This Project » Galeri 3B

12 Days of Artists: Annie Lewis from Dancing Shoes

Kirsty — Wed, 16 Dec 2015 10:58:01 +0000

Todays #12daysofartists features the director of Dancing Shoes, Annie Lewis! Running for almost ten years, here at THIS Project we wanted to find out a little bit more about the dance group and how Annie is finding the festive holidays.

Name:
Annie Lewis

Location:
Wrexham

Favourite place, and why?
Plans Talgarth Country Club – go there every November for a chance to chill and relax and a chance to catch up on paperwork and updates that need to be done.

Favourite Reindeer?
Got to be Rudolf – he gets there in the end.

Describe your self in 5 words
Stubborn – Determined – Fair – Listener – Fighter (for what is right)

What is your current practice and what have you been up to?

Director Dancing Shoes Wrexham – a voluntary group for all ages and abilities ‘Every Child Matters’

How long has Dancing Shoes been around for?

Dancing Shoes has its 10th birthday in January 2016. I have been acting on stage since I was 15.

At what point in your life did you know you wanted to be a Artist/Poet/Musician?
Since first acted I wanted to go the stage school but was not the done thing ‘back in day’ so ended up training to be a teacher but dropped out and went into banking – ah well.

If you could buy your 10 year old self anything for Christmas what would it be?
Karaoke machine but they didn’t have them back then – had a folk guitar though which I taught myself to play

Is there anything in particular you are looking forward to this Christmas?
This Christmas. Spending time with family, getting my laptop back from the Curry’s hospital.

Have you got any plans for the New Year?
Planning and putting music together for this years show in July.

If you could get anything for Christmas this year what would it be?
New set of dance mirrors for the 3B studio as current ones were a big expensive mistake, a good video camera to record the shows myself, projector to use in classes, a laptop that won’t die on me …….. the list is endless.If you would like to contact Dancing Shoes then please feel free to follow them on Twitter or Facebook

More details on how to get involved with Dancing Shoes can be found on their Facebook page.

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David McBride – Rituals of Colour

mike — Tue, 02 Jun 2015 12:43:59 +0000

The old Burtons Building on Hope Street is a grade II (true/false) listed building in a prominent position in Wrexham town centre, overlooked by St Giles Church. THIS Project been using the window space and shop front of this property to display artwork since the end of last year and it currently plays host to the fantastic ‘Rituals of Colour Structure’, a collection of work by David McBride.

Artist David McBride has previously documented landscapes through his photography but has recently shifted his interest on to navigational structures such as road markings and paths. All these things link to the infinite possibilities of the journey we have through our lives. For the exhibition McBride has been working on a series that documents the nature of the road markings – manhole covers, traffic cones and so on.

McBride comments; “Since my initial explorations I have increasingly become fascinated with many aspects of the colour that I have sought on my travels. I have further expanded upon these musings to experiment with these findings and to treat and investigate colour through photography as a whole.”

The artwork on display at 1-2 Hope Street was originally exhibited at Galeri 3B on Priory Street. Formerly Laura Ashley this is another property THIS Project have been given the opportunity of using in order to bring back into use empty spaces, and therefore adding something unique, engaging and temporary into our high streets while also furthering the careers of artists by supporting them to try new things, develop new audiences and present new work.

The exhibition, ‘Light Drawing’ was an exhibition of contemporary lens media exploring different techniques and themes offering a wide perspective on photography as an art form and also included collections of photography work by Alan Whitfield and Andrew Sharp.

THIS Project remain active at Undegun on Regent Street which currently exhibits Sivulla/On The Edge, an exhibition of contemporary Finnish artwork as part of a cultural and artistic exchange between artists based in Finland and North Wales.

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COLLABORATE!

mike — Wed, 01 Apr 2015 12:03:07 +0000

The Art World Comes To Wrexham

A group of major International artists will be making their way to Wrexham as part of the diverse and explosive “Collaborate!” exhibition, and this will be the first time much of the work has been shown outside of major international galleries, like New York’s Museum of Modern Art or The Tate.

“Collaborate” is the brainchild of artists Ivan Liotchev and Nicholas John Jones. They will be working with Glyndwr’s Oriel Sycharth Gallery and Wrexham’s innovative arts organisation THIS Project, who opened the former JJB store at 11 Regent Street, as Undegun Artspace in July 2013. The ground-breaking exhibition has been put together to showcase the talents of major international artists at venues across Wrexham, while demonstrating how groups of artists and institutions can work together to produce incredible results.

The exhibition is being previewed, on Wednesday, 22nd April, as part of the FOCUS Wales Music Festival, which itself brings acts from all over the world, and is just one other example of how Wrexham is increasingly being recognised as a destination for international talent.

