TRIPLE DECKER

TRIPLE DECKER

Wednesday 25th May 6-10pm

Open studios: A Bite-sized Open Studios of Selected Artists' Work 

Exhibition: Intersections Group Exhibition Curated by Will Marshall

Party: 8-10pm Celebrating our 5th Birthday Party & New Studio Unit Launch with Bar, DJ and Street Food

Address: Paradise Works, Irwell House, East Phillips Street, M3 7LE

As part of A Modest Show, the collateral programme to the British Art Show 9, Paradise Works presents Triple Decker, a tempting three-tier art event stuffed to the brim with contemporary visual artists, exhibition previews & launches.

For starters we offer a bite-sized open studios of selected artists' work, followed by Intersections, a group exhibition curated by Will Marshall, featuring artists who make work relating to their identity and sense of self. The exhibition challenges us to reject division, and instead recognise the common ground that we share. Exhibiting artists include Omid Asadi, Lindsey Bull, Jez Dolan, Sadé Mica, Ruth Murray, Linnet Panashe Rubaya, Deshna Shah, Chester Tenneson and Alistair Woods. The exhibition continues Saturdays 12 pm- 4pm, or other times by appointment until the 2nd of July. 

This will be followed by the launch of Division of Labour’s new gallery alongside the unveiling of Paradise Works’ new Unit 2 ground floor studio expansion. 

We close with a party to celebrate Paradise Works’ 5th birthday - expect a commissioned performance by Richard Shields, film screenings by PW studio artists, a DJ, donations bar, street food and cake until 10 pm! 

This celebratory evening is a chance to meet and see the work of artists and curators living and working in the cities of Salford and Manchester today. 

The gallery is on the first floor and is only accessible by staircase.

Triple Decker Facebook Event // Intersections Facebook Event

Cardboard Dinnerware

Workshop Dates: Saturday 3rd & Sunday 4th September 11-3pm via Eventbrite booking.

Private view: 9th September 6-9pm & 10th September 12-4pm

Address: Paradise Works, E Philip St, Salford, M3 7LE

Join Paradise Works artist Maisie Pritchard for a two-part workshop, where participants are invited to make odd and bizarre dinnerware objects to form a new collaborative sculptural work.

This project will explore design and making processes by giving low value materials such as paper and cardboard a new lease of life by transforming them into sculptural design objects, and playful pieces of dinnerware. Participants will learn how to use a new material and technique developed by Maisie as a part of her visual arts practice.

Participants will also have the opportunity to see their work displayed as an installation at Paradise Works on the 9th September 6-9pm & 10th September 12-4pm, followed by an exhibition displayd at Castlefield Gallery New Art Spaces, Wigan from 12th-30th September.

Access: Paradise Works is accessible by two flights of stairs.

This event is funded by 'A Modest Show’, the collateral programme to a British Art Show 9 and supported by Arts Council England.

Interview with Jez Dolan - Artist in Residence at Manchester Art Gallery

This month we’re featuring studio member Jez Dolan, who is currently the artist in residence at Manchester Art Gallery as part of the exhibition Derek Jarman Protest!, a major retrospective of one of the most influential figures in 20th century British culture.

For the past decade Jez Dolan’s practice has underlined the intersections between queerness, sexuality, identity and memory. These interests are expressed in a range of mediums including, drawing, installation, printmaking and performance, utilising the medium which best expresses the message for each individual work.

We caught up with Jez to ask how the residency is going.

What’s been your highlight of this residency so far?

I’ve spent every Thursday afternoon for the run of the exhibition in the gallery, and spending so much time embedded in the work has been such a joy and a privilege. I feel such a deep attachment for the whole exhibition, it's been brilliantly curated by Fiona Corridan from MAG, and it's been a real pleasure to work with her. I’ve done a lot of tours for visitors which has been a brilliant experience, and have met lots of people who weren’t familiar with Jarman, and have loved discovering his work. Also I’ve met lots of people who had a personal connection to him, which has brought everything much closer. After one tour I was approached by a woman who had been one of the nurses who nursed Derek through his last illness. Her and four other colleagues had made a special trip to see the show. It was a really emotional moment. 

How has Jarman influenced your work?

