was demolished in 2008 as part of the planned regeneration of Gateshead Town Centre, Workplace Gallery has relocated to The Old Post Office in Gateshead; a listed 19th Century red brick building built upon the site where the important British artist, engraver and naturalist Thomas Bewick (1753-1828) lived and died. The next exhibition at Workplace Gallery will be a solo exhibition of new work by Mike Pratt opening on 14th January 2011. To celebrate the opening of Homeland Security please join us afterwards at Central Bar in Gateshead. Kindly supported by:

Paul Merrick: Hive Gallery, Barnsley, UK

Paul Merrick Hive Gallery, Barnsley, UK. 13 November - 19 December 2010 http://www.hivegallery.co.uk Paul Merrick's continued interrogation of painting and process has seen him evolve from working exclusively with oil paint and two-dimensions to a broader enquiry of what painting is and pushing his practice into new territories. This solo exhibition at HIVE Gallery presents new works and includes paintings, sculpture and the made with the ready-made. Untitled (Big White) and Untitled (Stalactite Red) are examples of this new investigation into scale, colour and surface. The materials used in both works have been scavenged or recycled. Untitled (Big White) has been assembled using discarded paintings, primed boards, off cuts and seat cushions from the artist's studio. The multiple surfaces have been composed to create a large-scale relief. The backs of old paintings now face the viewer. Subtle textures and surfaces of 'off white' tones that have resulted from their neglect in the studio have now been placed on the gallery wall. Stains, drips, smudges and dusty fingertip marks combine to create a new painting. By contrast Untitled (Stalactite Red) consists of a series of found aluminium shop panels sought from a scrap yard. Merrick's enquiry here concerns itself with the raw matter of the support plane. No paint has been applied to its surface, Merrick choosing instead to respond to the material's found condition to create the final artwork. Cut and bolted together the staggered arrangement of panels form a layered surface that is hung high on the gallery wall and which thus creates a dynamic relationship with the surrounding architecture. Untitled (Grey Fold) 2009 and Box #1 (Yellow) 2010 are further examples of Merrick's new approach to painting and incorporate found surfaces. The spray paint primer in Grey Fold transforms the painting away from its rigid stainless steel material to something more delicate, picking out its subtle folds and surface imperfections. Box #1 confronts the viewer immediately with its physical presence in the gallery space. The found object protrudes from the wall asking to be investigated. In contrast to Grey Fold the yellow high gloss finish of Box #1 seduces the viewer to question the work more closely. Alongside the wall-based works Merrick has created a series of sculptures that resemble familiar domestic objects like chairs, tables and beds. Merrick here creates sculptures from found functional objects like IKEA tables or frames and building objects that recreate the archetypal forms of much loved, familiar objects. Image: Paul Merrick Untitled (Construction White), 2010 chipboard, ply, mdf, sterling board, perspex and cushions height 220 cm (PME0093)