“Provocative in concept; mischievous in execution; razor-sharp in critique; tender in its absurdity; anarchic in curation; poetic in disorder; unflinching in honesty; generous in its contradictions— [Curatorially Almost…] is a hall of mirrors for art’s elusive truths, as playful as it is profound.”
Vous Sans Gants, 2025
Featuring over sixty artists+ that have been invited, in collaboration, and from The Chavez-Dawson Family Collection. Plus a bespoke ‘RIPAGE’ workshop by Julie McGuinness, and performances in collaboration with artist curator Daniel Pryde-Jarman featuring his ‘Crate on Pallet’ alongside guest artists, curators, and critics: Katie Morrison (PINK), Robert Dickinson (Art Monthly), Alan Baker (Co-Director Air Gallery) to name a few…
Premieres: Saturday 5th July 2025,1pm to 8pm(ish)
On until: Saturday 27th July 2025
Closing event: 26th July time 7pm to 10pm…
Where:
Rogue Artists’ Studios CIC
Platform Space (1st Floor)
2-6 Barrass Street,
Openshaw,
Manchester.
M11 1PU
Email: mikechavezdawson@yahoo.com | +44(0)7801 030290
“…The Curatorial Artwork: Process as Revelation…”
At the heart of ‘Curatorially Almost…’ lies Chavez-Dawson’s pioneering notion of the ‘curatorial artwork’—a term crystallised during his 2012 Lionel Dobie Project residency, where curation itself became the medium.
For this exhibition, he revisits and remasters key components of that practice: archival works are recontextualised, unresolved ideas find new form, and collaborative gestures are amplified.
Among them, ‘seed works first debuted at Manchester Contemporary’ resurface, now mounted on midnight-blue rough-painted walls—a visual metaphor for the liminal space between intention and accident.
A newly edited ‘process video’ captures the residency’s fluidity: moments of erasure, rearrangement, and intuitive leaps that define Chavez-Dawson’s method.
Since his 1999 MA graduation, his practice has embraced ‘serendipity over rigid construction’—a shift toward allowing works to “reveal themselves” through curation.
This ethos permeates several new ‘mini-shows-within-the-show’, where his own micro-works dialogue with pieces from ‘The Chavez-Dawson Family Collection’ and contributions from admired peers.
Whether through altered ego projects, repurposed printed matter (in this case FLUX Magazines FLUX SPACE**), or collaborative hybrids, the exhibition asserts that ‘curation is not just a framework but a tenacious, generative act.’
+ PLUS SIXTY ARTISTS:
+ Anthony Barkworth-Knight, Tom Baskingfield, BANK, David Beech, Ada Bond, Andrew Bracey*, Megan Brierley, Sandra Bouguerch, Lindsey Bull*, Billy Childish, Jane Chavez-Dawson, Mike Chavez-Dawson, Dora Densham Bond, Karen Densham, Jo Clements, Craig Delaney (We Are Farmed)*, Jake & Dinos Chapman*, Gordon Cheung**, Jo Clements*, David Crow**, Rob Dune, Sam Ely with Lynn Harris (Unrealised Projects), Keith Farquhar, Leo Fitzmaurice, Ryan Gander*, Garth Gatrix, Liam Gillick*, David Gledhill*, Rachel Goodyear, Frock Goddess (in collaboration with Chavez-Dawson), Peter Hammer (in collaboration with Chavez-Dawson)*, Tony Heaton, Mishka Henner*, Hilary Jack*, Vincent James*, Nick Jordan, Peter Kennard**, Karol Kochanowski, Jeffrey Knopf* (in collaboration with Chavez-Dawson), Emma Lloyd*, Hannah Lister* (née Farrell)*, Jim Medway*, Frog Morris*, Jen Orpin, Susannah Pal, Vince Paterson*, Daniel Pryde-Jarman, Brian Reed*, Sophy Rickett*, James Roper*, Kenny Schachter*, Richard Shields*, Liam Scully**, Bob & Roberta Smith*, Steve Sutton, Ruby Tingle*, Nye Thompson, Emma Tuck, Lauren Velvick*, Paul Vivian*, Jessica Voorsanger*, Jude Wainwright*, Gavin Wade with Elmgreen & Dragset**, Bill Drummond**, Ai Weiwei*, Tash Wilcocks*, Simon Woolham (aka The Frog)*, Evita Ziemele*.
*denotes from The Chavez-Dawson Family Collection, **FLUX SPACE a printed matter gatefold curated by Mike Chavez-Dawson in Flux Magazine. A homage to the late John Walsh**.
Email: mikechavezdawson@yahoo.com | +44(0)7801 030290
Further info:
“…Artist-curator Mike Chavez-Dawson is a dynamic force in contemporary art, seamlessly bridging the worlds of institutional critique, underground experimentation, and commercial art spheres.
With a career spanning over three decades, his interdisciplinary practice—spanning performance, curation, and cultural subversion—challenges traditional hierarchies while fostering dialogue between established and emerging artists.
Chavez-Dawson’s work has been showcased at major venues including Tate Britain, the Barbican, and ICA, while his pieces reside in prestigious collections such as Manchester Art Gallery and The Whitworth, alongside private holdings of figures like Anish Kapoor and Frank Cohen.