Jarman has been my artistic hero for many years, which is why I kind of threw myself at MAG to make the residency happen. I think above all it is his attitude to making work that I most admire. The breadth and diversity of his practice was huge, especially considering how debilitated he was towards the end of his life with HIV/AIDS. He ignored boundaries, and worked with what inspired him, and who inspired him. He was a huge collaborator, and worked over years with a ‘family’ of artists and practitioners across art forms. He was hugely political, and really important 

What do you think is Jarman's legacy to queer art today?

This is one of the things I really wanted to explore in the residency, and I think maybe we have just started to scratch the surface with this. Lots of younger queer artists have become involved in the participatory and discussion sessions, many of them knowing little or nothing about him. Some have really started to engage with his work on a serious level. The exhibition has been so well received by so many people, and I really think that we are on the edge of a new found appreciation and understanding of his continuing significance. I really hope so.

NANCY (2012) Digital photograph, Anders Als Die Andern, Custom printed flags (2018) and The Graeco-Roman View of Youth (2014) Screenprint on Fabriano paper by Jez Dolan.

There are several upcoming events as part of Jez’ residency you can get involved with:

Photograph – Lee Baxter

STORMY WEATHER - a day of debate, defiance & celebration, Manchester Art Gallery Friday 8th April

Jez Dolan is collaborating with the Queer British Art Research Group to present a day of debate using the exhibition and Jarman’s practice as a leaping-off point for discussion and interventions. The symposium will welcome artists, academics, curators, students, writers and those with a general interest in Jarman’s life, works and legacy.

The Canonisation of David Hoyle, Manchester’s Gay Village & Manchester Art Gallery Saturday 9th April

 As a finale to Derek Jarman PROTEST!, Jez Dolan and The Manchester Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence are holding the canonisation of performance-art icon, David Hoyle, hereafter to be referred to as Saint David of the Avant-Garde, in the renowned splendour of Manchester Art Gallery.

The Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence are a worldwide order of queer nuns, the tenets of the order are the promulgation of universal joy and the expiation of stigmatic guilt. It is with this in mind that The Sisters will be making their first English Saint since Derek Jarman (Saint Derek of Dungeness) in 1991. The ceremony will begin with the procession accompanied by a Parade Band from New York New York, in Manchester’s gay village to Manchester Art Gallery.

Claire Tindale Artist Film by Steve Iles

For today’s news item we're featuring Paradise Works studio member Claire Tindale, who predominantly works within sculpture and site-responsive installation. In an artist film created by Steve Iles and commissioned by Paradise Works, we'll look back at one of her major installations Felt, a site-responsive exhibition, originally commissioned by Saltaire Inspired and exhibited in Salts Mill , 2021.

Watch the Artist Film below where we follow Claire's creative process as she develops her installation at Paradise Works Gallery in preparation for her exhibition Felt, shown in the roof space of Salts Mill, Saltaire (2021). The film was created by studio member Steve Iles and commissioned by Paradise Works. Felt was supported by Saltaire Inspired, Arts Council England, Curtis Wool Bradford and The Campaign for Wool.

Claire used wool as the central material to explore the industrial heritage of Salts Mill and surrounding village. Creating villages of small hand-crafted houses, each piece was carefully sculpted using special needle-felting techniques to a design developed by Claire and shared with the public through a series of workshops at Salts Mill. Responding to the historic and contemporary contexts of the mill and village, Felt explored the relationship between industry and home, the communities that develop and the supportive, symbiotic relationship that results. You can read more about the exhibition at Salts Mill here.

"I work predominantly with sculpture and installation, which is often site-responsive. Variations in scale are used to explore physical and psychological spaces in connection with aspects of the human condition, and the associated vulnerabilities that can entail. Resultant pieces are, at times, playful, while at others can be emotive or thought provoking.​

The miniature as a conceptual framework has become a focus of my current practice; the meaning of which has evolved over a series of projects. Initially it emerged in response to the conditions of dementia and Alzheimer’s disease with the creation of a 1/12th scale model of a care home, conveying contraction in relation to mental capacity and physical space"- Claire Tindale

New Board Members

We're delighted to announce that we have appointed Kerenza McClarnan, James Kington and Jessica Murphy to our board, who will join existing members Kwong Lee and Alex Bennet. These new members new will strengthen our skillset and enable us to take the next step in our development as an organisation.

• Kerenza McClarnan is a visual arts producer with a specialism in public space, social engagement and urban development. Kerenza has produced large-scale, high profile projects with Liverpool Capital of Culture, Liverpool Biennial, Channel 4 Big Art Project, and Manchester International Festival. She is an associate curator for In-Situ, Pendle.

