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Sculpture Lounge Summer Show 2021

2021 exhibition website header

26th June – 8th August
General opening Saturdays & Sundays and by appointment throughout the week

Though some restrictions may remain we are delighted to announce the details of our first public exhibition since lockdown.

As many of you will know Sculpture Lounge is currently home to 20 talented independent artists and makers. The studios/workshops that they work from are the heart of Holmbridge Mill, the building in which we all reside.

Our summer show has always been a chance to celebrate the endeavours of our group, many of whom will have their work on display. This year we have cast our curatorial net wider than ever and our summer exhibition will contain sculpture, paintings, print (& more) of nearly 50 artists from across the UK.

From the digitally manipulated bronze avatars of Joseph Hillier cast and the exquisitely engineered playfulness of Martin Smith, to the sumptuous contemporary landscape painting of Sculpture Lounge’s Julia Brown.

All of this sits alongside a carefully curated exhibition of hand-printed, limited editions from some of best printmakers in the country.

We look forward to welcoming visitors to explore the large exhibition area and for the opportunity to showcase the accomplishments of the talented artists on display.

Looking forward to seeing you all soon.

Exhibitors

Adrian Sestini, Andy Cropper, Andy Singleton, Anna Marrow, Brendan Hesmondhalgh, Bronwen Sleigh, Claire Hynds, Claire Phelan, Damon Price, David Mayne, Dominic Hopkinson, Emma Lawrenson, Faye Mannion, Gail Dooley, Helaina Sharpley, Ian Chamberlain, Ian Scaife, Jamie Frost, Jim Bond, John Holt, Joseph Hillier, Kate Jordan, Libby Ward, Lorena Herrero, Magnolia Restrepo, Martin Norman, Martin Pearce, Martin Smith, Michael Thacker, Mick Kirkby-Geddes, Neal Crampton, Paula Dunn, Pendula Cashmere, Peter Rapp, Rachel Higgins, Ralph Shuttleworth, Rebecca Appleby, Rob Hall, Secret Shed Company, Steven Heaton, Susan Page, Tilly Dagnell, Tim Copsey, Tristram Thirkell, Underway Studios,

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Gail Dooley

Studio holder Gail Dooley was selected for a prestigious public commission last year. You can still see the sculpture, Tidal Shame, in Liverpool. ⁠⁠


Liverpool BID Company, in collaboration with Liverpool Parish Church and city gallery and art organisation, dot-art, give local artists a unique opportunity to have their work showcased on The Liverpool Plinth – an empty platform which overlooks Chapel Street and the waterfront at the side of Liverpool Parish Church, also known as St Nick’s. As well as the fantastic exposure and publicity given to the artist and their work, they will also receive a £1,000 prize!⁠⁠
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The Liverpool Plinth, in the mould of Trafalgar Square’s Fourth Plinth, laid empty since the removal of Brian Burgess’s “Christ on a Donkey” several years ago.⁠⁠
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First set up in 2018, each sculpture is chosen via an annual competition open to artists living or working in the north of England (North West, North East, Yorkshire and the Humber).⁠⁠

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©-Liverpool-BID-Company-The-Liverpool-Plinth-Tidal-Shame-by-Gail-Dooley-2020-2021-24

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©-Liverpool-BID-Company-The-Liverpool-Plinth-Tidal-Shame-by-Gail-Dooley-2020-2021-7


images courtesy of Liverpool BID Company
https://www.liverpoolbidcompany.com/portfolio-items/the-liverpool-plinth/

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Sculpture Lounge resident shortlisted for prize

Julia Brown `Playground of the Rich and Famous`

Sculpture Lounge resident, contemporary painter Julia Brown has recently been shortlisted for the prestigious Cooper Prize 2021, with her painting ‘Playground of the Rich and Famous’.

The Cooper Prize, (formerly known as South Yorkshire Open Art Competition), is open to artists who are born, live or work in South Yorkshire and aims to reward and celebrate excellence and originality across a range of media.

Julia’s painting will form part of an exhibition alongside the other shortlisted artists at The Cooper Gallery, Barnsley, originally opening on the 20th March 2021. COVID restrictions means that this will now be delayed—but hopefully not for too long. The prize exhibition will run until Saturday 12 June 2021 (once doors are open). The competition will include work by professional, amateur and student artists, and you can vote for your favourite in the People’s Choice Award.

In light of the ongoing restrictions caused by the pandemic, this year’s Cooper Prize will take place online, live on Facebook & You Tube. The prize winners will be announced through a Virtual Awards Ceremony at 7pm, on Friday 19 March 2021 (running time approx. 30mins). You can view it using the links below:

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New Studios – available soon

We are pleased to announce that two new studio/workshop spaces are rapidly approaching completion. The spaces are approximately 150 square feet, self-contained, lockable and with their own metered power supply. Both units benefit from 24/7 access and are situated on the first floor where there are extremely high ceilings with lots of natural light from the large mill windows and north facing rooflights.

These units are offered on a long-term lease and have been designed to allow emerging artists a more affordable space to build their career from. We look forward to applications from recent graduates and emerging artists with drive and creative vision from any discipline that can reasonably be achieved in the available space.