A lecturer at the University of Salford and a fixture at Rogue Artists’ Studios since 2000, he operates as both a provocateur and a connector, engaging with galleries like UNION and Paul Stolper without ever being confined by them.
His practice—playful yet incisive—interrogates belief systems, value structures, and the evolving role of the artist in the age of AI. Whether through exhibitions, performance, writing, or collaborative mischief, Chavez-Dawson remains a vital, unpredictable presence in the art world—one who thrives in the spaces between definitions…“
Chavez-Dawson’s interdisciplinary practice reworks the visual language of art history and cultural institutions as a tool to de-code the structures of cultural reverence and the role of the artist curator as mischief maker, rule breaker and activist in the age of AI. His activities are based on an interest in belief and power systems that explore themes of value, meaning, and cultural creative conviction.
Mike has exhibited and performed nationally and internationally at TATE Britain, the Barbican, ICA, the British Art Show 7 at Nottingham Contemporary, ART BUSAN in Seoul, South Korea, Juxtapose Art Fair with PINK in Aarhus, Denmark, ZsONAMACO MEXICO ARTE CONTEMPORANEO 2017, Design Miami, GEEK Art in Tokyo and Osaka, Japan, The Whitworth Art Gallery, HOME, Castlefield Gallery, and the Grundy Art Gallery.
His works are held in public collections at Manchester Art Gallery, Bury Art Museum, the Pod Collective (Coventry), and The Whitaker Art Gallery and Museum, as well as in numerous private collections including major collector Frank Cohen, Sir Anish Kapoor, Adam Cohen (A Hug from the Artworld) and Dr Ben Ware to name a few.
He won the Whitstable Biennale Open in 2008, was selected for Fountain 17 as part of Hull’s UK City of Culture program in 2017, and was long listed for Artangel’s 2013 Open, making the top 100.
He’s been featured in numerous arts and culture periodicals; Art Monthly, Art Review, AN, Flash Art, Frieze, Contemporary, Circa, Corridor 8, The Fourdrinier, White Heat, FLUX Magazine, and DAZED…
Parties
An exhibition by David Gledhill
14 June – 27 July 2025
Project Space
Rogue Artists’ Studios CIC
4 Barrass Street
Higher Openshaw
M11 1PU
Private view Saturday 14 June 2-5pm
Closing event Saturday 26 July, 2-5pm
Open Fridays and Saturdays 12-5pm
By appointment davidgledhillartist@gmail.com
When is a work break a party?
According to the aphorism, ‘a picture paints a thousand words’*. However, one word with contemporary resonance has multiple meanings and suggests unlimited visual manifestations. At a time when words and their usage are more fiercely debated than ever, this project explores some of the visual dimensions of one of the most compendious and controversial terms of all. From family celebrations to political associations, Parties evokes a range of activities that may have purely recreational, or alternatively, world changing significance.
Parties brings the domestic shindig, Christmas, wedding, fancy dress and work bashes together with party politics to explore the extraordinary range of images that language can evoke. Combining paintings based on amateur photographic source material discovered in flea markets, with posters and objects drawn from the artist’s own collection of vintage propaganda material, Parties takes a historical perspective on the power of the word to shape our lives.
* Attributed to Frederick R. Barnard. First appeared in Printer’s Ink in December 1921.
Junctures: Exhibition and Performance
Exhibition by: Małgorzata Drohomirecka
Performance by: Magdalena Kij
Dates: April 3 – April 30, 2025
Venue: Rogue Artists’ Studios CIC 4 Barrass Street, Openshaw, M11 1PU, Manchester
Private View: April 3, 6:00 – 9:00 PM
Live Performance: April 3, 7:00 PM.
Opening Hours: Weekends, 12:00 PM – 6:00 PM, or by appointment.
To schedule a visit, contact maggiestick.art@gmail.com
Rogue Artists’ Studios presents Junctures. A solo exhibition by visual artist Małgorzata Drohomirecka, running from April 3 to April 30, 2025. The opening night will feature a live performance directed by Magdalena Kij. Both artists are rooted in Polish culture and are part of a generation that experienced the transition from communism to neoliberal democracy. They explore critical societal issues, including power structures, the intersection of state and church authority, and women’s roles in this transformation, viewed from Central and Eastern European feminist perspectives. The series of 14 paintings intertwines the narrative of the Stations of the Cross with the heroine’s journey confronting the patriarchal rules of church and state, using symbols from historical, religious, and popular culture. Liberation in Progress by Magdalena Kij is a performance responding to the exhibition’s themes. Incorporating movement, projection, sound, lighting, handcrafted costumes, and found objects, the piece explores oppression, objectification, guilt, and rebellion—ultimately expressing hope for dismantling patriarchal structures. With contributions from Evita Ziemele, Megan Brierley, and Matylda Augustynek, the performance weaves elements of protest and absurdity, challenging traditional narratives and inviting the audience into an immersive experience of transformation and resistance. A video presentation will accompany the exhibition, featuring artists in conversation with Urszula Ulla Chowaniec, an expert in cultural studies.