• James Kington is Strategic Head of Estates and Asset Management at Stockport Metropolitan Borough Council. James is an experienced chartered surveyor with a demonstrated history of working in the real estate industry. Previous positions include Head of Strategic Asset Management for Salford City Council and Associate Director for Asset Management with CBRE.

• Jessica Murphy is Business Development Officer for a-n, The Artists' Information Company where she supports fundraising and delivery of the organisation's mission and business objectives. Jessica has a background in fine art, marketing and fundraising, and is passionate about campaigning for the value of artists in society and their means to establish sustainable careers.

Eco-Printing Workshop

This summer local residents joined us for an Eco-printing workshop, creating unique prints using recycled and natural materials collected from the Irwell Riverside and Bridgewater Community Garden. The workshop was led by studio members Gwen Evans, assisted by Arthur Simons and Maisie Pritchard and funded by Salford CVS.

By experimenting with heat, dye baths and rust participants created beautiful effects on paper, here are some examples of prints made by local residents!

Paradise Works Open Studios 2021

Open Studios: Saturday 20 November, 12-10pm + Sunday 21 November, 12-5pm

TMC After Party: Saturday 20 November 6-10pm with Shindigger donations bar, street food and DJ set by Richard Shields

Exhibition: ‘Fight the Moon’ solo exhibition by Katie Tomlinson, curated by Zoe Watson

Studio Tour: Sunday 21 November 12.30-1.30pm join Jenny Walker for a whistle-stop tour of Paradise Works, featuring selected artists’ studios

Since launching in 2017, Paradise Works has established itself as a base for a proactive membership of interdisciplinary artists with a dynamic gallery and public events programme.

Paradise Works opens its doors to the public for its annual Open Studios event and to play host to The Manchester Contemporary After Party. Over Saturday and Sunday thirty-eight contemporary visual artists will share their work alongside a series of exciting exhibitions and events. 

Over the course of the weekend we are pleased to present Multiples, a series of affordable contemporary artworks for sale by studio artists and friends, available at our booth at The Manchester Contemporary and at Paradise Works Open Studios. 

We are also delighted to share work by our 2021 Artist in Residence Deshna Shah, made in response to the local Jain population in Salford and Greater Manchester.   

Saturday night kicks off at 6pm with the preview of the solo exhibition Fight the Moon by Katie Tomlinson, which aims to stimulate debate around feminism, structures of power, and the united experiences of womxn. 

To close Saturday evening, we’ll be hosting The Manchester Contemporary After Party with DJ set by studio member Richard Shields.

Sunday’s free studio tour led by artist & producer Jenny Walker will explore the goings-on of an artist-led space, with informal talks from selected studio artists.

We’re pleased to profile our 2021 bursary graduates: Gabriel Kidd, awarded the Manchester School of Art Studio Bursary Award, and Jeffrey Knopf, awarded the University of Salford Graduate Scholarship.

Studio Artists

Bren O’Callaghan, Naomi Harwin, Elizabeth Wewiora, Tasha Whittle, Richard Shields, Louise Adkins, Gwen Evans, Richard Hughes, Danielle Swindells, Bridget Coderc, Hilary Jack, Winter & Kurth, Maisie Pritchard, Robin Broadley, Louise Giovanelli, Robin Megannity, Laura Weaver, Evan Soule, Jack Brown, Nicola Ellis, Jez Dolan, Alyson Olson, Lucy Harvey, Kieran Leach, Precious Innes, Claire Tindale, Sarah Blaszczok, Lauren Steeper, Tannah Cantrell, Gabriel Kidd, Jeffrey Knopf, Chris Paul Daniels, Nina Chua, David Mackintosh, James Ackerley, Steve Iles.

Paradise Works is kindly supported by Arts Council England, The Manchester Contemporary, University of Salford Art Collection & Manchester School of Art.

Graphic designed by Charles Brown.

Access: Paradise Works is accessible by two flights of stairs.

Open Studios Facebook Event // Fight the Moon Facebook Event

Eco-Printing Workshop

Join us at Paradise Works on Saturday the 2nd or 9th of October 11am - 3pm for a free Eco-Printing workshop lead by artists Gwen Evans and Maisie Pritchard.

Create your own unique prints using recycled and natural materials collected from the Irwell Riverside and Bridgewater Community Garden. By experimenting with heat, dye baths and rust you will create beautiful effects on paper. All materials will be provided and this workshop is suitable for adults.

