My Degree Show – Kinda

With my fifth year of the part time degree complete, the work I’d been focussing on all year was ready. Although I am not scheduled to have my work appear int he degreee show this year with the current cohort I have been taking photographs and making work as though I was preparing to exhibit.

Civic Exhibition Prep

Fortunately I was given the opportunity by Shrewsbury Civic Society to exhibit a piece of work at the Shrewsbury Museum and Art Gallery in the town centre. They are hosting an exhibition called Public Places: The Evolution of Shropshire’s Civic Buildings and after my involvement with the Task & Finish (T&F) group earlier in the year I was invited to submit some work.

The piece of work that I selected turned out to be a photo I had made on the trip around the buildings with the T&F group and featured a window blind that had been shut haphazardly leaving an organic curved shape in it’s semi-closedness.

It was organised by Shrewsbury Civic Society in collaboration with Shropshire Museums and they had accepted my work a while ago, so I had it printed and framed at uni to work alongside my course-mates with their works being prepped for the show. I missed the drop off date at the Museum as something had come up but I worked closely with the team to get it there on the Thursday before the install that would happen on the Monday. I delivered it to the reception of the SM&AG staff and they took it off upstairs for me for storage until the install.

On the Monday I had a call from one of the team at the Shrewsbury Civic Society, Clare, concerned about how they might hang my work if it was purely mounted on foam-board. I assured her that there was a frame around the work too and the mirror plates they would use should be fine to attach to the frame. She sounded happy and after refusing my offer to come and help I got back on with my full time job.

I had booked the Tuesday off work though as a holiday to get myself sorted and ready for the exhibition Preview which would take place at 2pm. I prepped the contents of my bag with some zines, business cards and some of the postcards that I had had made by Battlefield Printing Group ahead of this exhibition. Amanda from BPG was very helpful and I had 200 postcards printed, 100 of each design. As well as my picture of the blind, I also had some made of my “Umeda Taxi” as I was submitting this for the Shrewsbury Arts Trail. With everything sorted and ready I went for a walk around the town centre and did some street photography before heading for a coffee and then to the Museum and Art Gallery.

Exhibition Proper

Upon arriving and finding my way up to the floor where the Collecting Gallery is I met Phil from the Civic Society who excitedly rushed me to see my work hanging on the wall, but he was excited more about the small red spot on the label next to it. It had been purchased already by a member of staff from the museum and art gallery. I was chuffed to say the least and a bit gobsmacked too.

Two ‘o’ clock arrived and more artists and members of the Museum and the Civic Society arrived for the preview and opening. I met some great artists there, a guy called Richard Fox had drawn a pointillism piece of the Shirehall which was very impressive. I met artists who have painted, digitally created, done rubbings off the building, collages, line drawings, and there was even one artist who had used Marmite to paint a picture of the Shirehall. Their reasoning being that some people love the Shirehall whilst others hate it, a very smart move I thought.

I chatted with Susan Coleman who I used to work with whilst volunteering for Young Enterprise, Phil Langstaff from the Shrewsbury Arts Trail and Visual Arts Network as well as a few others. I kept away from Charlie Adlard so that I didn’t fanboy and get star struck as he is a great artist who was the penciller on 186 of the 193 issues of the Walking Dead comics. I had previously queued up for his autograph and an original sketch some years ago at the former Infinity & Beyond comic store in town.

We all stood and listened to a small introduction from Phil Scoggins of the Civic Society and then had a good look around. As well as the art on the walls there were also some items in cabinets and even two videos, one of the history of Shirehall and a video of the buildings from arty perspectives made by me using my drone. There were some info boards with some of the history of the various Shirehalls and public buildings in the room too.

