Posts tagged: University of Salford Art Collection

Jameson is a queer multidisciplinary artist who works across physical and digital mediums to depict ‘unworldly narratives of the queer form… with fantastical narratives or comic depictions’. They see their work as a form of gender performance, and draw inspiration from across sci-fi, fantasy, technology, fashion and queer culture. Previous projects include direction, production design and costume for local film projects, music videos, and commercial campaigns.

Foraged from scrap,
Yet forged into treasure,
Here floats Arcadia.
A harmonious sanctuary.
Where water seeps,
rock weathers,
And minerals scatter,
Sprouting life.
Retold in this virtual realm of broken binaries and unbridled fantasy,
We prosper in imperfect harmony.
Here… We are one.

Jack Jameson’s work presents a model utopia, inspired by mythology and folklore. In this world nature prevails, and the ‘forest nymph, water siren and rock troll dwell in in harmony – free to be’. The work combines craft, costume, 3D scanning, printing and rendering, photography, and animation.

Glazzard is from West Yorkshire and based across the UK. Clients have included Calvin Klein, Adidas and Sony Music, and work has been featured in British Vogue, British GQ, British Journal of Photography, Elephant Magazine, The New Yorker, Dazed, and i-D.

Glazzard is a photographer and creative director working across personal, commercial and editorial fields. Their series LGBT+ Letters serves to counter the ‘complete lack of queer visibility’ the artist was met with upon coming- out while at secondary school; and aims to challenge the ‘stale stereotypes’ that still hamper the LGBTQIA+ community.

Through intimate snapshots accompanied by personal, hand-written accounts of the subjects’ own experiences of queerness and representation, a body of work is formed which celebrates the many different definitions of what ‘queer’ can be. ‘LGBT+ Letters is an attempt at providing, through portraits and texts, queer aesthetics for people who find themselves without meaningful representation in the world’.

Joe Fowler is a sound artist with a focus on the marriage of data, sound and visuals for the purpose of digital data conservation. His work includes code manipulation, microsound, sonification, and the deliberate corruption of common software. His work has been exhibited in hi-fi contexts such as TEDx and Jodrell Bank, and lo-fi context such as DIY shows at Islington Mill.

Outside of his work as a sound artist, he has provided composition and sound design to numerous media products, such as the 2023 Royal Television Society North West Best Animation ‘Wild Rides’. Fowler is now a lecturer in Creative Audio at the University of Salford.

‘Call to Industry’ is a ‘tongue-in-cheek exploration of Manchester’s fetishisation of industrial spaces and history, via a parody cult initiation video for an organisation which worships industry’.

The artist examines the frequent repurpose and reuse of former industrial spaces in the city, which often disregard the dark history of the buildings – including the exploitation and abuse of the working class. He considers the inequalities underlying the Industrial Revolution, which allowed those with enough money and power to continue to exploit those without such privileges. Today, property developers create expensive luxury apartments on the same sites, continuing to lock the working class out of the ability to ‘enjoy the greatest city on earth. Join the cult, worship the ruling class, worship industry…’

Elliott Flanagan is a poet, writer and artist. He was born in Burnley, a post-industrial town in the North of England. His work explores class, subcultures, and personal and social histories. A period spent playing football, working in sales and holiday repping contrasted with a ‘hidden pursuit’ of art via film, music, television, fashion, and rare gallery visits. His work is an exploration of the sometimes jarring intersection between these co-existing lives, and an ongoing dissection of contemporary masculinity.

He works regionally and internationally using poetry, installation, performance, sound, text, filmmaking, and collaborative practices. He was published by Burnley Words Festival in 2023 with Pendle Press; commissioned by Venture Arts in 2023 with artist Barry Finan, and exhibited new work at The Whitaker, Rossendale in 2022.

‘A piece of something bigger’ explores contemporary masculinity through the prism of package holiday culture. Flanagan looks at the ideas entrenched in the male gender stereotype that saturated his youth – misunderstood and under pressure to ‘conform and perform’. The artist studies a tension from his own experience between one’s own consciousness and social expectations.

‘The traditional form of masculinity and its lack of complexity is subverted, as the viewer is party to glimpses of real honesty in the chaos. The film discusses the camaraderie that exists in relationships between men and the value of the communal experience therein.’

With music by William Brown and Ashley Snook.