To take part in the workshop please email paradiseworksproject@gmail.com by the 29th of September, to confirm which day you would like to attend. You do not need to attend both days. Preference will be given to those who live within proximity to Paradise Works.

Facebook Event

QUEER LANGUAGE, SECRECY AND PROTEST WORKSHOP

Join us at Paradise Works for a QUEER LANGUAGE, SECRECY AND PROTEST creative workshop lead by artist Jez Dolan on Tuesday the 28th of September, 6.00-8.30pm.

In this free workshop, you will explore the secret language of POLARI, 'the lost language of gay men’ used to both disguise and identify their natures and desires from the 1920s-1970s in England. Discover the origins and contemporary uses of POLARI in the LGBTQIA+ fight for equality and create unique collages and monoprints in response to our conversations. See you there heartface! Bona to vada your dolly old eek!

This workshop is suitable for adults, to take part in the workshop please email paradiseworksproject@gmail.com by the 26th of September.

Paradise Works is accessible by staircase.

Facebook Event

Artist Feature with Studio Member Elizabeth Wewiora

This month we’ve been catching up with studio member Elizabeth Wewiora to ask what she’s been working on in her socially engaged arts practice.

Elizabeth Wewiora is a creative practitioner, curator-producer and educator. Most of her work takes place outside of the gallery, working on short and long-term residency projects, across health, social housing, justice, learning, heritage and environmental settings. Elizabeth works mostly in photography and video, but she is also interested in the expanded notions of what photography can be, often playing with traditional or alternative materials to produce work.

Projects and residencies included in this video; Photographer in Residence for 'The Peoples River Project', with Manchester Histories (current); 'Ferry Folk' cross-site exhibition at Museum of Liverpool & Open Eye Gallery commissioned by Merseytravel and supported by Arts Council England (2018); 'Dressing the Space exhibition' - artist residency with University of Chester (2019); 'Border Bound' residency for the Studio Boat project, supported by Arts Council Wales (2018) and 'Allotment Diaries', Bradley Fold Allotments, South Manchester.

We Are Looking for Two New Board Members to Join Us in Making Paradise Work!

As part of our Arts Council England funded organisational development activity, we are excited to recruit two new board members to help us future-proof our organisation and develop the reach of the contemporary visual arts in our city.

Paradise Works is a contemporary visual arts organisation established in 2017 which provides workspace and peer support to professional artists to create ambitious works and sustainable careers. Our vision is to enable contemporary visual artists to make outstanding work and thrive as part of a vibrant society. We provide studio space and opportunities to a proactive community of 39 artists, our gallery programme hosts a critically engaged programme showcasing works from new and established artists, and our socially engaged activities support artists to diversify their skill set and reach, and support us in exploring the civic role of contemporary visual art.

We are building a diverse board with cross-sector understanding and experience. Previous board experience is not necessary and we specifically welcome applications from those underrepresented in our sector, including minority ethnic, LGBTQI+ and Disabled voices. At this time, we are particularly looking to connect with potential board members with experience in business development, the built environment, marketing and/or community engagement.

Board members will:

-          Receive an induction and covered expenses

-          Develop new skills + be part of strategic decision making

-          Establish cross-sector understanding + network with senior professionals

-          Support the integration and relevance of contemporary visual arts in society

-          Develop and support the profile and network of the organisation

We schedule four quarterly board meetings each year which consist of two-hour online sessions supported by one longer in-person planning session which brings board members together in one place for strategic development. Board members also provide some ad-hoc support via email. We are recruiting members to join for a 2-year term. 

Apply by: Thursday 26 August 2021, 5pm

Interviews: w/c 6 September 2021

Please contact info@paradise-works.com if you have further questions or require this application pack in alternate formats. If you would like an informal discussion about Paradise Works and these roles, please contact Lucy Harvey, Director info@paradise-works.com

Download the application pack using the links below.

Application Pack Equal Opportunities Form

Artist Feature with Studio Member Nina Chua

This month we visited Nina Chua’s studio to see what she's been working on and ask how she starts her day in the studio.

Nina makes drawings using marker pen on paper, notable exhibits include: Painters + Collection, Nakata Museum, Hiroshima 2021; Trinity Buoy Wharf Drawing Prize , Drawing Projects UK, Trowbridge (2020); Everything Must Go, Workplace Gallery, Gateshead (2019); We Are Where We Are, Baltic 39, Newcastle upon Tyne (2018); Oh it is easy to be clever if one does not know all these questions, DOX Centre for Contemporary Art, Prague (2018); Life and Opinions, Tanya Leighton, Berlin (2017). Solo exhibitions include CBS Gallery, Liverpool (2017).