The contemporary exhibition will feature artworks and performances that use the full spectrum of the tools available in the world today – from the paints and canvasses traditionally associated with artists, all the way through to Skype. Some of the work will be controversial, but all of it will be the best examples from highly respected art world figures.

Dave Gray of THIS Project, “A lot of institutional local galleries are nervous about showing artwork of this nature, because often it can be challenging and deals with uncomfortable issues. Since opening Undegun in 2013 though, we’ve found Wrexham people have a huge appetite for art, and enjoy the opportunity to see exciting new work in their own town rather than having to visit London or other major cities around the world to enjoy it. “Collaborate!” has been a fantastic opportunity to ensure we can get some of the best contemporary work from across the globe right here in our own town.”

Events to note:
Preview @ FOCUS Wales, Galeri 3B from 6pm, Wednesday 22nd April 2015 featuring London based Biters, and Ann Liv Young (broadcast live from New York City)

Launch Event @ Oriel Sycharth, 6pm to 8pm, Thursday 23rd April 2015

Artists exhibited:
Jeremy Bailey with Kristin Schaffer, Biters, Cornford & Cross, Judy Chicago, Phoebe Davis, Bernard Frize, Jesse Greenberg, Jeremy Hutchison, Helen Knowles, Ivan Liotchev, London Brain Project, Lorna Mills, Dylan Miner, Sarah Pettitt & Robert Rivers, Jonathan Powell & nu-Sangha, Kezia Pritchard & Kristofer Henriksson, Nina Rodin & Rebecca Molloy, Tim Rollins and K.O.S., Nastja Ronnko, Jesse Stead & Raphael Lyon, Ryan Trecartin, Weast, Ann Liv Young.

COLLABORATE! is a survey of recent collaborative art practice. Involving 23 international artists / collaborative teams, whose work spans across media ranging from painting to Skype, the exhibition urges us to consider the wide array of forms, approaches, and results of collaboration.

The central exhibition at Oriel Sycharth Gallery is presented as part of a wider programme of exhibitions, screenings and performances, in partnership with THIS Project and Focus Wales. Additional venues include THIS Project’s Undegun and Galeri 3B, and select screenings will be dispersed throughout Focus Wales events.

In exploring the nature of collaboration, COLLABORATE! presents a broad variety of practices including artists who only work collaboratively, occasional collaborators, and artists who direct temporary participants or orchestrate situations. Exhibitors range in nationality and career-stage and practices presented vary from early feminism and 80s painting revival, to jazz, indigenous and post-internet art.

Why do artists choose to co-create? On first thought, the merits of co-operation seem obvious and often denote harmony. We see artists like Phoebe Davis working with members of a care home as an act of empowerment. Cornford & Cross have an established practice based on mutual trust and co-operation. But are these, and other collaborative acts always symbiotic? Ryan Trecartin confronts us with post-digital discord, Jeremy Hutchison orders foreign factory workers to manufacture deliberately defective products, Ann Liv Young both compliments and insults us, Ivan Liotchev enlists hundreds of random participants in the often chaotic creation of his giant canvases, Tim Rollins and Judy Chicago urge sidelined youths and needle-workers, respectively, to raise their ambitions to High-art prominence.

Are collaborative strategies mutually beneficial to artist and collaborator, or are there underlying power structures at play that verge on exploitation? Can exploitation ever be beneficial and is it even collaboration? Where does ownership lie, when often the resulting works are only credited to a single artist? What are the boundaries between collaboration, participation, orchestration and instigation? Can collaboration break these boundaries and de-centralise authority? Is it a push towards more equality and empowerment or do familiar power-structures remain?

The points of conflict in this exhibition, both between the collaborators themselves and ideological questions raised, hopefully serve as means to a positive end. The tension built through collaboration may or may not resolve, but it always aims to stretch our spiritual sphere.

The social strive of the exhibition stems from the networked nature of collaboration itself, displaying how snippets of individual ideas, behaviours, relationships, thoughts, patterns and visions can inform a cohesive reality. Reflecting our hyper-connected society, the exhibition, and extended partnership that supports it, can be seen as a sketch for a more united and harmonious future.

Most artists in this exhibition have shown internationally, but never in Wales before. COLLABORATE! brings for the first time to Wales the groundbreaking participatory works of Tim Rollins and K.O.S. as well as Judy Chicago’s seminal Birth Project. Other artists showing in Wales for the first time include performance artist Ann Liv Young, Métis artist Dylan Miner, and Japanese duo WEAST.