Together, they explore the exhibition’s critical themes, offering deeper insight into its narratives and context. Małgorzata Drohomirecka is a Polish-born, London-based visual artist with a background in painting from the Academy of Fine Arts in Gdańsk. Her work intertwines painting, screen-printing and 16 mm camera-less film. Through her recent paintings she addresses issues of marginalization, hierarchy, and power structures. She also questions prevailing narratives around feminism and cultural identity. Małgorzata has taken part in solo and group exhibitions both in the UK and abroad. Among her solo exhibitions are “Wa(y)st(o)ed Freedom” at Centrala, Birmingham (2021), and “Polonia_2020,” an online project as part of the Culture on the Net grant programme run by the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage of the Republic of Poland (2020).
Magdalena Kij (known by the pseudonym Maggie Stick) is a Polish artist based in Manchester, UK, with a studio at Rogue. Her work explores identity and transformation. She uses performance, drawing, installation, printmaking, and music to engage audiences and provoke thought. Magdalena has exhibited and performed across the United Kingdom, Poland and Thailand. She has a Bachelor of Arts degree in Fine Art from the University of Salford (where she graduated with First-Class Honors) and is currently studying for a master’s degree in socially engaged art practice at the same institution. Magdalena is also committed to community engagement – working with marginalized groups and raising awareness of hate crimes.
Don’t Blink!
Rogue Platform Space
April 5 – May 28, 2025
Private view: Saturday April 5, 2-5pm.
Artists: Heather Alderson, Lisa Blake, Iqra Tariq, Darren Tolliday, Hannah Wooll
Speaking is like making ripples in a pool of water, and a face is like the wall that sends the ripples back. If we speak forcefully , we send waves out towards the other face, and in a moment we can expect to feel the response. Faces move in this way even when they are not speaking.
James Elkins – The object stares back : on the nature of seeing
This exhibition showcases a selection of portrait painters with a variety of approaches to the genre. The portrait’s faculty for emotion and communication still captivates contemporary artists who wish to explore new possibilities of conveying the human presence. The one question which links each painter on display is “ how do I capture this centre of expression and to what ends? ” Themes of faith, belonging , conflict , and alienation are mined as vehicles for these modest sized works. A myriad of visual language is arrived at through a diverse range of processes, techniques and concerns.
Heather Alderson focuses on political actors, many with repressive intentions.
“Though the contradictions of war seem sudden and simultaneous, history stalks before it strikes. Something tolerated soon becomes something good”
Fugitive Pieces, Anne Michaels
Lisa Blake showcases black females as strong independent beautiful women in their own right. Her paintings capture the strength and resilience of these dynamic women who have all succeeded in their respective industries despite the obstacles in their way. Broad brushstrokes create a schematic language which captures the essence of each individual.
The work of Iqra Tariq draws inspiration from Mughal Miniature painting, a South Asian artistic style and technique. She particularly enjoys working with watercolour and gouache. Elements of nature and oval shapes occasionally appear in the paintings. The goal is to create contemporary portraits whilst incorporating and adapting Mughal techniques.
Darren Tolliday Using single frames from contemporary independent cinema, characters are removed from their original context and a new narrative begins. Some portraits are duplicated yet the visual language may slightly differ. Emotional distress and inertia are explored, which is expressed through conventional paint modelling and occasional gestural application. The works are displayed together as if monitors are being run at the same time. The characters are operating beside each other, creating new stories and episodes.
Hannah Wooll explores domestic space, interior life and the value associated with related objects and imagery. Her most recent practice is inspired by junk-shop sourced found media; starkly-lit, contrived photographs lifted from the pages of outmoded hobbyist manuals, ceramic figurines, family photographs, and internet sourced images. Wooll incorporates elements of these eclectic images into her paintings, collaging them together. She plays with scale and tests notions of familiarity, splicing and assembling, both referencing and deconstructing the original imagery.
Rogue regrets that the Platform Space is not wheelchair accessible.
Thresholds
Project Space ROGUE ARTISTS STUDIOS
Exhibition Opening and Preview – Saturday 8th March 12 – 4pm
Continues Fridays and Saturdays 12 – 4pm or by appointment until March 29th
For more information, questions about the work and for viewing by appointment, please contact Phil Porter at philporter114@gmail.com
Artists exhibiting: Lucy Evans, Neil Greenhalgh, Marguerite Heywood, Not Quite Light, Phil Porter, Wanda Roslyn.
Thresholds is an exhibition which takes as its subject the area just to the north of Manchester’s city centre, along the Irk valley towards Collyhurst. This is a part of the city which is now seeing massive new building and redevelopment, and at an extremely rapid pace. But interspersed amongst the new, the gleaming, the smooth and neat, are fragments of the old, the neglected, the eroded: thresholds to another kind of space and time, the historic soul of the city interwoven with the new, the disused, the overlooked, the transitional.
The six artists featured in this exhibition have also each been inspired by a series of monthly walks through the area over the last year, and have responded to it each in their own particular way and through a diverse range of media. These include drawing, painting, photography, film, music, video, 3D work and textiles, which come together in a unique dialogue with this area, a hugely significant part of which is Angel Meadow. This mass pauper burial site, of such huge significance to the history of the city, also features as a major part of the exhibition, potently symbolizing as it does a threshold between the past and the present, the living and the dead.
Thresholds will utilise diverse juxtapositions of artworks as a kind of parallel to walking through this area of Manchester: an assemblage of unexpected elements joined together by moving through the exhibition space, which it is hoped will make for an exciting and unexpected experience.
ROGUE OPEN STUDIOS 2024
An opportunity to visit the studios of over 80 of Manchester’s leading contemporary artists.