Works in the video include: Marker 500, 2021, Marker 455, 2021, Marker 456, Marker 95, 2019, Marker 182, 2019 and Marker 448, 2021.

Interview with Studio Winner Babs Smith

We’re pleased to welcome Babs Smith to Paradise Works, who joined us through our annual partnership with The University of Salford Art Collection Scholarship. The scholarship, in its fourth-year running, includes a studio for twelve months in addition to mentoring, previous winners include Bridget Coderc, Katie Mcguire and Elliott Flanaghan.

We caught up with Babs, to discuss her work and find out how she’s managed to stay creative in lockdown. Babs will be also taking over the Paradise Works Instagram from the 29th- 31st of March. Make sure you’re following us on social media so you can have an in-depth look into her practice

What drives your work?

My practice is process-led, research-driven and experimental. I often work collaboratively and explore scientific evidence within subjects using facts as a starting point to develop visual metaphors as I investigate and resolve my work. I work with many different mediums as I feel the choice of these mediums is crucial to the final piece. My recent project with tears explored the crystallisation of tears and the human visceral response of crying. This used resin, metal, plaster, print and film to create an installation:

‘On the Verge of Tears’ a place many of us found ourselves in during lockdown.

I believe the physical manifestation into tactile objects brings a subconscious connection through which I can communicate with the viewer. This work has been exhibited in Connections, an online exhibition with the Hanover Project, the group exhibition Flat Instance with Softspot at Mirabel Studios Manchester, and Made it, a graduate exhibition with Short Supply.

Installation created with laser cut Perspex, masonry and light by Babs Smith for ‘Flat Instance’, 2020.

2020 must have been a difficult year to graduate! How did you manage to stay creative after leaving university during lockdown?

I began lockdown by creating an online version of my degree show work, which had reached maquette stage, it was challenging but enjoyable and gave me the opportunity to develop new skills. This led to my working in Virtual Reality, painting and sculpting in a virtual studio from my home using Tilt Brush and Adobe Medium. The process has presented new possibilities to explore visual metaphors in an immersive environment not only in VR and Augmented Reality, but also within my process enabling me to take the work designed in VR off-line. 

‘Verge of Tears’, by Babs Smith, virtual exhibition, 2021.

Name one artist you’re interested in at the moment and why

I am particularly interested in artists making work in Virtual Reality. Tomas Saraceno for example who’s work combines science and art and has recently been tackling arachnophobia with Virtual Reality scenes. I am more interested in the artists' process, research and reasoning behind the work and really don’t like spiders.

‘14 billion’ by Tomas Saraceno. [image: sculpturemagazine.com]

What has winning the studio at Paradise Works meant to you? 

Being part of a community of artists is important to me. Collaboration is key to my process as I work in different media. Having people that you can trust around you from many different disciplines and curation, means that help and support is at hand. I studied at the University of Salford and was familiar with Paradise Works so the transfer from University to Studio wasn’t too difficult and I was lucky enough to have a studio with lots of space and light.

I like to walk and think in the community garden in front of the studios. I believe that community involvement in the work of the studio is important and would like to be involved in some way in the future. 

‘Abstract 2209’, by Babs Smith, created in Tilt Brush, 2020.

What are you looking forward to the most once lockdown is over?

Being back in the studio regularly and discussing work with other artists. The Graduate Scholarship scheme has so far been on-line, so I am looking forward to seeing art exhibitions with the other Graduates and the benefits of spontaneous chatter and a cup of tea that artists do so well!

I am also looking forward to change and new communities emerging, I feel although this time has been unprecedented, I hope to be a part of the change we need to see in the art world, transparency, opportunity and care and consideration of the importance of creative people to affect change.

Interview with Studio Winner Tannah Cantrell

We’re pleased to welcome graduate Tannah Carntell to Paradise Works, who joined us after winning a Studio Bursary through our annual partnership with The Manchester School of Art. The Bursary, which is in its third year running includes a studio for twelve months in addition to mentoring, previous winners include Maisie Pritchard and Gwen Evans.

We caught up with Tannah, to discuss her work and find out how she’s managed to stay creative in lockdown. Tannah will be also taking over the Paradise Works Instagram from the 1st - 3rd of April. Make sure you’re following us on social media for an in-depth look into her practice.

