Future Everybody #littleclaymen

FutureEverybody is an exhibition currently running at the Manchester Science and Industry museum and we urge you to go and have a look. The main thing we liked was the #littleclaymen (check out the hashtag on twitter for more info) but 8,000 miniature ceramic figures were created by artist Lawrence Epps and distributed by Sykey around Manchester for the public to take away, and create something using them, then email or tweet them. Some of the results are here.

The FutureEverybody Art Exhibition is at the Museum of Science and Industry from 16th May – 10th June 2012.

Caro at Chatsworth

The Chatsworth House Trust and the New Art Centre, Roche Court Sculpture Park, are presenting 'Caro at Chatsworth'. This will be the first exhibition dedicated to the work of a single artist to be held in the garden at Chatsworth and will comprise 15 sculptures by Sir Anthony Caro sited around the famous Emperor Fountain, in front of the south façade at Chatsworth.

Runs 28 March - 1 July

More Giants

In the post below, we highlighted the 'Sea Odyssey' giants that were taking over Liverpool.

It was an incredible event, and here are some photo's we took while we were there.

Giants over Liverpool

On Friday 20th, Saturday 21st and Sunday 22nd April, these incredible giant puppets are to be seen striding through the streets of Liverpool. There are three 'giants' and it's part of a piece entitled 'Sea Odyssey' that the French street theatre company Royal De Luxe are staging. The girl is representing a real schoolgirl from the city, May McMurray, whose father was a steward on the Titanic. She wrote a touching letter to her father the day before the ship sank, and the story goes that the larger giant is her uncle, a diver, who has found his reply.

Your online reflection

Do you want to know what your "online reflection" looks like? How open are you? Are you an extravert or an introvert? Can these things be assessed by linking to your Facebook profile? The National media Museum seem to think so, but you can find out for yourself here.

Hack Green Mannequins

We like Retronaut - while browsing it we found these mannequins from Hack Green Nuclear Bunker, which is just down the road from us in Nantwich so we thought we would share. You can see the full 'capsule' here.

Manchester Film Festival 2012

Starting today and running until 15th April at the Whitworth Art Gallery is the Manchester Film Festival. Set up by students from the University of Manchester’s television channel Fuse TV, with backing from the Your Manchester Fund and our client Cobbetts LLP, it aims to help filmmakers showcase their talent and break into the industry.

Running over 3 days, it includes a short film competition, BBC Writersroom seminar and industry panels.

One from Hayley Burgess...

Hayley came to do some work experience here a while ago and we have kept in touch, this is an illustration that she came in and showed us recently. We can definitely recommend Hayley as a talented and enthusiastic young illustrator/designer. She's also a mean skater and makes a fairly decent cup of coffee.

Annie Lennox @ Lowry

Running at the Lowry until 17th June 2012 is this V&A Theatre Collections touring exhibition centred around Annie Lennox.

A selection of costumes will be shown alongside personal treasures, ephemera from political campaigns she has championed, and a specially commissioned video of Annie in conversation.

Galleries open:
Sun – Fri from 11am;
Sat from 10am
Galleries close: 5pm daily

FREE Entry

Shadow Land

Shadow Land is a major exhibition of work by internationally-acclaimed photographer Roger Ballen. Born in New York his main body of work has been documenting people living on the margins of South African society. His work is always Black & White and always square in format, giving it a very uniform and distinctive style.

Friday 30 March 2012 - Sunday 13 May 2012, Manchester Art Gallery, FREE.

Spiel Magazine

Spiel Magazine is a sports and culture magazine based in Liverpool that we picked up this month. Great illustrations, typography, writing and print come together here to create a really interesting free publication. Worth a read! Pick one up from selected venues across Liverpool.

Banksy @ Walker Art Gallery

We recently visited the Walker Art Gallery and saw Cardinal Sin, a bust with its face sawn off and replaced by blank tiles, designed by Banksy as a response to the child abuse scandal in the Catholic church.

In a statement, Banksy said: "I'm never sure who deserves to be put on a pedestal or crushed under one."

The sculpture was unveiled at the Walker Art Gallery, where it is sitting alongside 17th Century religious art.

The bathroom tiles have been put in place of the priest's face to create a pixelated effect.

