Interest area: art

CERT presents Sound and Vision, an art exhibition taking place on 21st November, 2024, at Elevator Studios, Liverpool. Featuring artists like Kelly Irvine, Stuart Harrison, and Mark Wigan, the show explores the relationship between sound and visual art.

Sound and Vision explores the ways artists interpret the world of sound, its rhythms, moods, and emotions, through visual mediums. Using varied styles and approaches, the artists create visual experiences that evoke the essence of music, voice, and silence, transforming the intangible quality of sound into a rich visual landscape.

Johnny V, Community Engagement Marketing Manager at CERT and the exhibition’s curator, shared his vision for the event: “Sound and Vision isn’t just an art exhibition; it’s a sensory exploration. We wanted to give artists a platform to interpret what sound means to them and translate it into visuals that viewers can feel. This show is all about pushing boundaries and blending artistic senses in a new way.”

CERT strives to create opportunities for local communities, turning the vacant space at its music and tech hub Elevator Studios into an opportunity to support under-represented talents.  

Howard Lord, Managing Director of CERT, comments on the event, saying, “Sound and Vision is part of our commitment to giving back to the community. By opening up spaces like Elevator Studios with free events that bring local people together, we’re not only showcasing incredible talent from the region, we’re also contributing to meaningful causes that matter in our communities.”

All the donations from the exhibition will benefit Music in Mind’s Voices of Hope and Peace project, an initiative dedicated to sharing the experiences of Ukrainian communities displaced by conflict and now living across the North West. Their stories will culminate in a multimedia performance by Ukrainian musicians and the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, streaming across Britain and internationally on February 24, 2025, the third anniversary of Ukraine’s invasion, to share messages of resilience and hope.

CERT invites the public to join Sound and Vision at Elevator Studios for a night of art that celebrates Liverpool’s creative spirit while supporting a project that honours the strength of displaced communities.

The event tickets are FREE via Eventbrite, but donations to the charity are strongly encouraged. Please visit  CERT’s Sound and Vision Fundraising Page to contribute.

A seasonal sack full of artwork will soon be gracing the walls of the ArtHouse in Eastbank Street as part of Southport Contemporary Arts Members’ Christmas Exhibition.

This eagerly anticipated show has established itself as a key event in the region’s arts calendar and provides an opportunity for savvy shoppers to snap up unique gifts from an eclectic mix of local creatives keen to reveal their latest artworks.

Norrie Beswick Calvert, one of the Southport Contemporary Arts directors, enthusiastically points out that: “The ‘SCA Christmas Collection’ represents over 30 different artists and makers and is always an exciting mix of hand produced pieces that our members have been busy creating. Imbued with the love and passion they have for making unique items, each piece has real integrity.”

She adds: “Christmas is a lovely time to buy something that bit different, beautiful and useful and visitors are sure to find something just right for that special person. By shopping locally for locally made things, you are not only gifting someone something they can’t find elsewhere, but also, supporting our community economically, ethically and sustainably.”

Originally from Hull, local artist, Henrietta Ackah Joyce, will be showing a range of festive items from her current portfolio including some more examples of her ‘fluid art’ that proved such a success with visitors at her solo show at the ArtHouse earlier this year. She explains: “This technique involves the use of a pouring medium mixed with acrylic paint or mica pigments or inks. The acrylic paints react with each other when combined to make interesting and visually organic motifs.“

Henrietta will be featuring examples of her decorative ‘fluid’ art on glassware and the face of a wall clock.

Also on show will be the tactile work of Southport based artist, Serah Stringer Grech, who’s love of rhythm and pattern will be well to the fore in the artwork for sale: “I enjoy exploring the intersection of the natural with the manufactured. My work tends to vary immensely in the ways they are experienced and through which senses they are enjoyed. For this show I have used varied materials, from pressed flowers, gold leaf and shells to ceramics.”

With his own personal take on ceramic art, self-taught Southport potter, Mervyn Thomas, will also be presenting more of his own unique creations: “The dishes are pressed out of porcelain clay using old Indian wood blocks previously used for block printing textiles. I utilise the texture and a variety of glazes to produce the abstract decoration. The small bowls, decorated with stamped and extruded motifs, were made to encourage me to have smaller portions at breakfast!”

Also on show will be watercolours from Angela Birchall, who spent her formative years in Central Africa where she admits to playing more with big cats than she did domesticated felines and a personal selection of framed prints taken from professional Ainsdale artist, Neil Prior’s original oil paintings.

Guaranteed to provide more than a sprinkle of Christmas magic, this latest showing by members of SCA is certainly not one to be missed.

This year’s Members’ Christmas Exhibition will be on display at the ArtHouse, Eastbank Street, Southport from 19th November – 24th December 2024. The gallery is open Tuesday – Friday 10.00-15.00. Saturday 11.00-16.00.

The Year That Was is an end of year celebration of the exhibitions and public artworks shown at the Bluecoat in 2024. The exhibition features limited edition prints, posters and original artworks from our gallery programme and cultural legacies programme. Throughout December, the Bluecoat will transform into a space where visitors can not only see art but buy it to enjoy in their homes or gift to friends and family.

Tue 3 – Sat 21 Dec, 11am-5pm

Their main display features artists such as Michelle Williams-Gamaker, Roxy Topia and Paddy Gould, Babak Ganjei, Tess Gilmartin, Joshua Clague and more. Our end of year display is also an opportunity to reflect back on a year that has explored who artists are, how the future will be shaped, and how we might connect with our histories.

Each weekend of December galleries will be transformed into a bustling marketplace, beginning with Bluecoat Art Fair which will host stalls from Bluecoat’s creative community, print studio members and beyond. Later in the month, Bloom Makers Market and still Out-of-Print book fair will bring their fairs to the space.

Free entry.

Selected from the Bluecoat archive, this display of posters reflects some of the music presented at the venue over the decades, with a focus on the experimental and eclectic, including jazz, improvised, electronic, ‘world’ and contemporary classical from the likes of the Philip Glass Ensemble, John Zorn, Pierre Henry, Carla Bley, Imrat Khan and Philip Jeck.

Located in their upstairs Gallery.

From Fri 15 Nov
Open 11am-5pm, Tue-Sun
Free entry