What drives your work?

My practice begins with digital manipulation and ends with oil painting. I create images of familiarity and use elements of juxtaposition and comedy to build my collages. Leisure is the theme I tend to explore most, creating scenes that display relationships between people or interactions with objects. I favour situations of relatability and enjoy using memory or photographs to inspire my creations. I like to be playful within my practice and maintain this mentality throughout. 

‘Cards’, oil on plywood by Tannah Cantrell, 2020.

2020 must have been a difficult year to graduate! How did you manage to stay creative after leaving university during lockdown?

Mostly, I used my memories of togetherness and community to inspire the creation of my art! Most of the work I have completed since graduation features figures in social events and I have enjoyed reliving moments that occurred when not socially distanced. Looking after myself has also been key.

For me, I am most creative when I am at ease – and that has been a struggle for a lot of young people in lockdown: losing jobs, work placements, financial stability etc.

My personal life is greatly echoed in my creative process, and I have enjoyed seeing my practice bloom with the gradual confidence I have gained. 

'Untitled’, oil paint on MDF by Tannah Cantrell, 2019.

‘Portrait of Elke’, by Georg Baselitz. [image: artnet.com]

Name one artist you’re interested in at the moment and why

Georg Baselitz. After reading about Baselitz’s beginnings, I thoroughly enjoyed the rebellion he utilised in creating his upside-down portraits.

I am a huge fan of art that treads a fine line or tests people’s artistic notions.

His confident approach has inspired me to be more abrupt with my own practice and not as timid in the completion of works. I’m also a fan of his mark-making, portraying hair and clothing in almost the exact same stroke. 

What has winning the studio at Paradise Works meant to you?

Since joining the Team at Paradise Works – who have been supportive beyond compare – I feel I have grown as an individual and an artist. This achievement has allowed me to meet some amazing and inspiring people, and has provided me with incredible opportunities. Having a studio space to call your own is an amazing thing, and I feel incredibly grateful every day! 

‘Night at the Bar’, oil paint on canvas by Tannah Cantrell, 2021.

What are you looking forward to the most once lockdown is over?

The lifting of lockdown restrictions will provide the opportunity to travel again and make memories with friends; things that are vital inspiration for my work.

I am excited to connect with and build relationships with my other team members at Paradise Works, looking forward to the first drink we can have together as a group!

The Living Room

Residents and primary school pupils from across Salford have been busy creating their own mini living-rooms, using an activity pack created by studio member Richard Shields, commissioned by Paradise Works and funded by Salford Council.

Having spent much of the year in our living rooms, the project invited children and adults to curate their own 3d living room with miniature art works by Richard Shields. Featuring information on artists like David Hockney and Richard Hamilton, whose work also focused on ideal living room scenes, this fun activity kept the residents of Salford creative during lockdown! Distributed mid October, each pack contained miniature prints based on Richard's artwork, famous figures, carpets and even wallpaper to create mini masterpieces.

Thanks to St Josephs RC Primary School, St Phillips Ce Primary School, St Thomas of Canterbury Rc Primary School, The Cathedral School of St Peter, St John Rc Primary and Charlie Johnston for taking part.

Louise Giovanelli Artist Film

PRODUCED BY STEVE ILES. Featuring Louise Giovanelli

So Louise, tell us about the imagery you use in your work.

“When I look back over a year at what I’ve decided to paint I begin to see similarities within the imagery - a thread in which they all hang. So recently this has included various light phenomena, folds in fabric, glitches of some kind - interruptions of a surface. So I guess there is an internal logic to my choices of imagery but this isn’t available to me at the time. It’s only something I can decipher in hindsight. I always want the narrative to be ambiguous in my work. It’s important for me not to give too much away, as then the painting becomes an illustration - and when that happens it looses power.”

Do you favour a specific technique?

“My technique is very traditional. I use thin layers of paint to build up form, light and shade. Most of the time I make underpaintings which act as a blue print for the rest of the painting.  I am drawn to these techniques because they were based on the core principal of light. The physicality of the light in the room, the light emanating from the primed canvas, and how this interacts with pigment. For my most luminous works I tend to work with single pigment colours in thin layers on a bright white ground. By using the least amount of the best quality pigment you can create real painted light. Mixing pigments on a palette and then applying it just isn’t the same. It produces a deadness.”  