We encourage applications from all backgrounds and communities as we are committed to having a studio that is made up of diverse skills, experiences, and abilities. (Note: we are based within an old building which is still being developed and there remain some barriers to access for those with limited mobility)

Please send expressions of interest, a brief statement regarding your expectations and predicted outcomes from a studio space along with a link to an online portfolio/website to info@sculpturelounge.com

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Artist’s Residency at Prehistoric Site

John Holt, one of the artists at Sculpture Lounge has been invited by the management team at Creswell Crags Museum and Prehistoric Gorge to become its “Artist in Residence”.

Creswell Crags is an internationally significant limestone gorge honeycombed with caves that provides a fascinating glimpse of life rock art in Britain. The cliffs in the ravine contain several caves that were occupied during the last ice age, between around 43,000 and 10,000 years ago. Its caves contain the northernmost cave art in Europe. Hundreds of protective marks, also known as Witches Marks, have also been discovered at Creswell Crags. This is believed to be the largest collection ever found in the UK.

Academic and TV presenter, Professor Ronald Hutton, an authority on folklore, said:
“Creswell Crags has already amazed the twenty-first century with its revelations of Palaeolithic designs. Now it does so again with a fresh one of medieval and early modern ritual protection marks on a huge scale, making a very important contribution, at a stroke, to one of the most significant current areas of new scholarly research.”

John will make a series of new ceramic sculptures and a series of large drawings inspired by the cave art and the landscape of Creswell and the Witches Marks found in the caves at Creswell which will be exhibited alongside the historical finds from the caves at the Study Centre.

He will also conduct workshops and give a series of online talks on “The Power of Symbolism”. This work will all be made in his studio at The Sculpture Lounge.

www.creswell-crags.org.uk

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Delays Delays Delays

When a workshop space became available early this year the newest initiates to the Sculpture Lounge family Julia Brown and Damon Price had planned to be in and making work in the studio that they will be sharing – circumstances had a different idea as Julia explains below…

“Moving into a studio at the Sculpture Lounge has been a surprisingly difficult affair. With the spaces much in demand, Damon has been on the waiting list for over two years. So you can imagine how overjoyed we were when the opportunity finally presented itself in February. But frustratingly, we’re still not quite in yet. Smack bang in the middle of painting the walls and floors, upgrading the lighting to LED, and then moving our stuff into the newly brightened space, Covid-19 swept the county and Lockdown happened.

Reasoning it would be safer to hang fire and keep our equipment at home—currently overflowing from our packed garage—our lovely new studio still needs christening. We are getting there though.As the lockdown restrictions on travel are starting to ease, I’ve finally been able to order and install a big new glass palette. We’re getting work benches, storage and furniture in, and soon we’ll be able to get our kit in and start working.I feel lucky I’ve been able to fit my painting work into our conservatory (no 6ft canvases though) because it’s kept me sane throughout the last 8 weeks. I think I would’ve gone nuts if I hadn’t been able to paint. And Damon has managed to grit his teeth at the lack of space and sculpt in the garage, between planning a new self-built furnace so he can do bigger, more efficient bronze pours more safely.

We’re both over the moon to be part of the Sculpture Lounge family—and we’re excited to take advantage of the fantastic new space and get stuck into tons of new work.”

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Jamie Frost – Press Coverage

Sculpture Lounge’s own Jamie Frost was recently interviewed at the Sculpture Lounge by The Yorkshire Post.
Though he might look a bit serious in this picture he really enjoyed the experience and the results are a fascinating read – the interview can be found here

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Lockdown Creatives

Despite the lockdown of recent weeks we have had some wonderful insights into the creativity that can occur when artists draw on their inner resourcefulness. Paul of Pendula Cashmere has written this wonderful piece about his process and how he’s adapted to the changes:

“I have been learning to Sprang. Which is a finger weaving technique that dates back to the Vikings and possibly the Egyptians. The resulting fabrication is one that is very stretchy and open in one direction and can be used for all types of garments or accessories. There are good YouTube tutorials, but I have made the perfect frame to make small pieces of sprang. Two side pieces with a fixed dowel cross piece and at the other end of the side pieces, there are grooves to enable adjustments to tension as the weaving progresses and the threads tighten up.

I have also discovered that the gorgeous sheep and lambs in the field outside my house belong my next door but one neighbour and she is letting me have some wool from the sheep to spin into yarn so I can make from sheep to fabric. Been getting the old spinning wheel spruced up ready to get to work. Big learning curve ahead…attached are pictures of the sheep, spinning wheel, the sprang frame and a bit of woven sprang fabric.”

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COVID-19 announcement

In light of the current health emergency Holmbridge Mill, is temporarily closed to visitors.

Courses and classes are cancelled or postponed for the immediate future (please contact the event organiser for further information)

Studio holders may still access their workshops for work which cannot be completed at home (maintaining social distancing measures whilst in the building) so we continue to be productive in our isolation.

Stay in touch we`ll let you know as soon as we’re ready to received guests again to see you all again.

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Sculpture Lounge – a limited company

We are pleased to announce the incorporation of Sculpture Lounge as a limited company. Many of you will know that Sculpture Lounge is a long running project with amazing potential and now with appointed directors we are really excited to expand on these possibilities.

Founder, Brendan Hesmondhalgh is joined by studio residents David Fulford and Jamie Frost and we have begun an ambitious programme of improvements at the studios.

Sculpture Lounge has always been blessed to be supported by incredible ‘can do’ individuals. This new formal structure, sustained by a commitment from the new directors to devote significant time from their own creative practice will enable more strategic and successful developments.

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Jamie Frost

Brendan Hesmondhlagh

David Fulford