Since the exhibition has opened one of my friends from work went to see the work and he said the “museum staff member was very enthusiastic” about my piece Blind Panic so he thought it might have been her that had bought it. On Saturday my daughter, Cerys, also went to take a look and did some sketching whilst she was there, as she purchased one of the postcards from the gift shop the lady behind the counter was excited about this picture and told Cerys that she had been the one who had bought it. Cerys never let on that it was the work of her father in case it made it awks. She had also noted that there was a disclaimer on a wall that was there to inform that this exhibition was a non-political one, there was no sentiments being promoted or shot down in terms of the political decisions that are currently being made around the Shirehall.

With the work selling at the asking price of £125, I know, this is very cheap for an A0 framed image on great quality paper, I was happy. The image printing and framing had cost me around £65 through the Uni print support hub and Jim, but I had paid for test prints, time to take the photo, time spent on post processing and then the work to transport it safely with all the tape and bubble wrap that requires. I don’t think I made any money on this sale really, especially with the commission of around 20% and all of the work that it took. But hey, that’s ok because it means a piece of my work will be on someone’s wall and that they liked it enough to spend their hard earned wages on it.

The blurb on the panel adjoining my work was something I’d written earlier in the month.

After I had hung around long enough to discuss other people’s art with them and mine also I decided to head off back to my car to head home. I also had to prepare for Thursday evening which would see Tom Hicks the university art librarian launch his book at the Ikon gallery.

Vacation

After the day at work on Wednesday and then then Thursday morning, I cycled out of the gates in a hurry to get home ahead of the little trip out to Birmingham to the IKON gallery where Tom Hicks and his publisher The Modernist were launching his new book, Black Country Type II. The eagerly awaited sequel to Black Country Type. First off though I loaded my shoulder bag and mirrorless camera bag into the car. The shoulder/messenger style bag contained my Leica Q3, a couple of my zines and a few postcards and business cards in case I had the opportunity to network with anyone. My big bag contained my R5 Mk II and its lenses, so that if it was dark and I fancied going out for some togging this would be an ideal test.

When I got to the Selfridges / Moor Street car park I stuffed the car into a space on level 2 and then went to the boot to grab my shoulder bag and Q3. Oops, when I opened my bag, the Leica wasn’t there, I must have left it on the desk at home. No worries though, after a bit of swearing at myself I figured I’d be ok with the R5 for the afternoon. I picked out the R5 with its 24-70mm lens attached and added the strap then chucked a couple of batteries into my shoulder bag.

Out I went onto the streets of Brum. There were loads of people milling around for a Thursday afternoon and I was quite surprised. I snapped a few photos of the Blobitecture on the outside of the Selfridges store before heading up into the Bullring area and then on down the main street all the way to Victoria Square. On the way I stopped at New Street Station looking resplendent in the sunshine and grabbed a few images here, the signal box also looked fantastic as most other times I have been here it’s been raining.

In the Paradise area I stopped to snag a couple of photos of the Copthorne Hotel, where my wife and I stayed early on in our relationship when going to Birmingham was a big deal. The background of it now contains the Octagon building that sees over the entire City centre. I walked along Broad Street after stopping for a Guinness Zero in the Wetherspoons pub, for £2.73, a bargain. There were a great deal of pub-goers dressed in fancy dress which I found a bit odd. Stag dos are usually a weekend thing but nevermind.

There was a little chicken fast food stand past Coyote Ugly and as I was making some images of people waiting in the bus queue near it, the heavens opened and a downpour of rain followed by some hefty hail stones followed. The wet road acted as a good reflection for the lights from the Coyote Ugly bar and the chicken stand. Once I’d snapped a few I headed into Oozel’s Square for the IKON gallery and found myself there a little earlier than planned so continued walking to the Utilita Arena which was playing host to the Darts Championship and I figured out that this is why many people were dressed in fancy dress. I even grabbed a few photos of people in their outfits.

Ikonic Book Launch

Getting colder and wetter was not much of an option so I went to IKON and sat in the cafe with a coffee to wait for the last 20 mins. Tom came in and had a chat with me whilst waiting for his coffee but there was a number of people there to talk to him so he was running around like a groom at a wedding.