What’s your daily routine in the studio?

“I have a very disciplined studio practice. In the last 6 months leading up to a solo show I was working every day, 12 hours a day. I am a morning person, I can’t work in the evenings or through the night. So I would get up at 5 and be in the studio for 6 then work through to 6pm. That’s not sustainable though ! I can only do it leading up to shows. A normal day without an imminent show is usually 6-7 hours painting, 1 hour reading and my evenings free for socialising or making dinner !  This routine works for me, but I appreciate art can and is often made in other ways and not necessarily in such a structured way. But for me I have to have a disciplined working day and then a gear shift into relaxation in the evening.”

Film commissioned by Paradise Works, and supported by Arts Council England.

Open Online 2020

In place of our annual Open Studios, Paradise Works is pleased to announce the launch of Open Online 2020. Coinciding with what would have been the opening of the Manchester Contemporary, the weekend will encompass the launch of our online Multiples shop, preview of Soft Display exhibition and online film by Steve Iles. We’re excited to reopen our gallery space to the public once more for Soft Display within a limited and socially distanced capacity.

Multiples Shop

Launch: Friday 9th October. 

Originally planned to preview at the Manchester Contemporary 2020 (currently on hiatus due to COVID), Multiples will now be accessible online.

Featuring contemporary artwork by Paradise Works studio members, each piece will be part of a limited-edition series, set at an affordable price and available to purchase through our webpage. 

Supported by Art Council England’s Emergency funding grant, the shop is designed to financially support our studio members who have lost income or work, through the commissioning of new and original artwork.

Now Live!

Soft Display 

Preview: Saturday 10th October, by Eventbrite booking. Or exhibition film available online.

Open: Saturdays October 17th- November 28th, by Eventbrite booking.

 Artists:  Dean Kenning, Kieran Leach, Liam Fallon, Jeremy Hutchison, Priscila Fernandes, Harrison Pearce, Maisie Pritchard, Tiz Creel,  Rosie McGinn, Katrina Cowling, Andrew Lacon, Priscila Fernades, Harminder Judge, Richard Dean Hughes.

Paradise Works is pleased to present The Soft Display, a group exhibition co-curated by Division of Labour, Alistair Woods and Kieran Leach. The exhibition will explore new sculpture and a current preoccupation with the objective and subjective 'mass of things’, presenting artwork that offers kinetic, haptic, poetic and critical reflections on ‘the soft’ and ‘the hard.’

If you are unable to attend in person, an exhibition film by Steve Iles will be available to view online, on our exhibition page from the 10th of October.

Arranging your visit: Please book your Saturday appointment between the 10th Oct- 28th Nov, via Eventbrite here. If you would like to book an appointment outside of these times contact nat@divisionoflabour.co.uk. 

More info // Facebook event

Artist Film

Preview: Sunday 11th October.

Film of studio member Louise Giovanelli by Steve Iles, commissioned by Paradise Works.

Watch online from the 11th here.

Open Call: Capturing Summer 2020

What’s a community without contact? What’s a neighbourhood without neighbours? Who are we without each other?

We’re excited to announce that Paradise Works have teamed up with Manchester International Festival to create a collective portrait of East Salford in the right-here, right-now of the coronavirus pandemic – and we need your help to make it.

For this very special Festival in My Neighbourhood, PW member Danielle Swindells has been commissioned by MIF to edit your videos into a truly collaborative film. Premiering towards the end of the year the film will paint a unique portrait of East Salford and the people who live within it – separated by lockdown but reunited by film into one community.

How you can help

You don’t need a professional camera to make your video: just use a mobile phone or the webcam on your computer. You could send us a video you’ve previously made and/or posted on social media – and you can also submit photos, images or even pieces of writing for inclusion.

You can talk about whatever you want on camera – the main thing is that we want to hear about who you are and how you’ve been living during lockdown. No subject is off limits – but to get you started with some ideas, you could tell us about…

• Your day-to-day life

• What’s happening on your street

• A journey you’re making on a particular day (you could even take us on it with you!)

• What brings you joy

• How you’re trying to stay positive

• Whether you’ve started doing anything new or different during lockdown (for example, a new hobby)

• How you’re keeping in touch with people you can’t see in person (you could even film one of your conversations) 

• What do you hope for in the future

Watch the trailer for Capturing Summer 2020 featuring submissions by Paradise Works artists.

