Private View

It was the private view of the SPA exhibition on Friday night - and what a night!
In the snow and bitter wind over 50 people turned out to see the exhibition of the 12 SPA artists - a great turn out. Thanks to everyone who battled the elements to come and enjoy the art.

The guests were also treated to the fabulous music set provided by Frost with his tape cassettes - brilliant. 

If you didn't get the chance to come to the do on Friday night there is still the opportunity to see the exhibition in the Guild Hall Arcade, Lancaster Road, Preston. 
It's open on Monday 25th and Tuesday 26th 11am - 4pm

So please don't miss the chance to see the 12 wonderful artworks produced for this project:

Michael Lewy
Mark Dion
Lubaina Himid
Thomas Saible
Adrianne Neil
Katie Holten
Hemali Bhuta
Toby Paterson
David Nash
Alec Finlay and Hanna Tuulikki
Anon
Urs Luethi

Are you coming to the exhibition?

It's the opening night of the Secret Preston Art exhibition this Friday 22nd March from 6pm until 8pm - hope you can make it.

You'll be able to see the original artworks from all the SPA artists:

Michael Lewy, Mark Dion, Lubaina Himid, Thomas Saible, Adrianne Neil, Katie Holten, Hemali Bhuta, Toby Paterson, David Nash, Alec Finlay with Hanna Tuulikki, Urs Luethi and of course the un-nameable naughty graffiti one.

If you can't make the opening we'll be open on Sat 23rd, Mon 25th and Tues 26th 11am - 4pm
And it's FREE!!

Guild Hall Arcade
Lancaster Road
Preston

Hope to see you there - it'll be the only time you're able to see all these amazing international artists in one place - and it's in Preston. Fab.

Secret Preston Art Exhibition

Secret Exhibition - coming very soon...

What are you doing next Friday night?

Fancy seeing the original amazing artworks from all the SPA artists?

We are organising an exhibition of the works here in the fair city of Preston - so book it in your diary.

More details to follow by the end of today - so watch out!

The Final SPA Card - Urs Luethi

We are very proud to announce that the final SPA artist is Urs Luethi - fantastic!

All the limited edition postcards are now available for FREE and can be found in Preston at Scene and Wonderland on Friargate, The Museum of Lancashire, the Pavilion in Avenham Park, The Tourist Info Centre and the Continental Pub. What are you waiting for? They'll not be around for long - go and get one for yourself!

Urs Luethi was born in Switzerland and lives in Germany. Working with photography, print, painting, sculpture and performance, his work takes a wry look at the aesthetic of the human condition. Frequently presenting self portraits his work is witty, ironic and loaded with tongue-in-cheek humour.

Luethi represented Switzerland at the Venice Biennial  in 2001 where he presented himself as part of the exhibition.

He has shown work extensively worldwide: Italy, Germany, France, Spain, Iceland, UK, Austria, Japan, Australia, USA and Canada. His work is held in a number of national collections: Kunsthalle in Hamburg, Kunstmuseum in Bern, Centre Pompidou in Paris and Tate in London.

He is currently showing work in A Bigger Splash at Tate Modern in London and in Glam! The Performance of Style at Tate Liverpool. And now he has work in Preston too - how exciting!

For more information on his work please visit his website:

http://www.ursluethi.com/

We are delighted that our final limited edition postcard is by Urs Luethi. 100 numbered cards are now available in the venues listed above - please don't miss this chance to collect a little artwork by such an internationally significant artist: when all the cards are gone - they're gone.

The Final SPA Card is Coming!!

The final Secret Preston Art card is coming and, if we say so ourselves - it's an absolute corker!

You really shouldn't miss this final limited edition postcard brought to you for free by Secret Preston Art.

It is being stamped and wrapped ready to go into all the venues around Preston city centre and should be available from Tuesday this week... 

New Card - Confidential!

There's a new SPA card out today and for obvious reasons the artist will remain confidential... how intriguing!

You can collect a free limited edition postcard from The Museum of Lancashire, The Conti Pub, The Pavilion in Avenham Park, the Tourist Info Centre, Scene on Friargate and Wonderland on Friargate too.

The postcard image shows only a section of the full artwork located somewhere within Preston city centre.

This work is part of an ongoing, unspoken dialogue between the artist and the authorities concerning their policy on the 'removal' of graffiti.

In subtle reference to 3D lettering, the simple addition to these blocks of painted 'censorship' calls into question the aim of the policy. Who is the offender/defender of the space?

