Event type: Exhibition

‘Earth Above, Sky Below’ Exhibition at the LAKE Gallery

A new exhibition at the LAKE gallery in West Kirby looks at the worlds around and above us, as seen through the eyes of three artists working in very different mediums.

Featuring contemporary landscape paintings by Bridget Greenwood, abstract prints and sculptures by Louisa Boyd and tactile glass pieces by Helen Smith.

The exhibition opens on Thursday 14^th August and runs until Saturday 13^th September. The gallery will be hosting a preview evening on Thursday 14^th August 6pm and 8pm and all are welcome to join us for a glass of wine and to meet the artists.

Opening times: Thurs – Sat, 10am – 4pm

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Bridget GreenwoodBridget Greenwood is a contemporary abstract landscape artist based in Cheshire. Having had a successful career in advertising in London, Bridget returned to painting in 2020 as a result of lockdown. Bridget’s paintings explore her fascination with the landscape. She sketches outside to record the moment, but her paintings are completed in the studio where they go through many stages of reducing the landscape to shapes and marks.

Colour has always been Bridget’s starting point and is central to her work. For Bridget, colour has the “wonderful ability to express emotion and helps to convey the landscape’s ability to heal”.

Louisa BoydLouisa Boyd’s work centres around the persistent human desire to belong. She considers environment in her pieces and how we connect with the natural world to navigate and to establish a sense of place. Her abstract prints and sculptures feature celestial symbols, sacred geometry and cartographic imagery. Louisa’s etching prints layer abstract, drawn imagery made with traditional drawing tools with more painterly marks; the map-like outcomes, symbolic of navigation, are a visual fusion of historic and contemporary ideas. Louisa’s prints are then often used alongside marbled papers to create three-dimensional works with structures based on sacred geometry; the elements of mathematics that underpin the fabric of the world we exist within. Central to this body of work is Plato’s idea that the five regular forms, the Platonic solids, connect to the five elements of nature: earth, fire, air, water and aether.

Helen SmithCreated from kiln-formed glass, Helen’s tactile glass pieces are strongly influenced by place. However, rather than depicting the landscape directly her focus is always on a sense of the atmosphere of a place in combination with the interpretation of found textures within the landscape.Each piece is initially worked flat, created by layering up glass powder, glass frit (small chunks) and sheet glass before being fired in the kiln. Once the glass has been fired and sandblasted to clean the surface another layer can be added. The pieces in this collection have all been through this process several times. In the final stage the piece is sandblasted to give the glass its tactile matt surface before being returned to the kiln one last time to be fired again at a lower temperature, either flat or over a former to create a sculptural form.

Four calling birds, three French hens, two turtle doves, and a partridge in a pear tree! Flock together for crafty family fun, constructing multi-coloured replicas of your favourite birds. Play with print stamping blocks and collage to recreate intricate feathered patterns and textures. Using our easy-to-follow templates, make a 3-D model of your bird and dive into our pick ‘n’ mix recycled craft box to add finishing touches to personalise your bird.

Take inspiration from artworks in Tate’s collection, including David Shrigley’s Untitled 1998, Eileen Agar’s Sculpture of a Bird 1899–1991, Dame Elisabeth Frink’s Bird 1952, Jim Lambie’s Four to the Floor 2005 and Georges Braque’s The Bird 1949.

Our Learning Space is open every day for visiting families- a space to relax and create with art games, colouring-in, books, toys and more!

Share your experience with us on social media using @tateliverpool and #TLfamilies.

Accessibility

Tate Liverpool is temporarily located at RIBA North, Mann Island, a short distance (425m) along Liverpool’s iconic waterfront. There is step free access to the main entrance. There is a lift to the first floor gallery, or alternatively you can take the stairs.

• Toilets are located on the first floor
• The nearest Changing Places toilet is located at the Museum of Liverpool
• Ear defenders are available to borrow.

Please ask a Visitor Engagement Assistant Additional seating is also available. Please ask a member of staff if you require assistance.

To help plan your visit to Tate Liverpool + RIBA North, have a look at our visual story. It includes photographs and information of what you can expect from a visit to the gallery.

For more information before your visit: Email visiting.liverpool@tate.org.uk

Artists from Blue Room, the Bluecoat’s inclusive arts project present a new collection of works exploring the biodiversity of our urban garden.

Green spaces such as the Bluecoat garden have long been a source of inspiration for artists. The exhibition celebrates the often overlooked flora and fauna of urban spaces and the important role nature plays in creating a nurturing space for city dwellers.

The works in the exhibition depict commonly observed birds and insects found in the Bluecoat garden. In collaboration with ceramic artist Olivia Rowan from local studio Clay Workshop, the artists created 3D sculptures using recycled clay. Observational drawings of flora and fauna have been collaged into screen printed collaborative works created in the Bluecoat Print Studio.

Featuring works by Alfred Beesley, Amy Dykes, Susan King, Tracey Ledley, Andrew Mellor, Kayleigh Murray, William Richardson, John Rigby, Ottman Said, Jean Smith, John Steele, Jane Walsh, and Veronica Watson.

Bluecoat Display Centre offers a platform for a diverse range of selected contemporary craft makers to showcase their work through selling exhibitions.

All our makers demonstrate amazing levels of skill, a high quality of making and have a unique voice which is informed by the material, a sense of place, culture, background and narrative. Makers are at the heart of the Bluecoat Display Centre and we continue to be leading advocates for the continued appreciation of their wonderfully crafted work.

Scroll down to find out more about our current and upcoming selling exhibitions.

Or browse our rich archive of exhibitions and displays that have highlighted the work of contemporary craft makers from the North West, across the UK, Europe and internationally for over six decades.