Saturday October 5 – Sunday October 6
12 – 5pm both days
Opening party Saturday October 5
2-5pm
Free entry and parking
Coffee stall
Refreshments
ROGUE WOMEN 3
This October sees the return of Rogue Women after two previous successful exhibitions. Rogue Women 3 brings together the work of women artists from Rogue Studios with a broad range of practices, exhibiting both nationally and internationally. The exhibition will showcase their talents alongside a number of selected guest artists from around the UK.
Throughout art history women have been largely invisible, ignored and excluded. Our aim is to place women in the spotlight, show solidarity and to continue to expand our connections with the wider community of women artists.
Rogue Women is organised and co-curated by Margaret Cahill and Jen Orpin
Our Guest curator this year is Leanne Green head of exhibitions at Tate Liverpool.
Exhibition Dates
Sat 5th October – Sun 27th October
Open Saturdays and Sundays from 12 – 4pm and by appointment during the week.
PV Thursday 3rd October 6 – 9pm. All welcome
The AIR Open 2024 Returns for its 7th Year with an Expanded Showcase at Rogue Artist Studios.
The highly anticipated AIR Open 2024 is back for its seventh year, and this year’s event promises to be the most expansive and exciting yet. Hosted at Rogue Artist Studios CIC in Higher Openshaw, the exhibition will feature an extraordinary array of contemporary art from some of today’s most innovative artists.
This year’s showcase, with no thematic constraints, will present a diverse collection of contemporary works including video art, fine art, drawing, sculpture, textiles, and mixed media. Each piece was meticulously selected by a distinguished judging panel through an open call submission process, ensuring a high standard of artistic excellence.
Visitors to the exhibition will have the opportunity to cast their vote for their favorite works, adding an interactive dimension to the event.
In addition to the physical exhibition, AIR Open 2024 will debut a virtual gallery on the opening night, showcasing the top 100 submissions that didn’t make the final cut. This initiative allows a broader audience to engage with the exceptional talent on display. For more details, follow our social media channels.
The exhibition kicks off with a private view on Thursday, August 15th 6-9pm, and will run until September 21st, culminating in an awards afternoon to celebrate the outstanding contributions of the artists.
The AIR Open 2024 is proudly sponsored by Castlefield Gallery, Saul Hay Gallery,
and Jacksons Art Supplies.
Event Details:
Opening Night & Private View: Thursday, August 15th
Exhibition Dates: Friday 16th – September 21st
Location: Rogue Artist Studios CIC, Higher Openshaw
Awards Afternoon: September 21st
For further information, please contact:info.airgallery@gmail.com
Stay connected with us on instagram.com/info.airgallery / facebook.com/AIRExhibitions
About AIR Gallery CIC: AIR Gallery is a contemporary arts organisation specialising in providing opportunities for emerging and early career artists across the field of visual arts in the North West.
From May 18th to June 29th join Neo: artists as they take over the Project Space at Rogue. Based in Bolton but with members from across the North West, Neo: is a thriving community of artists from all walks of life who come together to share their own unique and exciting practice with one another, and now with you.
Opening: Saturday May 18th at 12pm – 4pm
Open every Friday and Saturday from 1pm to 6pm until June 28th. Please message neo@neoartist.co.uk to make an appointment at least 3 days before your visit. Thank you.
RITUALS: WIP (Weaving in Progress)
Jenny Steele & Gorton Weavers
1st-30th June 2024
Rogue Platform Space (1st Floor)
Rogue Artists’ Studios, 4 Barrass Street
Higher Openshaw
Manchester
M11 1WP
Opening Event: Saturday 1st June 1.30-4pm
Opening Hours: Saturday 8th, 22nd & 29th June 12- 4pm
To view by appointment at other times, email jennysteelestudio@gmail.com to arrange a time.
RITUALS: WIP (Weaving in Progress) is an open studio exhibition of two large scale woven sculptures by visual artist Jenny Steele, including weaving by local Gorton weavers. Part of Jenny’s current research, engagement and production project, Rituals for Tomorrow, she hasexplored sustainable ways to use weaving that supports our wellbeing, connection to nature and sense of belonging.
Combining local flora, such as leaves and grasses from Gorton parks and Fallowfield Loop with bright, colourful locally sourced ex industrial yarns saved from landfill, Jenny has created a celebratory, festive sculpture upon a 200 year old Lancashire cart. The work references the historic local ritual of the rush cart ceremony, which travelled throughout the streets of Gorton and other Lancashire and Yorkshire towns, uniting the community with nature and its seasons.
Over one month, Jenny taught back strap weaving skills and passementerie techniques to female former members of Gorton Visual Arts group. Weaving and tassels in plants and yarn made by the new Gorton weavers are included in the large woven sculpture upon a 200-year-old Lancashire cart.
The open studio exhibition will also provide an opportunity to view the second woven sculpture in progress grow throughout the month, a large semi-circular woven work to be completed and installed on a wooden boat in July 2024 at Art Gene, Barrow, Cumbria, working with a new set of weavers.
RITUALS: WIP (Weaving in Progress) will also displays woven samples, drawings and artworks using plant life and yarn by Jenny Steele, and weaving samples by Gorton weavers, as well as films in progress.
