NCA CUrates
No Last Dance
NCA Gallery
Thursday 25th April - Saturday 18th May
open: Thursday - Saturday, 12 - 5pm
Events:
Opening Celebration: Sat 20th April, 4 - 7pm
Communities of Practice - Symposium: Sat18th May, 2 - 5pm
Late Shows: Sat 18th May, 6 - 11pm
Ian Gonszarow - European Theatre (2002) Acrylic on canvas
A group exhibition and one-day symposium exploring how time is intrinsic to the act of making and viewing painting. The exhibition will showcase exciting approaches to painting that will be a stimulus for discussion about how artists sustain a motivated and ambitious practice with or without public recognition.
The curation of the exhibition has been informed by the writing and practice of Isabelle Graw and Charline von Heyl. Isabelle Graw is an art writer who is interested in painting as a “formation”, something that continues to maintain itself under new historical conditions. As well as offering a way of discursive communication, painting operates at a non verbal level through bumps, marks, material and colour. Artist Charline von Heyl suggests that the moment of beholding a painting is the most important for her. That activation of the space between the viewer and the picture externally by its material presence and internally through shifting thoughts as the mind wanders is crucial. This process with a painting is not one the beholder can take away, but one that needs to be replayed and updated again and again whether positive or defensive.
In an interview, Phyllida Barlow (1944 - 2023) observed that many artists' work is never, or rarely gets seen. She raises interesting, but rarely discussed ideas about an artist’s visibility and the inherent heroism in working with little external validation. This point was echoed in a series of conversation events held at NCA leading up to the exhibition, which identified questions of artistic visibility and agency as a central concern. These conversations also played an important role in the curation of the exhibition and will be explored further in the symposium.
Exhibiting artists
Helen Baker
Virginia Bodman
Deborah Bower
Annette Chevallier
Sarah Cooney
Charles Danby
Jennifer Douglas
Bob Edgson
Natalie Gale
Rachel Gibson
Ian Gonczarow
Lorraine Lawler
Rachael Macarthur
Paul Merrick
Abdullah Qureshi
Ellen Ranson
Louise Scott
Andy Sheridan
Helen Smith
Sue Spark
Flora Whiteley
Becky Woodhouse
A gallery floorplan with a full list of artworks in the exhibition can be downloaded here.
Interview with Helen Baker and Sue Spark, the curators of No Last Dance.
The film was made by Kaledioscope CFA.
Communities of Practice - Symposium
Panel 1 - The Material of Making
This conversation examines the challenges artists face when making work and the various forms of support they can draw on to enable them to sustain their practice. Speakers will consider the concept of “Hope Labour” (free and under-compensated work in the ‘hope’ that it will provide value in the future) and examine how studio practice is inherently tied to the acts of making and viewing artwork
Chaired by Helen Baker (Artist and Co-curator of No Last Dance)
Speakers:
Dr Ewan Mackenzie (Lecturer in Work and Employment, Newcastle University)
Louise Scott (artist)
Ian Gonczarow (artist)
Sarah Cooney (artist)
Due to technical difficulties the sound quality off the recording is poor in places.
Panel 2 - Alternative Futures
This discussion reflects on the professional and educational landscape that artists need to navigate and how that landscape is being reimagined by artists, curators and educators. The speakers discuss what an alternative creative environment could and should look like and what individuals or institutions are doing already to question and rethink the way they work. Questions of self-organisation, resistance and collaboration will be considered. This panel discussion is intended to build on perceptions of artistic visibility, which informed some of the curatorial thinking for No Last Dance, and seeks to examine how those working in the arts can actively affect change.
Chaired by Sue Spark (Artist and Co-curator of No Last Dance)
Speakers:
Paul Haywood (Dean of Academic Programmes, UAL: Central Saint Martins)
Suzy O’Hara (Curator and Lecturer in Digital Arts, Sunderland University)
Abdullah Qureshi (Artist, Curator and Lecturer in Fine Art, Northumbria University)
Jackie Goodman (Founder, director and project manager, The Feral Art School, Hull)
