17 - 25 June 2016
Gallery open: 17, 18, 19, 24 & 25 June, 12-6pm
Europa features a plethora of European themed works by a diverse group of artists. The exhibit looks at what Europe means to the artists involved in the weeks before and after the EU Referendum.
Europa is an idea originated by Luci Eyers whose Tranzine updating the myth of Europa will be launched at the opening of the exhibition. The exhibition is staged in Transition’s ShopSpace and features paintings, sculptures, collages, pottery, badges, stickers, postcards, drawings, games, zines and pamphlets, all with a European theme. Participating artists come from the UK and all corners of Europe, including many non-British citizens now living in the UK. Each contributes a very personal look at the European idea whether political, allegorical, idealistic, practical or cynical.
The work on show (and for sale) ranges from Kirsty Harris’ in/out balloons and Henrietta Armstrong’s pottery vessel inspired by the Neolithic Beaker folk to Paul Jex’s erased polling card, Bridgette Ashton’s View Master reel of stereoscopic photographs of handmade gingerbread depicting famous landmarks of Europe, Amy Pennington’s The Biased Wheel Of Staying In The EU game and Olha Pryymak’s paintings inspired by social media coverage of the conflict in Ukraine. Also on show are Susie Hamilton’s painted classic European fiction book covers, Jenny Campbell’s deconstructed Europa sculpture and numerous paintings, postcards and zines examining subjects such as booze cruises, twin towns, European film, a Rubens painting dedicated to European peace and archetypal European symbols.
The participating artists are: Karen Apps, Henrietta Armstrong, Bridgette Ashton, Tom Banks, Madison Beach, Siobhan Belingy, Jenny Campbell, Violet Frances Cato, Annabel Dover, Luci Eyers, Carlo Formisano, Archie Franks, Patrick Galway, Felix Gannon, Thomas Goddard, Susie Hamilton, Kirsty Harris, Stephen Harwood, Anoushka Havinden, Georgia Hayes, Ivaylo Hristov, Antonia Jackson, Paul Jex, Paul Johnson, Laura Keeble, Elizabeth Kwant, Delaine Le Bas, Alastair Levy, Em Lockren, Cathy Lomax, Evariste Maiga, Mia Maric, Alex Michon, Christina Mitrentse, Kate Murdoch, J A Nicholls, Suzanne O’Haire, Tony O’Keefe, Lucienne O’Mara, Jane Oldfield, Ross Patrick aka ASL, Alex Pearl, Amy Pennington, Olha Pryymak, Leah Rainey, Adele Reed, Matt Rowe, Anne Ryan, Alli Sharma, Alison South, Corinna Spencer, Charlotte Squire, Helen Stratford and Lawrence Bradby, Mimei Thompson, Patricia Thornton, Katherine Tulloh and Tim Barnes, Tisna Westerhof.
Suzanne O’Haire
The Europa theme definitely prodded me. My ongoing concerns around displacement and the longing to belong have become more apparent/readable in recent work. Made from found objects and discarded matter, the series islomania points towards small reconstructed islands, rafts and platforms which blur the line between either safe havens or abandoned sites. I’m fuelled by social and global concerns, but the intention is for these forms and structures to perform as metaphors - an implicit rather than explicit political stance. The hope is to be seductive and evocative with potential to create shifts and tensions, where work can be conflicting and compatible: endurance versus fragility, present versus lost and temporal versus permanency.