Recently, the Hybrid Futures: Hypersea event premiered at Salford Museum & Art Gallery as part of Fat Out Fest, our team assistant Sam gives his thoughts:

The Hybrid Futures event was exciting from start to finish – welcoming public audiences from a variety of backgrounds to experience this contemporary exhibit of sound.

This was born out of a 10 day residency for Hypersea to respond to Shezad Dawood’s ‘Leviathan: From the Forest to the Sea‘ supported by Samarbeta Music Residency, IKLECTIK ART LAB , and the University of Salford Art Collection.

Starting with I Am Fya – an eclectic mix of vocals, digital sound, and sporadic imagery progressing through the performance. A spontaneous vocal reaction to candid configuration of music and sound, accompanied by collaged video. Each individual piece both reacted to and stimulated each other, pushing the piece to develop into a unique response to the moment. Some danced, some stood, some sat and embraced the mix of sensory stimulation as the performance existed in uncertainty and unfolded into something irreplicable.

Hypersea‘s response to Shezad Dawood’s ‘Leviathan: From the Forest to the Sea‘ was an encompassing mix of existentialism and possible outcomes for our futures. The sound was engaging, relaxing, and overall allowed the public to experience it how they wanted – the more lively of people danced, those who wanted to experience the sound (and sound only) sat down, closed their eyes, a couple even lay flat on their back to fully immerse themselves in the soundscape. For those with their eyes open, the lighting only added to the immersion of Hypersea’s performance – although lacking any change throughout the performance, the red light cast around the room kept the audience engaged and attentive. The soundtrack that Hypersea was constructed from sonified ocean data and used motion to control the composition – which I found extremely interesting, it gave the performance a real sense of weight and gravitas to know what was being presented.

A fitting closing celebration of the 3 year Hybrid Futures project, championing partnership working and collaboration across the North West.

Donely is a fibre artist specialising in rug-tufting using vegan materials. Wavy Lady is a hand-tufted rug inspired by a stewarding fellowship Donely undertook in 2019 at the 58th Venice Biennale, through the British Council. The work depicts a woman, hanging upside down, in the foetal position, tufted in various shades of blue. She represents vulnerability and the emotional experience of ‘falling in love with unfamiliar places; with atmospheres, with experiences, with strangers… the fleeting nature of these floating away in the water as quickly as they appeared’.

“Alena Donely’s practice has gone from strength to strength since graduating and completing her Salford Scholarship. The transition from university to being independent can be very challenging, with many adjustments including sourcing access to space and equipment. Through Alena’s own resourcefulness and dedication she has her built up her fully equipped workshop from where she can work on an ambitious scale and welcome people from all over the country and from overseas for her workshops and sharing of skills and experience.

The combination of the physicality of the heavy pneumatic tufting gun and the soft and colourful work it produces is not lost on Donely or the experience of her work. The tactile balance of the cold and the soft speaks of the expression of conflicting emotions. The roots of Donely’s practice flow from a personal place, drawing from her own mental health and telling her own story, whilst sharing works and a practice that is ever-accessible for others to engage and be inspired to both read and share their own experiences.

Donely’s welcoming and generous spirit of sharing has not stopped at the doors of her own studio –  since taking on her own space at Islington Mill she has been an engaged member of the community, extending to her active involvement in the long-term security and future of the studios for others to come.”

~Rachel Goodyear, Co-director at Islington Mill

Wavy Lady, 2020
Hand-tufted rug in acrylic and linen yarn
Alena Ruth Donely (2018/19)

The work reflects contrasting notions of ‘holding on’ and ‘letting’ go as a constant presence in the artists life, in a practice that draws on modern existentialism, experience of mental illness, trauma, and self-soothing – as well as being ‘unapologetically technicolour, playful and emotive’. She describes the object of the rug as an ‘island of play’ as a child – a place of storytelling, emotional connection and a comforting nostalgia.

Donely has exhibited work in group shows at Castlefield Gallery, Salford Museum and Art Gallery, HOME, and The Whitworth. She has also collaborated with Salford Lads and Girls Club, and made new work for the reopening of Rochdale Town Hall. Still based at Islington Mill, Alena now runs the Manchester Tufting Workshop, delivering commissions, workshops, courses and private tuition; as well as running collaborative sessions with the public at events including The Manchester Contemporary, 2023 and We Invented the Weekend, 2024.