Gorton Weavers are: Jean, Julie, Lucianne Cannavan, Margaret Painter, Pat, Rebecca, Rita Oakley and Sue. With huge thanks for their time and participation.
Rituals for Tomorrow is supported by a Project Grant from Arts Council England.
Jenny Steele is a Scottish artist who has been living in Manchester since 2011, and her current practice uses heritage crafts of hand weaving, basket weaving and passementerie to create sculptures that explore ideas of ritual, grief, festive celebration and belonging.
Prior to that, Jenny’s work largely used processes of drawing, painting and printmaking and focused on the restorative effects of coastal and nature environments. Recent commissions include Textile City for Museum of Science and Industry (2022), The Joy of Union, MET, Preston City (2022), Our Library of Light, At The Library, Crosby (2019) and The Seafront, Art B&B (2019).
Recent residencies include Arnis Residency, Arnis, Germany (2022) Cove Park, Scotland (2021), Fountainhead Arts, Miami, USA (2017) and This House for Building, The Tetley, Leeds (2017). Recent solo exhibitions and projects include; The Maiden Voyage, George’s Dock Plaza, Liverpool, 2019, Why be exotic in private?, The Foundry Gallery, London (2018-19), This Building for Hope, The Midland, Morecambe (2017), and An Architecture of Joy, Grundy Art Gallery, Blackpool (2016). Jenny is a graduate of Goldsmiths MFA (2007) and BA Fine Art DOJCAD, Dundee (2002).
For more information about the Rituals for Tomorrow project, visit Jenny’s weekly blog here
Website: JS (jennysteele.co.uk)
Instagram: @jennycsteele
Access information: We regret that Rogue Artists’ Studios is not wheelchair accessible on the First Floor.
WILLIAMS AND SON
Frank Williams and Alun Williams: paintings and drawings
March 23 – April 27 2024
Private View: Saturday March 23, 12-4pm
Open Saturdays and Sundays, 12-4pm and by appointment (contact alunw@pm.me)
This exhibition presents the respective work of a father and son who came to their mutual passion for painting via different routes and whose subjects and techniques are apparently unrelated. One of the premises of the exhibition has been to see if the shared (artistic) DNA of the two artists rises to the surface in any perceptible way. As the first member of the family to attend university, Frank Williams had a career as an architect, and while draughtsmanship was a constant, he was only able to focus fully on painting and drawing much later in life. In consequence, his work has only rarely been presented in public, and this is in contrast to the work of his son, Alun, who was fortunate to study painting (with the clear support of his parents!) and who has exhibited regularly ever since in the UK and overseas.
Alun Williams has been committed to an exploration of the human presence in his paintings, frequently through a desire to represent specific characters, often historical ones, but rarely with any concern for “resemblance”, as such. This comes from the notion that paint has far more potential and potency for expression than merely by acting as a vehicle for observation. In this quest to give paint as rich a voice as possible, Williams also regularly resorts to referencing Art History. When Frank Williams began immersing himself more intensively in the challenges and pleasures of painting and drawing, about twenty years ago now, his reflex in terms of choice of subject was perhaps a conventional one: portraits, landscapes and the repetitive practice of life-drawing. However, behind this, it’s interesting that when contemplating some of his architectural studies, the viewer might discern a small element or device that would seem to be not strictly necessary – and therefore somehow of great interest! In a similar way, his portraits and landscapes, and other unrelated works, often include a more or less unexpected detail, element or protocol, which serves to activate the work in a more dynamic way than it perhaps might seem at first sight.
Frank Williams studied architecture at Manchester University, and ended his career by returning to teach in the new MMU School of Architecture, Faculty of Art and Design. In between, he worked first as architect and later as town planner for the City of Manchester, then for private architectural practices, and for an architects’ cooperative. He also later studied architectural conservation and has campaigned, often successfully, to save buildings of historical interest in Manchester.
Alun Williams was born in Manchester, studied painting at the University of Wales and Goldsmith’s College in London, as well as at the National Art School in Bourges, France. He has exhibited regularly, mostly in the UK, France and the USA, in galleries, non-profit venues and museums, and his work is represented in numerous private and public collections. He has also been active within organisations offering opportunities to artists. For example, he was one of the founders of the Triangle-Asterides contemporary art center in Marseille, France, is currently co-chair of the Triangle Arts Association in New York, and was founder and director of Parker’s Box, an experimental, artist-run gallery in Brooklyn (2000-2013).
The Paths We Cross
Briony Jenkins, Stephen Milner, Mike Thorpe
“In this journey of life, even though we may begin at different times and places, our paths cross with others so that we may share our love, compassion, observations and hope.” (Steve Maraboli).
It is so of these three artists, living in Aberdeen, Sale & Macclesfield, brought together via Newlyn in Cornwall, their paths joined by a casual conversation. A path that had crossed forty years before, unknowingly for Briony & Steve as students of Manchester School of Art, but all three universally connected by one birthplace – Manchester. Now joined in passion for their art, this a first opportunity to engage with their home city.
Their work encompasses painting, collage and film, and embodies each individual’s search for a greater connection through their materials and experiences of landscape and the human form.
SPARK: Artist Interventions in a Time of Crisis
An exhibition of a network of North-West artists concerned with intervention in the climate crisis
Rogue Project Space
2-6 Barrass St, Manchester, M11 1WP
PV: 8th December, 2023, 6-8 pm
9th December – January 13th
Opening Times: Saturday, Sunday 12-4 pm
Or by appointment
Curated by Sophy King and John-Paul Brown.