We’d love to see your face, but you can also talk from behind the camera if you prefer – or, alternatively, you can send in a video that doesn’t feature any speech at all. The only rule is that there are no rules. For more information visit the MIF website.

SUBMIT YOUR CONTENT HERE, by Monday 31 August.

COVID-19: Paradise Works, Artists & Arts Council England Emergency Funding

We hope you are okay out there. The last two months have seen us all adjust to a new normal, and as the first phase of COVID-19 lockdown eases we begin to consider the outlook for the creative sector this year and beyond. In light of this, we felt it was important to publicly share how COVID-19 impacted Paradise Works and our artists members…

We’re pleased to say that Paradise Works is now 3 years old; we have 35 artists and a small proactive staff team who carry out all the administration, premises management, programming, partnership work and marketing on a voluntary or paid one-day a week basis. As with all artist-led spaces, our capacity is always stretched but we are passionate about what we do, and our membership have been, and continue to be, fundamental in building Paradise Works and establishing our ethos. Studio rent at Paradise Works is set extremely low for a city centre space, and we had planned a small rental increase for May to develop our staff team and move towards financial sustainability. We had just established a plan to develop Paradise Works from a 3-year old grassroots organisation into something much more resilient thanks to support from Adapt for Arts and Arts Council England.

When COVID-19 hit the UK in March, a third of our membership lost their current and prospective income, with the cancellation or postponement of commissions, exhibitions, artist talks, alongside technical work and supporting employment with casual ‘zero’ hour contracts or part-time work in the hospitality industry and cultural sector. We are so proud to have created an active community of artists who make such great work, and these financial implications risked losing the early and mid-career artists. We estimate that a further third of our membership are set to lose the income they bring in through their creative practice and will likely find a studio space to be an expense they cannot afford.

As the lockdown was announced on the 24th of March, we made the decision to close Paradise Works for the safety of our membership and the public. We cancelled the planned rent increase and introduced hardship rent relief for artists who had been worst hit by loss of work. Obviously there was a finite amount of time we could commit to this strategy. Our financial reserves are modest and in a worst-case scenario we would have seen Paradise Works and its annual programme closed by Christmas, with a loss of working space for 35 artists in a landscape where exhibition and studio spaces are scarce.

Our priority was to keep the organisation afloat, retain our membership, and support our artist members. We applied for emergency COVID-19 support from Arts Council England and we have been privileged to receive it. We are incredibly grateful for this lifeline as we know that other organisations and individual artists have not been so lucky. This impacts us all and is a real area of concern for the art sector, captured in research such as the COVID-19 artist impact survey by a-n , Arts Council England and Axis, among others.

The emergency funding will allow us to offer hardship rent relief, freelance work and creative commissions to our membership who have been worst hit by financial disruption. It will support us to work with studio artists and draw members into future programming and development at Paradise Works at a critical point. It will also help us transition as our founding co-directors step out of voluntary delivery and development, move on to set up a board, and appoint a general manager. Some of the membership have also received individual grants to support their practice, and the small business grant from Salford City Council has been an enormous help. We would also like to extend a heartfelt thank you to Adapt for Arts, University of Salford Art Collection, Castlefield Gallery, Hotbed Press, Islington Mill and Salford Culture and Place Partnership for their support and friendship through the past 2 months.

So, Paradise Works will be okay, and we are excited to get to work, but we share this tale of precariarity and capacity because it is not unique. We have concerns for the artists and organisations who have been less fortunate than us. We can only speculate on what will happen in 2021 and beyond. We worry that funding and commissioning opportunities, and the freelance work which artists rely on will become even more scarce. There is some considerable work needed by the cultural sector to plan for the real financial impact of COVID-19 on artists and the artist led sector, which we know contributes so much to our region and society as a whole.

We reopen the studios next week with safe social distancing rules and we hope to continue to grow our membership and organisation. Our new programme will mean we can share work from our studio members and we’re particularly excited to expand and launch Paradise Works Multiples, a collection of limited-edition artworks from artist members and friends. Please join our mailing list to keep up to date with our latest news.

Thank you for your support, stay well, and best of luck out there.

COVID-19

We hope you are safe and well out there. The safety of our studio members and staff, and the wider regional community, has been our priority and so we have closed our doors for now. We are working hard to support our artist community, including those worst hit by the cancellation or postponement of work, and to keep our tiny organisation afloat.

The importance of creativity and supporting one another has never been more important and we look forward to reconnecting with our friends and audience soon.