At 6:30, the lady from the Ikon gallery did a short speech about why they were working closely with Tom, followed by a guy from The Modernist who also explained the process of getting Tom’s second book published. Then it was time for Tom to chat about his drive and his practice which was very interesting and reflected upon his love for photography, typography and also human impact on the buildings and places of the Black Country. He shared some images on a screen that also appear in the book and there are some truly amazing photos within.

Once he’d completed his short presentation and applause was shared all around, he stood at a table in the corner to begin his book signing duties. I had purchased a book in the crowdfunder that was launched to test the waters for a second volume and I didn’t buy the autographed version so I picked up my plain version and then had a chat with a few people. I spoke to Paul Gittins whose website is www.modernshadows.com and he showed me some videos of his work which consist of many different materials and they were assembled, spinning on a stick throwing interesting shadows. He also makes kinetic sculptures such as his oak apple orchestra, very interesting to see.

As I was sat at the end of the event finishing yet another glass of Guinness Zero I spoke with another chap who was at this event as he randomly saw the crowdfunder notice somewhere and decided that as he used to work in the Black Country he’d come along and grab a book too. It was interesting to talk to him as he spent a lot of time travelling around New Zealand and other places, he is not an artist but a Black Country fellow and was asking about my own practice too.

Just before I left to head back to the car park, I said hello to Jim from the print hub and also Claire Buckerfield who shares a studio with Tom and is also a member of the faculty staff at Uni of Wolves. After a very quick ta ta, I headed off back through the now quieter city centre and from there into the car and away for home.

Reflection

Shirehall Exhibition

To have my work accepted into an exhibition is very humbling and as I spoke with other artists at the preview event I mentioned impostor syndrome to a couple and they all identified with it to some extent. At least I’m not on my own in feeling a little uncomfortable at these occasions, I am getting better at it and sometimes go out of my way to reach out and talk to other people who are standing or sitting alone.

The fact that my work sold to someone before the preview event was also amazing and I am glad that the buyer likes it so much. It’s an honour to have been the first piece sold at the event especially when it might not immediately be related to the remainder of the exhibition. Almost every other piece of art in this exhibition, at least those hanging on the walls, was a view of the Shirehall, with the dome, the column and the large blocks. I felt that mine may not have fitted in but several people told me that they were pleased to see something a little different.

Talking to another photographer we also discussed how we make the images with an open mind and then bring them together with a theme or a wordy statement only when absolutely necessary. University study has definitely helped me to develop this sense of meaning from a single or a group of images.

The whole start to finish of this project has taught me an awful lot about art, writing and myself and I still have a year of learning left to continue!

Black Country Type II

The book launch event is something I’ve only ever been to one of before, and they were both similar in format. It’s a little awkward standing amongst other artists or fans of the artist and although I try to push my comfort zone a bit to talk to others and find out more about people and their practices I still find it to me an uncomfortable experience.

The talks from the Ikon and Modernist representatives were incredibly complimentary of Tom, rightly so, and he stood and took it with confidence and a certainty that I can only hope to be able to affect at some point in the future. I get weird whenever someone says something nice about my work and although I’m trying hard to get used to it and be gracious about it, I find it tricky when it comes from other artists. Tom did amazingly to stand and introduce his practice and methods to the guests who were there to support him. He is an inspiration to me, and as I get to talk to him at university and also concerning other personal projects, I find that I am extremely luck to be able to lean on his expertise and knowledge. He is also very supportive of my practice so I find it easy to support him when he is exhibiting or having an event such as a photo walk etc.

Tom’s work in this book is also preceded by a foreword by Robert Plant himself in which he pays some huge compliments to Tom and his work and this must also be very affirming to hear from other artists even if they’re not photographers by trade.

I really enjoyed the event and the book is second to none, actually it is second to the first BCT book. 😉

The images in the book are a mix of some that he showed in Cambridge’s Churchill College and at the Modernist Manchester Exhibition in April. My favourite in the book though is his photo of a small building on the other side of some hoardings with the shadow of a building behind him perfectly matched up with the shape of the former. Outstanding.