Featuring: Artist A & Artist B, Chris Alton, John-Paul Brown, Eleanor Capstick, Nerissa Cargill Thompson, Maya Chowdhry, Helen Clare, Louise Ann Clarke, Sara Kristina Davies, Sarah Feinmann, Sarah Grant, Anthony Hall, Jackie Haynes, Tracy Hill, David Jacques, Adele Jordan, Nick Jordan, Lizzie King, Sophy King, Jane Lawson, Helena Lee, Ruth Moilliet, Rob Mullender-Ross, Mike Perry, Sam Pickett, Gwen Riley Jones, Lucy Roberts, Heather Ross, Rae Story, Steve Sutton, TEA, Debbie Yare
SPARK is the first exhibition by members of the SPARK Artists Network, who have been meeting since June 2022. Their monthly events have included guerilla gardening, moss walks, exploring urban and rural ecologies, tours of political sites and exhibition visits.
The exhibition aims to engender conversation and collaboration and foster the cross-pollination of ideas. The artists examine how their interventions can affect change, questioning whether art can be productive with or without overt activism. The exhibition, programme and conversations deriving from them will shape the future direction and plans of the Spark Artists Network.
There will be a programme of events alongside the exhibition:
8th December, 6-8pm, Private View with Performances from Artist A & Artist B, and Maya Chowdhry
9th December, 11-4pm SPARK #18: Talks and panel Q&A by invited speakers Rebecca Chesney, Liz Postlethwaite and Debbie Yare
16th December, 4-6pm Observed Ecologies: A programme of short films exploring the interconnections between human activity and the natural environment, selected from Braziers International Film Festival by Nick Jordan
7th January 2-4pm What is the Role of the Artist at the End of Time?: Workshop led by Rae Story
13th January 10am SPARK #19: Forest Bathing Walk with Niki Colclough. Part of the project ‘Rituals for Tomorrow’ by Jenny Steele. Followed by a Spark meeting – Where Do We Go From Here?
13th January, 2pm, Photography Talks and Networking – Climate Aware Photography Projects with Helena Lee
The SPARK Artists Network is open to all. Their meetings are usually on the first Saturday of the month. You can follow them @sparkartistsnetwork on Instagram or Facebook or email sparknetworkmcr@gmail.com for more information.
shifting ground
paintings by Margaret Cahill
Rogue Project Space
4 Barrass Street
Manchester
M11 1PU
November 4 – November 25
Open Saturdays & Sundays 12 – 4pm
P.V. Saturday November 4, 2-5pm
Shifting Ground is a retrospective exhibition of work resulting from projects undertaken in Europe in the last two decades alongside recent new paintings.
The work draws on the artists experiences of places containing resonances of social, political or historic changes. From an abandoned Russian airbase in Estonia after the collapse of the Soviet Union in the 90s through post conflict Kosovo to the 1936 Olympic village outside Berlin.
The images from these sites become the starting point for paintings of spaces balanced between the real and imaginary that look beyond the landscape to distil the essence of a place capturing the sensations it evokes.
The paintings are rooted in the experience of these places but at the same time are mediated notions of landscape refracted through memory.
The exhibition explores themes of memory, history and place and reflects on our relationship with landscape in a shifting and unstable world.
For more information or to arrange an appointment outside opening times please contact
Margaret Cahill at: margaretcahillartist@yahoo.co.uk
ROGUE OPEN STUDIOS 2023
Rogue Artists’ Studios & Project Space
4 Barrass Street
M11 1WP
Opening Party 2-5pm
Saturday 30 September 2023
Open Studios
12-5pm
Saturday 30 September & Sunday 1 October 2023
The ‘Rogue Open Studios’ is an opportunity to visit the workspaces of more than 85 leading contemporary artists. Rogue artists work across media including drawing, painting, printmaking, sculpture, collage, glass, textiles, film, photography, sound art, performance and assemblage, and will be on hand over the weekend to welcome visitors to our magnificent Grade 2 listed buildings. In addition to the Open Studios, Rogue’s Project Space, acclaimed by Time Out Manchester as one of the best art galleries in the city, will host ‘TEES’, an exhibition exploring the T-Shirt as art form. In our brand new Platform Space on the first floor Rogue artist Joe Hancock will present ‘Working in Progress’. All are welcome to the opening party on Saturday 30 September from 2-5pm.
Free entry and parking.
Coffee stall
Wheelchair accessible (ground floor only).
Or contact: rogueartistsstudios@yahoo.co.uk
Rogue Project Space
Ground Floor Gallery Space
2-6 Barrass St
Manchester, M11 1WP
TEES
An exhibition exploring the t-shirt as art form
Preview: 30 September 2023, 2-5pm
Show runs until 31 October 2023
Opening Times: 12-4pm
Or by appointment
Curated by Mike Chavez-Dawson & Co. Assisted by; Jamie Kirk, Grecia Balassone, Vincent Patterson, Maggie Stick and John Paul Brown.
Featuring Sir Peter Blake, Jeremy Deller, David Shrigley, Bob and Roberta Smith and artists from Rogue Artists’ Studios, Paradise Works, Suite, Bankley Studios, AWOL Studios, Islington Mill and beyond..
