Interest area: art

If you’re not busy living. You’re ...

If you’re not busy living. You’re busy dying. is a debut solo exhibition for Liverpool based artist George Welch.

The show aims to highlight a large body of paintings the artist has been working on through the pandemic and more prominently post lockdown.

The artist’s paintings brim with memory and experience, each piece seemingly able to stand alone, the works seem somewhat familiar like a curious case of ‘deja vu’.

Notions of time and place have been explored through the mediums of paint. In the newest works created by the artist he translates found imagery subverting and challenging them, until a new conversation has started and the work breathes a different breath or dances to a different beat.

Convenience Life Drawing

Convenience Gallery CIC host a monthly life drawing session.

The session takes place in the bar/coffeeshop at Bloom Building too, so you can get a drink whilst you work on your drawings. (At Bloom Bar & Coffee 100% of the pounds you spend go to support the work of the Open Door Charity. How boss is that?!).

This is a session for people of all levels. It is untaught so that means bringing along whatever materials you want to work with and have fun with it. There will be a mixture of poses; both short and long. There will be a 20 minute break at the halfway point to.

Poses will start at 6:45pm, so please arrive in good time.

They will have some materials available if you forget yours, but please bring along whatever you wish to work with. Whether thats pens, pencils, paint, canvas, carcoal, paper, or something completely different bring it along.

They use Life Drawing to help fundraise to continue to do our work with the community around us. As a not for profit, your support at events like this helps us massively.

Please let them know at least 7 days in advance for cancellation where possible, this is a popular class and they will look to reallocate your place if you are unable to attend.

If you have any questions please get in touch conveniencegallery@outlook.com

Sunrise / Sunset

Seeing in a new season with colour and scenes of sunshine, this new exhibition at dot-art brings together a selection of artworks from dot-art artists as a group show; landscapes, photographic collages and sun filled scenes that tell us spring has sprung.

This exhibition helps us look forward to brighter times with an optimistic air despite recent worldwide events. Colourful and using nature as a muse, this collection of works can provide some respite and the promise that better days are coming.

You will find original landscapes by artists such as Simon Cooper who has recently broadened his work by introducing more colour to his practice, shown in these skyline diptychs; or Clare Wrench’s layered flashes of colour that build up her scenes looking over the Manchester Ship Canal or a Lighthouse on a distant shore.

Bexy takes an abstract view of the theme and uses photographic collage in his practice to create these dreamy soft scenes with hidden figures and textures within the worlds.

Ali Hunter’s pen and ink illustration of the ‘Bluecoat at Dusk’ sends light bouncing off this Grade I listed treasure in the heart of Liverpool City Centre.

Other artists in the show deliver views of more traditional calming sunsets that are always a serotonin hit, for example Steve Bayley creates a trio of suns in different states from rising, falling to breaking through in a harmonised pastel palette.

Mark Nelson leads viewers on a path through his paintings, merging the foreground of his work into the gallery, he invites you to walk a path across a sun-bleached field or through a mass of sunflowers.

Find all these interpretations and more as part of Sunrise / Sunset and enjoy being transported to warmer settings and get a sense of the beauty, resilience and optimism nature has to offer.

Join them for the Private View of the exhibition on Thursday 24th March from 5pm-7pm.

All welcome, but you must register here: https://sunrisesunsetprivateview.eventbrite.co.uk .

The dot-art Gallery can be found at 14 Queen Avenue, Castle Street, Liverpool, L2 4TX (just 5 minutes walk from Liverpool One). Opening times: Tuesday – Saturday, 10am-6pm

The exhibition runs 25th March – 21st May 2022.

Identity and Place

From delicate stitched knickers with hidden meanings to obscured colourful embroidery, Re-view Textiles tackle the themes of identity and place with works made during lockdown and beyond in its current exhibition at The Atkinson, ending on the 26th of March.

Re-View Textile is a textile artist network that draws its members from Liverpool, the Wirral and surrounding areas. The group has met regularly over the last 10 years to exchange ideas and create opportunities to exhibit together.

The Re-View Textile artists make a wide range of 2D and 3D work using felt, knitting, crochet, wood carving, ceramics, hand and machine stitch, paint and assemblage; often from found and recycled materials, expressing concern for the environment.

For many of the group, the time in lockdown was used for creativity, giving opportunities for reflection and escape. The exhibition tours from The Willow Gallery in Oswestry and several artists have added additional pieces to the works previously shown there.

Themes such as the home, safety, and inner worlds appear in this exhibition. There are works showing nests, dreamscapes, life in different countries, loneliness and metaphors from nature for the Coronavirus.The land and sea also feature, shaping identity and culture.

