Sunday 4 August 2013

'What It Feels Like' exhibition -Press Release


‘What It Feels Like’


Preview Friday 2nd August 2013, 6-9pm
Exhibition open 3rd-15th August, 2-7pm
Bankley Studios, Levenshulme, Manchester, M19 3PP

The purpose of this exhibition is to explore languages of representation and to challenge the meaning of signs in our system of reference.
We were inspired by the word ‘Divine’, and wanted to discover what this really meant, in relation to the Ordinary (as a course of symbols we see everyday that we recognise and we accept without challenging or even thinking about them).
We felt the Divine was something beyond us, perhaps the opposite of the Ordinary; to rise above our daily lives/ to transcend.
However there is perhaps much beauty to be found within everyday existence, can we find Divinity on an average and mundane day?
We want to challenge our personal perception of our surroundings - looking at signs within the Ordinary and Nature. Nature is the context in which we want question the representation of beauty and femininity: can Beauty be Ugliness, can Feminine be Masculine? How do we identify beauty and where do we look for ideas of beauty? Is it purely through taught social codes?

By bringing together female artists, this will address being female and how that is understood and represented by our own system of reference; challenging given definitions of femininity as well as exploring ideas of Feminism.
As a group show, ‘What It Feels Like’ works as a collaborative voice, of Women Artists.
A composition of each individual artists subjective response to the theme; showing their personal perspective, how they see things and reflecting on their identity as women.

We are excited to present the eight artists we have brought together; talented women who are actively making art in Manchester, Glasgow, Copenhagen and Barcelona.

Combining many different mediums, from illustration to print, photography, textiles, film and installation ‘What It Feels Like’ will explore a diverse range of female expression.

The Artists involved are: 
Lucy Jones http://lucy-jones.tumblr.com/illustration
Bryony Jackson http://www.bryonyjackson.net/
Alba Yruela http://albayruela.tumblr.com/
Hannah Mort http://www.hannahmort.tv
Jess Higgins http://jesshiggins.tumblr.com/
Faye Johnson http://www.fayecoraljohnson.com/
Alex Humphreys http://alexhumphreys.tumblr.com/ and 
Tine Bek http://tinebek.com/.

The show has been curated and realised by Valentina OrrĂ¹ and Hannah Mort.

‘What It Feels Like’.