RePUBlic Gallery Window

We are currently hosting one of Republic Gallery‘s wonderful window boxes in our front window.

The PUBlic window micro display gallery is a venture to display art in unexpected or opportunistic spaces, allowing public access to art and creating connections between art venues in the North East. The windows are currently in situ in Blyth Library and The Old School Gallery as well as here, and the artwork inside is set to be rotated between the three venues every month.

You can read more about Republic Gallery on their website and social media.

Below are details of each artwork we’ve had in the window box so far…

Thomas Keenan

The first artwork that was shown here was this installation by local artist Thomas Keenan.

Thomas’s work spans from textiles to performance, often combining the two in outlandish performances which navigate the boundaries of appropriateness and social expectation. This particular installation, entitled ‘F1T4PURP0S3′, focuses on the real-life implications of ‘gendered objects.’ Keenan makes reference to the gender bias within medical and technological research and how this data gap leads to real-life injuries in women.

You can read more on the Republic Gallery website.

Paul Raymond

Next installation in the window was by artist and arts educator Paul Raymond.

The piece, entitled ‘BLOBBY‘ is inspired by the derogatory term, The Blob, popularised in politics by Michael Gove during his role as Secretary of State for Education from 2010 to 2014. Gove used this term to deride academics, teachers and teaching unions who stood in the way of his regressive teaching reforms; labelling anyone who opposed him as being part of ‘The Blob’. Paul is interested in harnessing the powerful and chaotic force of ‘The Blob’ as a way of counteracting the rigid systems in which we are forced to operate.

You can read more on the Republic Gallery website.

Millie Player

Third up we had a drawing and metal installation by Millie Player.

Millie Player is a visual artist whose practice exists within a boundary of drawing, metal sculpture and installation. She lingers over passing moments, making work that looks beyond external measurement, connecting viewers with the duration of their bodies. This piece entitled ‘Instance’ exists for viewers to follow the flight of a bird. We assume, for a moment, the temporality of its beating wings. Our glance concedes to its glide. In a moment of idleness, we are suspended without measured time.

You can read more on the Republic Gallery website.

Isabella Tessier

Our current installation is this colourful offering from recent Fine Art graduate Isabella Tessier.

Isabella’s art practice centres around the methodologies used to record and capture the transient experience of performance for the viewer through drawing and printmaking.‘ A Stage upon Which we Move’ choreographs together Isabella Tessier’s drawings made in response to three performances in the North-East. Isabella Tessier translates her impressions of each of the performances and brings them together on one jewel-toned stage. Her gestural, chalk drawings express both the physicality of movement and the transient nature of performance.

You can read more on the Republic Gallery website.