Seal people from Scotland, the history and geology of Iceland, the energy of the sea, ritualistic clay figures with robes stained with plant materials. Also, in the show are intricate lace edgings explore the themes of gender and the marginalization of textiles in contemporary art.

Exhibiting artists: Susan Beck, Sue Boardman, Mary Bryning,Helen Cooper, Jo Frankel,  Viv Netherwood, Rosey Paul, Judith Railton, Alison Bailey Smith,, Julie James-Turner and Janet Wilkinson

BLIP by Dan Chan

A part of the “In Cahoots” 21/22 progrogrmme by Convenience Gallery

Delivered with support from TNL Community Fund and Kindred LCR.

Walk through the archway and you will find yourself in a BLIP! of reality. It is a safe space, an idyllic dream world, forged from the negativity and hatred people on the margins of society experience. The fantasy world is a place we can all tap into to find sanctuary and safety, here you can experience joy, tranquillity and connection.

BLIP! is an immersive experience built with printed textiles, projection, sound and scent. What does your dream world look, sound, smell and feel like?

The installation highlights how marginalised people create their own sanctuaries, as the society we live in is not built for us. It is particularly important to Chan’s identity as they are a mixed British Chinese, queer and non-binary person. By looking at this intersection in a political context, the current government changes to legislation and rise in anti-Asian hate crimes, since the start of the pandemic, do not make the UK a safe place to exist in.”

‘Blip’ Opening night: Friday 1st April 6:30-late

Show run: 1st April- 15th April (10am-5:30pm Monday-Friday)

Location: Bloom Building, CH41 5FQ

Floral Painting in Oils

Learn the fundamentals of painting a floral based still life in oils. Featuring demonstrations, group and one to one tuition, this class will guide you through a realistic but loose approach to painting flowers.

Walk away at the end of the class with a painting that you’re proud to hang on your wall, or give to your mum for mother’s day!

Key topics/methods covered:

–       Shapes – learning to simplify the composition down into large easy to identify shapes

–       Tone/Value – how to accurately see and mix tone

–       Edges – how to control and apply a variety of edge quality to a painting

–       Colour – colour temperature, colour mixing, basic colour theory

–       Composition – how to select a viewpoint, create a strong and balanced composition

–       And more….

Artist Bio: Jacob Gourley is a professional artist having specialised in representational oil painting and large scale murals. To date Jacob has received a number of awards including first prize in the Wirral Society of Arts Open exhibition 2019.

Introduction to Kintsugi Workshop with...

You will learn the ancient Japanese technique of Kintsugi and it’s variations to repair a piece of ceramic.

This class uses non toxic adhesive that comes in a variety of colours which you are free to choose from to embellish your ceramic piece.

The start of the class will be an introduction to the history of Kintsugi.

Then the tutor will focus on what each students aims to achieve and assist in design questions, no matter your skill level.

£50 for 1 day course.

Where the Arts Belong: Making Sense (O...

As part of Bluecoat’s ongoing project Where the Arts Belong, leading visual artists, writers, storytellers, dancers, musicians and composers have worked creatively with people living with dementia on a wide range of artistic activities.

While experienced at working with others, this was the first time each artist had worked in a dementia setting. They have been on this mutually supportive journey with Bluecoat’s Participation team, led by artist and facilitator Tabitha Moses.

Starting in 2019 and continuing into 2022, the artists have navigated the emergence of Covid 19, while remaining dedicated to working with the residents, staff and families of North West Belong Villages. An additional sister strand We Belong Together was also developed to help tackle the isolation brought on by lockdowns for older people.

Cherry Jezebel – The Exhibition

To complement Everyman Theatre’s upcoming production of Cherry Jezebel, Homotopia and DuoVision Arts have put together a display of art work which enhances the themes explored in Jonathan Larkin‘s writing.

The exhibition will include work byBen Youdan, Debbie Divine, Tracy Watt, Gozra Lozano, ladypat, Jonathon Beaver, Michael James O’Brien, Sophie Green, Graeme Lavery, Luke Bryant & Jason Carr.

No ticket necessary, the gallery will be open in EV2, upstairs at the Everyman during their opening hours.

Stephen Dixon and Paul Scott: Exhibiti...

The Bluecoat Display Centre welcome this unique opportunity to curate and host an exhibition dedicated to work by Stephen Dixon and Paul Scott, both well known for their research and work in printed ceramic as well as political and social commentary.

Both artists are internationally renowned and have worked in Manchester and in Cumbria for much of their professional careers.

All work featured will be available for sale in the gallery and online from Friday 4 March.

The exhibition runs until 30 April.