Ten Obstructions are a porous group of ten artists that came together in late 2019 through bOlder, a Castlefield Gallery artist development programme. This is their sixth group exhibition and they continue to offer each other support critique encouragement and friendship. The exhibiting artists are:
Maya Chowdhry, Jane Fairhurst, Sarah Feinmann, Sabrina Fuller, Claire Hignett, Christopher Rainham and Ian Vines.
In Gladly Beyond Ten Obstructions embrace the opportunity for experimentation that Rogue Project Space offers. The title comes from ee cummings, himself a radical experimenter with form: ‘somewhere i have never travelled, gladly beyond any experience’.
Gladly Beyond journeys literally, visually and imaginatively through time and through space. It explores the possibilities of visual representation: through light, through simplification of form, or by playing with scale. It delves into the nature of perception, the process of looking, the connections and dialogue between visual representation and the natural world – capturing a feeling, a pulsing life essence.
Journeys of the imagination take us from fabled and mythic magical gardens to speculative fictions. We leave behind the constructs and fictions that justify existing hierarchies and inequalities – all responding to the inexorable march of man-made climate change.
Rogue Women Returns.
An exhibition bringing together and celebrating the work of women artists from Roque Studios plus invited artists from around the UK.
Please join us for our PV on Friday 5th May 6-9pm
Exhibition runs from Sat 6th May to Sun 28th May
Open Saturday & Sunday 11am – 4pm
Weekdays by appointment only
Ground Floor Gallery Space
Rogue Artists’ Studios CIC
2-6 Barrass Street, Higher Openshaw
Manchester M11 1PU
In November 2019 in response to the gender imbalance in the arts we organised and co-curated a hugely successful exhibition of all female artists entitled ROGUE WOMEN. This was shown in the large ground floor Rogue Studios Gallery Space with most female members taking part.
As the dialogue surrounding the inequality of women in the arts continues, we have decided to create ROGUE WOMEN 2.
We have a 50% representation of female artists practicing both nationally and internationally here at Rogue and the exhibition will showcase the talent of up to 40 of the women members alongside a small number of selected guest artists from around the UK.
Throughout art history women have been largely invisible, ignored and excluded. Our aim is to place women in the spotlight, show solidarity and to continue the discourse around these issues.
Our guest curator will be Natasha Howes,
Senior Curator at Manchester Art Gallery
Spring as a Rebel, Act I & Act II
John-Paul Brown
Act I 01.04.23 – 16.04.23
Act II 22.04.23 – 29.04.23
Open Saturdays and Sundays 12-6pm*
*excludes Easter Sunday
Evening Performance with artist Kelly Jayne Jones
18.04.23 6-8pm
John-Paul Brown explores what it is to communicate in an age plagued with disinformation and polar opinion; how the present day written word and verbal languages are failing to connect, unify, inform and address the climate emergency. A rise in climate-related anxiety is effectively shutting down social capacity to sustain a collective demand for change, and feel optimistic for our futures.
Embracing a no blame, no shame approach to discussing carbon footprints, he aims to create a safe space for open dialogue and shared learning, juxtaposing global issues such as deforestation, mass migration, permafrost, new energy etc, with notions of self care, resilience, and future affirmations.
Taking inspiration from the ancient visual languages of cave art, and the Rosetta Stone in the age of short-hand emoji chat, he has produced a series of symbols and signifiers to encourage climate curiosity, self education and continued conversation. He explores alternative ways of low-carbon art-making through material choices, utilising non-recyclable materials, and post-art recycling considerations.
The show is presented in two acts. Act I offers research and development through a series of installations, climate equations, AI sound, and painting. Act II explores performance and ritual meditation with artists Kelly Jayne Jones, transformation of Act I materials, and regeneration of self.
About John-Paul Brown
John-Paul Brown (b.1981) graduated with a BA (Hons) in Photography from Blackpool & Fylde College in 2004. His practice ranges from documentary photography and drawing, to large scale installation and social engagement. His work addresses concerns relating to the climate and ecological emergency, non-recyclable materials, urban environments, and low-carbon art-making.
He combines research with personal experience to create layered narratives of social present, exploring the material choices and positive roles artists can play in tackling the climate crisis.
About Kelly Jayne Jones
Kelly Jayne Jones is a Manchester-based artist making work that combines performance, installation and sound. She is self-taught and began working in DIY experimental noise music. Her practice has expanded to include sound installation, dance, gesture, sonic drawings, stone sculpture and film scores.
She is interested in creating multi-sensory experiences that create possible conditions for communication and exchange. She is currently exploring animist ideas around the breath and spirit of mountains and rivers and how we can reconnect with our planet by means of ancient and modern rituals.
Thirty years of making art and running projects and programs in France and the USA
Artist’s talk with Alun Williams and Claire Lesteven
Rogue Residency Studio Friday February 24 at 7pm. Admission free.
Alun Williams
Alun Williams was born in Manchester, UK and studied painting at the University of Wales and Goldsmiths’ College, University of London. He has exhibited internationally, and his paintings are represented in private and public collections in Europe and the USA, where he has lived since 1998, dividing his time between New York City and Brittany in the north west of France.