The artwork has already been painted over and no longer exists -  with the blocks of black paint expanding to cover it. Such is the ephemeral nature of graffiti.

All the free cards have gone into the venues listed above - so go and collect one before they all get snapped up.

New Card Out - Alec Finlay!

We have a new Secret Preston Art card out from today by Alec Finlay - how wonderful!

All of the limited edition postcards have gone into the venues around Preston and are available for FREE - so go and get yourself one before they all go. Venues are The Pavilion in Avenham Park, The Conti Pub, Tourist Info Centre, The Museum of Lancashire, Wonderland on Friargate and Scene on Friargate too.

Alec Finlay is and artist and poet based in Edinburgh. He uses text, print, sculpture and collage, audio-visual and digital technology in his work to reflect our interaction with nature. His work considers how we as a culture, or cultures, relate to landscape.

He has shown work at The Baltic, The Bluecoat, Turner Contemporary, Royal Scottish Academy, Yorkshire Sculpture Park and was recently commissioned to make new work for the 18th Biennial of Sydney. 

Publications include: Be My Reader published by Shearsman Books; Mesostic Remedy published by Morning Star and Mesostic Interleaved published by Edinburgh University.

Finlay was shortlisted for the Northern Art Prize in 2010 and the Alice Awards in 2012.
Go to his website for more details:

www.alecfinlay.com

The work he has made for SPA is in collaboration with artist Hanna Tuulikki and for more information on her work please visit her website here:

www.hannatuulikki.org

If you're lucky enough to get your hands on one of the limited edition postcards you'll realise you'll be needing the answers to the riddles...

New Card - David Nash!

You lucky Prestonians - the new Secret Preston Art card is by David Nash. Unbelievable!

We have just put all the limited edition cards in the venues around the city - so if you want one you'd better get going.

David Nash has shown work all over the world - USA, Japan, France, Spain, Australia, Germany, Switzerland, Korea, Hawaii, Poland and Italy and has work in many, many collections: Uffizi Gallery in Italy, Tate Gallery in London, The Arts Council Collection, The British Council, Soloman R Guggenheim Museum in New York and the Museum of Contemporary Art in Tokyo to name just a few.

He is a Royal Academician and was awarded the OBE for services to the arts in 2004.
http://www.royalacademy.org.uk/academicians/sculptors/david-nash-ra,117,AR.html

He is currently showing work at Kew in a major exhibition
http://www.kew.org/index.htm

And he is also showing work here in Preston! David Nash has made new work especially for this project - so we are absolutely delighted. Only 100 in total have been printed and distributed - so if you'd like to own a David Nash limited edition post card - they are FREE!!

Get yourself down to The Museum of Lancashire, The Tourist Info Centre, Scene on Friargate, Wonderland on Friargate, The Pavilion in Avenham Park and the Continental Pub before they all get snapped up.

Wonderland is back!

We are thrilled to say that the lovely shop Wonderland is back in Preston and will again become a venue for you to collect a free Secret Preston Art card. Fab.
Wonderland is on Friargate and open Monday to Saturday 10am until 5.30pm. Independent businesses need our support right now - so go along and see what goodies you can find in this delightful little shop.

And, it'll be this week sometime that the next SPA card is released into the world. It's a really special one this time - so get ready to run out and collect it. We'll keep you posted.

New Postcard - Toby Paterson

We are absolutely delighted to announce that the most recent SPA artist is Toby Paterson - incredible!

All the FREE limited edition postcards are now in the venues - so go out and get yourself one before they all get snapped up. The venues are The Museum of Lancashire, the Tourist Info Centre, Scene on Friargate, The Continental Pub and the Pavilion in Avenham Park.

Toby Paterson was born and lives in Glasgow. He makes paintings, reliefs and constructions that reflect his keen interest in post-war modernist architecture. Some works feature recognisable architectural elements while other works express purely abstract forms.

Paterson has shown work nationally and internationally: The Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art in Edinburgh; The Museum of Contemporary Art, Montreal; Tate St Ives, Cornwall and Museo Tamayo in Mexico City. He has also undertaken a number of public commissions: The BBC Scottish headquarters in Glasgow and he was appointed by Docklands Light Railway as principle artist on
the design team for the Stratford International Extension.

For more information on Paterson's work please visit the Modern Institute website.

We are so excited that he has made new work especially for the Secret Preston Art Project. Paterson says of the work
"It relates to Preston and my history as an occasional visitor. The other structure is the Apollo Pavilion in Peterlee in its previous state of 2001. It's now conserved, as I hope the bus station will be..."