Aidan Doyle was born in West Yorkshire and lives in Manchester. He has exhibited across the North including at Star and Shadow Cinema, Newcastle, HOME Manchester, and Harewood House, Leeds.

Doyle’s practice considers topics of self-perception, personal identity, and societal expectations, including the idea of ‘dissimulation of oneself’ – the hiding of one’s true feelings and thoughts. He combines traditional, manual and digital image making techniques, and explores the transition of two-dimensional imagery to tactile three-dimensional objects. His imagery often leans towards abstraction, creating a space for individual interpretation and connection.

New works ‘I just can’t bring myself to…’ ‘teeter on the balance of being visible and invisible’ and explore the relationship with the inner self and the outside world. Using fragmented imagery devoid of original context, the artist considers the choices we have to make on how we portray ourselves to the world: what we choose to share and perform, and what we choose to hide from view. Layered and collaged together, some areas torn and patched, others fragile or with abrasive textures, the works consider how we similarly ‘collage together’ small parts of ourselves to create an outward image.

Bell’s broader work revolves around socially engaged photography, often actively collaborating with communities to capture their stories and experiences. She uses both film and digital mediums and seeks to shed light on untold narratives, spark conversations, and ‘foster a deeper understanding of the world we inhabit’. During the Covid-19 pandemic, the artist was active in the Islington Mill ‘Masks 4 Life’ project making, selling and donating limited edition face masks featuring works by the studios’ artists.

Rorschach Women is part of a larger body of work titled Bathing in the Rorschach. Using a Go Pro camera submerged underwater, the artist captures ethereal and fluid moments, which are then digitally manipulated to create intriguing semi-abstracted imagery, intricate patterns, and symmetrical forms. The work explores the mysteries of the Rorschach Test – a series of abstract inkblot images which ask the viewer for subjective interpretations and psychological associations. Historically these were used to examine personality traits, emotional functioning, or patterns of thinking.

Juxtaposing the fluidity of water, the abstracted human body, and the enigmatic Rorschach form, the artist seeks to blur the boundaries between reality and perception. Her work evokes a sense of introspection and invites viewers to project their own interpretations and meanings.

Join us on the 9th of October 2024 to celebrate our newest exhibition CATALYST – featuring 16 artists from across the North West.

Artists include: Suraj Adekola, Katie Aird, Lubna Ali, Mollie Balshaw, Joe Beedles, Heather Bell, Alena Ruth Donely, Aidan Doyle, Elliott Flanagan, Joe Fowler, Jesse Glazzard, Jack Jameson, Lizzie King, Adam Rawlinson, Joshua Turner, and Meg Woods.

CATALYST install shot
Image: Courtesy of Jules Lister

Also showing:
The evening is a double celebration with MA Degree Show Present/Continuous launching at the same time in the New Adelphi Atrium. See new work from across the MA Pathways (Socially Engaged Art, Socially Engaged Photography, Contemporary Fine Art, Visual Communication) as well as MA Animation, MSc Games and Extended Reality and MA Fashion Business and Marketing.

Launch night:
Wednesday 9th October, 4.30 – 7.00pm
Speeches at 5.30pm. Refreshments served. All welcome.

Exhibition continues:
to 10th January 2025, 10am to 4pm weekdays, except for bank holidays and Christmas closures.

Beedles’ wider practice as a sound and visual artist explores club, techno and electroacoustic music, with an interest in both experimental and ambient soundscapes. His current focus is on generative systems for live performances, providing audiences with compelling and immersive audio-reactive imagery. His work has featured in gallery, venue and club contexts internationally, and he has held residencies in Chongqing, China (2017), Wysing Arts Centre, UK (2019), and in Johannesburg, South Africa & Maputo, Mozambique with the British Council (2019).

Beedles’ audiovisual work combines music and digital video with generative technologies, to create abstracted works that explore time, memory, and the ‘threshold between the real and the simulated’. This work explores the idea of ‘compressed memory’ – a term that might equally apply to digital or human memory retrieval, considering how recollections can blur and distort over time.

The artist uses a custom made patch (a piece of coding) which selects from a bank of audio tracks made by the artist, ranging from his first musical recordings through to his most recent compositions: ‘Soundbites suddenly burst to the foreground like a forgotten memory, before receding again into the distance’ Accompanying the sounds, an abstract visual is triggered simultaneously and ‘undergoes a similar process of obfuscation’.