Since more than a quarter of a century, Williams has devoted much time and energy to running non-profit organizations offering time and space to artists, including the Triangle Arts Association, New York, where he has been a Board member since 1993, and is currently co-chair, and Triangle-France in Marseille (of which he was a founder in 1995). He was also a founder of Parker’s Box, an experimental gallery in Brooklyn (2000 – 2013) and more recently a new project, Minoterie21 in Brittany, France organizing various contemporary art projects and residencies.
Williams has lectured or taught in numerous art schools and universities in Europe and North America. Most recently he was artist in residence/ visiting professor at the School of Visual and Media Arts, University of Quebec in Montreal, Canada.
In 2004, Alun Williams was honoured by the French government with the medal of Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres, in recognition of services to international culture.
He is represented by Galerie Anne Barrault in Paris.
www.galerieannebarrault.com/en/artiste/alun-williams/
Claire Lesteven
Born in Paris where she spent her childhood, Claire Lesteven then lived in Brittany, then in Nantes where she studied at the École Supérieure des Beaux-Arts. After a new period in Paris, she moved to Marseille where she became one of the founders of the Triangle France Association, whose mission is to support artists through an experimental program of projects, residencies and exhibitions.
At Rogue Studios, Clare will make a new work that will be a fusion between landscapes photographed recently, and new landscapes from the Manchester area with a camera-obscura, and distant views borrowed from the history of painting, to include examples from the City Art Gallery collections. http://www.h-gallery.fr/claire-lesteven/
Noses
Rogue Platform Space
1st Floor
2-6 Barrass Street
Openshaw
Manchester
M11 1PU
Ongoing from 13th February – 17th March.
The space is open to the public on Friday 17th March from 4-7pm.
Following the success of their duo show at Manchester’s Holden gallery in August 2022 (curated by Julia Makojnik), Steve Oliver and Jon Whitter will spend 21 days in Rogue’s first floor project space, exploring making and installation strategies in real time. Expect actors, plasterers, 3D scanners and screens.
Free
Access is via two flights of stairs to the first floor
Holding Time
Preview: Saturday 18 February 4-7pm
18 February – 12 March
Open Saturdays 12-4pm and by appointment
Holding Time is an exhibition by Ruth Murray and Linda Hemmersbach. It explores their mutual fascination with the materiality of paint and its ability to evoke places and sensations through colour, surface and touch. Focusing on the relationship between ourselves and the environments we inhabit and through which we move, the exhibition aims to show the many shared avenues that their studio practices have taken. Themes such as landscape, geological matter, deep time, the body and birth, are presented as constellations of memory, consciousness and hope.
How to get to Rogue: 2-6 Barrass Street, Openshaw, Manchester M11 1PU. Rogue is easily accessible by rail. Take the Rose Hill Marple train from Platform 2 at Manchester Piccadilly and alight at Gorton station. Leave the station and turn left. Walk 50 yards and turn left again into Beeth Street. Rogue is straight ahead of you. By car, turn off the Ashton Old Road onto Lees Street towards Gorton Railway Station. After approximately 300 yards take a right turn into Beeth Street. Rogue is straight ahead of you.
Artists in Residence
Alun Williams and Claire Lestevan
Artists Talk Friday 24 February 7pm
Front Nursery building at Rogue Studios
Admission and parking free
Born in Paris where she spent her childhood, Claire Lesteven then lived in Brittany, then in Nantes where she studied at the École Supérieure des Beaux-Arts. After a new period in Paris, she moved to Marseille where she became one of the founders of the Triangle France Association, whose mission is to support artists through an experimental program of projects, residencies and exhibitions.
At Rogue Studios, Clare will make a new work that will be a fusion between landscapes photographed recently, and new landscapes from the Manchester area with a camera-obscura, and distant views borrowed from the history of painting, to include examples from the City Art Gallery collections.
Alun Williams was born in Manchester, UK and studied painting at the University of Wales and Goldsmiths’ College, University of London. He has exhibited internationally, and his paintings are represented in private and public collections in Europe and the USA, where he has lived since 1998, dividing his time between New York City and Brittany in the north west of France.
Since more than a quarter of a century, Williams has devoted much time and energy to running non-profit organizations offering time and space to artists, including the Triangle Arts Association, New York, where he has been a Board member since 1993, and is currently co-chair, and Triangle-France in Marseille (of which he was a founder in 1995). He was also a founder of Parker’s Box, an experimental gallery in Brooklyn (2000 – 2013) and more recently a new project, Minoterie21 in Brittany, France organizing various contemporary art projects and residencies.
Williams has lectured or taught in numerous art schools and universities in Europe and North America. Most recently he was artist in residence/ visiting professor at the School of Visual and Media Arts, University of Quebec in Montreal, Canada.
In 2004, Alun Williams was honoured by the French government with the medal of Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres, in recognition of services to international culture.
He is represented by Galerie Anne Barrault in Paris.
www.galerieannebarrault.com/en/artiste/alun-williams/
Artist Artiste
Board of Directors, Triangle Arts Association, New York
Board / CA Triangle Canada, Montréal
Président, Minoterie21, Guéveneux, Peillac, France
Membre d’honneur, Triangle France-Astérides, Marseille
CA Art Contemporain en Bretagne
www.galerieannebarrault.com/en/artiste/alun-williams/
www.triangleartsnyc.org
www.trianglenetwork.org
www.minoterie21.tumblr.com
ww.artcontemporainbretagne.org