So, if you fancy a copy of the SPA postcard you better hurry - they will go fast!

Get Ready

We have an absolute treat in store for you: the next card is going to print today and will be in the venues tomorrow afternoon - great! And you'll not be disappointed - it's a cracker.

We'll post details when all of the 100 cards are available to collect - so watch out...

Hemali Bhuta in The New York Times

Hemali Bhuta - the most recent Secret Preston Art artist is in the New York Times!
The article writes about her work on show at the Frieze art fair in London, plus her residency at Yorkshire Sculpture Park earlier this year:

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/11/arts/11iht-rartbhuta11.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0

 

There might still be a few of her Secret Preston Art cards available in the venues around town - they are FREE so go and hunt them out before there's none left.

New Card Out Now - Hemali Bhuta

We are delighted to announce that the next SPA artist is Hemali Bhuta - brilliant!

Hemali has created the artwork especially for the Secret Preston Art project and you can find one of the limited edition postcards in the different venues in town: The Museum of Lancashire, The Tourist Info Centre, The Pavilion in Avenham Park, Scene on Friargate and The Continental Pub. They are FREE!

Hemali lives and works in Mumbai, India. Her work draws on different philosophies, mythologies and folkores and she often chooses to work with mundane, organic or ephemeral materials to create simple, subtle, elegant forms.

She has shown work in Zurich, New York, Rome, Lyon and London and has attended residencies in UK, Maldives and USA.

She is represented by Project 88 where you can find out more about her work.

She is currently showing work at the Shanghai Biennial in China. And in Preston!! So, don't delay - go and get your FREE SPA card now.

New Card Available - Katie Holten

The SPA team are delighted that the most recent card is by Katie Holten - fabulous!

Katie Holten grew up in Ireland, but now lives and works in NY, USA.
Through drawing, sculpture, books and ephemeral actions her work looks at the relationship between man and the natural world.

She represented Ireland at the 50th Venice Biennale and has also had solo shows at the New Orleans Museum of Art, USA; VAN HORN Dusseldorf, Germany; Dublin City Gallery, Ireland; The Bronx Museum of the Arts, NY, USA.

Currently she has a solo show at FUTURA Centre for Contemporary Art in Prague, Czech Republic. The show runs until November 25th 2012.

For more information about her work please visit her website:

www.katieholten.com

If you can't make it to Prague - then you can always come to Preston and pick up a FREE Secret Preston Art card. The limited edition postcards went out today into the venues (listed below) so if you fancy owning a postcard by Katie Holten you better go and collect one asap - they will go fast!

Local Artist in Local Museum Shocker

On show at the Harris Museum and Art Gallery here in Preston at the moment is an exhibition by Lubaina Himid - one of the Secret Preston Artists (see March entry on the blog).

Moments That Matter is an exhibition of paintings revealing the hidden contribution of 45 individuals to the Olympics. There are also banners in some of the empty shop windows in the city too. The exhibition runs until 3rd November and is free.

Vibrant and beautiful, Lubaina's exhibition makes an interesting addition to an otherwise fairly dull contemporary art program this year because of the funding cuts and lack of imagination.
With the unshakable policy of 'ignore local artists and hopefully they'll get bored and go away' it makes a refreshing change to see the Harris Museum showing the work of a local artist (Lubaina Himid lives and works here in the city). Has the Harris Museum finally realised there are some cracking good international, local artists?

New Card - Adrianne Neil

We are thrilled to say that this month's Secret Preston artist is Adrianne Neil - fab!

Adrianne is an illustrator based in Newcastle and produces intricate, strange, beautiful drawings and she has produced an intriguing little drawing especially for Preston - what a star!

Her hand drawn illustrations explore imagined realities and creatures developed through a love of heavy industry, birds and Japanese woodblock prints. Recent projects include participating in Jake Blanchard’s Menagerie 3, and she is currently collaborating with Sheffield artist and designer Emma Presland.

You can see more of her work on her blog:
 

http://jesuisdesoleejesuisoccupee.blogspot.co.uk/

Adrianne's card is available now for free at the Museum of Lancashire, The Tourist Information Centre, The Pavilion in Avenham Park, The Continental Pub and Scene on Friargate. However, we're sad to say that Wonderland on Friargate is now closed - the lure of the south was too much and they've relocated to Manchester.

Get your card now - they'll not be available for long...