"I love everything about the Walker Gallery - the Old Masters, the contemporary art, the rude girl in the cafe. And when I found out Mr Walker built it with beer money, it became my favourite gallery," said Banksy.

Joan Miró at the Yorkshire Sculpture Park

Joan Miró's Gothic Personage, Bird-Flash at the Yorkshire Sculpture Park. Photograph: Nigel Roddis/Reuters

From next week at Yorkshire Sculpture Park unusual Spanish sculptures made from everyday items form the first major UK collection of works from world renowned artist Joan Miró.

The Catalan creator, best known for his surrealist paintings, turned his hand to sculptures later in life, creating around 400 before he died in 1983, aged 90.

And around 25 of his large bronze statues are now situated in the grounds of Yorkshire Sculpture Park, with another 76 pieces of art located in the park’s indoor gallery.

Frank's Fantastic Statue.

As long time fans of Frank Sidebottom, we were saddened to hear of his passing. But we have heard from Little Frank that there are plans afoot to build a statue in his honour. Down the road in Timperley they are trying to raise money for a bronze statue in the great man's likeness.

There are fundraising events coming up, Frankfest featuring Badly Drawn Boy and others is coming soon and one on Thursday 8th March at the Buffalo Bar, next to Highbury and Islington tube in London.

This is a prototype by Colin Spofforth."Oh yes it is, it really is..."

Peter Hook & Kevin Cummins in conversation

On Thursday 23rd Feb, we went along to Manchester Photographic to listen to Peter Hook and Kevin Cummins in conversation. Kevin Cummins has his Joy Division photography currently on display there under the name "Exemplar" and this was a fascinating night of banter about how some of the shots came about and their relationships with Ian Curtis, Tony Wilson and all the other Factory Records luminaries.

You can see more of Kevin's incredible work here. And you can keep up do date with Hooky here.

Culture Shots - Art at the NHS

Artist Lucy Burscough in the atrium of the Manchester Royal eye hospital. Photograph: Christopher Thomond for the Guardian

Culture Shots is a week-long series of events at Central Manchester University Hospitals NHS trust, aimed at promoting health and wellbeing through exposure to art and culture.

It is the first time in the UK that a trust has hosted a museums and galleries week within a hospital setting. A series of lectures, workshops and performances are taking place in conjunction with institutions including Whitworth art gallery, Manchester art gallery, Manchester Museum and Salford museum and art gallery.

During 70 sessions over the week, the positive contribution to health of spending time in museums and galleries will be promoted.

Full article at The Guardian here.

Andrew Brooks photography

Photographer Andrew Brooks is giving a talk tonight at Statham Lodge, showcasing some of his shots and talking about the work that goes into creating them. We really like Andrew Brooks images, they range from futuristic cities to mythical landscapes. They are composites, sometimes involving hundreds of images captured, and built up out of many layers of post production to create the final pictures.

The event is tonight, Wednesday 8th February 2012 at Statham Lodge Hotel, Warrington Rd Lymm starting at 8.00pm

Free for BIPP members or £5 non members.

Disneyfication of Joy Division

We spotted this article on Creative Review and it piqued our interest, what with Joy Division having such a big impact on our local musical heritage in Macclesfield. Bizarre as it seems, someone at Disney thought it would be an excellent idea to combine Peter Saville's Unknown Pleasures cover design with the iconic Mickey Mouse branding. Hmmm, not too sure on this one and it seems it was pulled fairly soon, with various interested parties including Joy Division/New Order drummer Steven Morris making their thoughts known on it.

You can read the original article at Creative Review here

Garry Olsen

We are always interested in local craftspeople and Garry Olsen is someone we have become aware of through the artist Jane Mitchell. Garry has been a designer and maker of high quality hand-made furniture for over 25 years and also teaches Furniture making courses which introduce tools, timber and hand-tool techniques. In addition to the services he offers Garry also has a showroom and Art Gallery which can also be hired out.

Find out more at www.garryolson.co.uk

Dear Photograph...

This is an incredibly simple but powerful concept. Taking a shot of an old photo in the original location creates a new image, which appears as an echo of the past in the present.

Started by Taylor Jones this has become something of a phenomenon and interestingly sparked a recent debate when Chevrolet produced an advertising campaign that was incredibly similar.

You can see more of the photographs at dearphotograph.com, or follow them on Twitter here.