A special feature of the exhibition will be the first ever presentation in Wales of Ryan Trecartin’s ambitious 3-channel movie Comma Boat. A unique vision of dictatorship, yet emblematic of Trecartin’s hyper-collaborative style, the large-scale installation will be presented at Undegun in Wrexham city centre.

COLLABORATE! will host a pre-launch event as part of Focus Wales on 22 April, 6-8pm at Galeri 3B, which will include live performances by London-based duo Biters and New York City-based Ann Liv Young.

The main exhibition launch at Oriel Sycharth Gallery will be on 23 April, 6-8pm, and will feature a live, multi-actor performance directed by Helen Knowles. A post-event reception with performances will follow at Undegun from 8pm onwards. As part of Focus Wales’s regular programme, the post-event is ticketed, but visitors to the opening at Oriel Sycharth will receive free passes to a special VIP zone.

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Light Drawing Launch

Kirsty — Fri, 13 Feb 2015 11:05:11 +0000

On the 23rd January was the launch of Galeri 3B first exhibition of 2015. Wrexham TV did a wonderful job of recording and interviewing the visitors at the event.

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Sioned Huws – Aomori Aomori

mike — Wed, 23 Jul 2014 10:48:54 +0000

Galeri 3B – Wednesday 23/07/2014 @ 7pm

As part of Oriel Wrecsam’s continuing programme of Off Site projects, you are invited to a dance performance of the Aomori Collaboration with Sioned Huws.

Part of a long term collaboration that links the mountains of Huws’ native Wales with the landscape of Aomori, Japan, this performance brings together a cast of ten dancers, musicians and singers from across the globe alongside local performers for the latest incarnation of the Aomori Project; a celebration of transformational landscapes and architectural spaces.

Sioned Huws is artistic director of Aomori Project, a long term collaboration since its beginning in 2008. Sioned is a Welsh choreographer who started making contemporary dance and performance in New York 1989, whilst studying at the Merce Cunningham Studios. Her work focuses on perception, memory, person and place within choreographic structures; systems patterning small details that allow for the unexpected within a world sensed through an awareness of physical movement.

Part of a long term collaboration that links the mountains of Sioned’s native Wales with the landscape of Aomori Japan, this performance brings together a cast of ten dancers, musicians and singers from across the globe alongside local performers forthe latest incarnation of Aomori Project; a celebration of transformational landscapes and architectural spaces. Featuring Tsugaru teodori dancer Yoshiya Ishikawa, Tsugaru Shamisen- Hasegawa Sangen-kai and minyo singer Kiyoko Goto; the dance, sound and songs of Tsugaru reflect the vigor of human resilience between man and nature.

Aomori is a prefecture of Japan in the region of Tsugaru, at the Northern most tip of Honshu Island, with short summers and long snowy winters, forest of blue, green, mountains of soft linear impressions, seas of a deep navy blue enliven feeling with colour in autums. In winter, the repetitive silent snowfall arrives, a landscape transformed, the heartbeat slows down, the body is overwhelmed by a desire to rest, to lay horizontally in this blanket of white. A desire to be resisted, to move and be moved. The sounds, song and dances of Tsugaru personify these landscapes. A contemporary performances, with a cast of ten performances, dancers live musicians and singer from Japan, Wales, UK and Europe, including guest performances from North Wales.

From vertical to horizontal; the body becomes space and space is transformed into body; in repetition, movement assumes the sensibility of an internal landscape, reflecting the soul of Aomori, the silent repetition of snowfall.

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Meet the Music Industry

mike — Tue, 11 Mar 2014 16:22:09 +0000

Meet the Music Industry: Making the most of FOCUS Wales… and other industry conference events

Free Panel / Q&A session

FOCUS Wales and other industry showcase festivals across the UK (and internationally) exist to put music industry representatives in front of incredible performers; but also to offer an opportunity for these musicians, businesses and key industry people to network.

It’s your chance to meet face to face with booking agents, labels, promoters and more, all in one place…

Ahead of FOCUS Wales 2014, this informal panel session and Q&A presented with Welsh Music Foundation will provide essential, practical advice on how you can make the most of attending (and playing) such events. Find out what opportunities you could be seeking out and how to best do so. We’ll also be asking what do these events look for when selecting bands to play?

Thursday March 27th 2014

6.30pm – 8.30pm

FREE

3B, Priory Street / Wrexham / LL11 1SU

If you’ve been selected to play a festival or not,

If you’ve got a FOCUS Wales wristband or maybe just considering attending,

Join us for a free drink at the bar following this session too.

Book your place here: http://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/meet-the-music-industry-tickets-10656280221

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