This years, Pankhurst in the Park Artist in residency Bunny Collective is making waves in the art world, with a full page interview by Ginanne Brownell Mitic in the International New York Times. In connection with their Frieze art fair edition. Both in print and online. We could not be happier for them!
Lotte Karlsen solo exhibition 'Sound of Silence' in New York
Press Release
Shimmering Sound of Silence travels across the Atlantic
On Thursday 8 September, Norwegian Artist, Lotte Karlsen will officially open her solo exhibition 'Sound of Silence' in West Chelsea Art studios, New York City, as the final installment of an arts programme connecting female artists across the Atlantic.
Highlights:
- Manchester (UK) based collective, Alexandra Arts, celebrates the final installment of Pankhurst in the Park 2016 arts programme in New York City.
- The solo show entitled 'Sound of Silence' will showcase a glass installation - by Norwegian artist, Lotte Karlsen.
- The pop-up exhibition will launch on Thursday 8 September 6-8pm at Studio 511, West Chelsea Arts Building, West 26th St. New York, NY, and runs until 24 September.
- The exhibition will be housed inside a small white cube nestled inside artist Scotto Mycklebust's studio - executive producer of the Public Art Squad Project. Visitors will have exclusive access to this private artist studio, which is based in the heart of West Chelsea's Arts district.
- Sarah Gavron, director of award-winning 2015 film, Suffragette, was one of several female artists to have taken part in the Pankhurst in the Park programme, which has also involved New York artists collectives Go! Push Pops and Legacy Fatale.
With an exhibition housed inside a white cube entitled ‘Sound of Silence’, Lotte Karlsen returns to her specialist medium of glass for what will be her first solo show in New York, to create a site specific work which explores and deals with her relationship to her own mortality.
Lotte Karlsen, Artist, founder of Alexandra Arts and curator of Pankhurst in the Park, commented:
“For this final installment of Pankhurst in the Park 2016 in New York City, I’m delighted to have my work showcased in the heart of the west side of Chelsea; NYC’s premier contemporary-art district.
'Sound of Silence' is an opportunity for me to return to the beginning of my career and specialist medium - glass - which I feel best reflects the fragility of the subject matter. I felt it was time for me to delve deeper and create work that deals with some of the more difficult and darker aspects of my life but through a medium that quite literally shines a light on the more positive outcomes.”
Curated by the Manchester-based, artist-led collective, Alexandra Arts, Pankhurst in the Park 2016 is inspired by Alexandra Park - a Victorian Park in Manchester - and it’s rich historical connection to the Suffrage Movement, whose iconic leader, Emmeline Pankhurst, was born and bred yards from the Park in the neighbouring Moss Side Estate.
This exhibition, Sound of Silence, marks the end of the Pankhurst in the Park 2016 programme, which aims to empower the local communities around Alexandra Park and beyond through engagement with their local environment and social history, and to promote the wealth of talented female artists in Manchester and beyond by providing a platform for their work.
'Sound of Silence' represents a collaboration with Lotte Karlsen, West Chelsea artist Scotto Mycklebust, and artist and feminist writer Katie Cercone, co-founder of NYC radical artist duo Go! Push Pops. Go! Push Pops were artists in residence for Pankhurst in the Park 2014.
'Sound of Silence' will celebrate its opening on Thursday the 8th of September, from 6-8pm, with a public launch and drinks reception. The exhibition is free and open to the public from 8th - 24th September 2016. Opening times are 12-6pm from Tuesday to Saturday, and 6-8pm on Thursdays. In conjunction with the exhibition, on Thursday the 22nd of September, a new online-based magazine, called ART 511, will also be launched.
For more information, visit: www.alexandra-arts.org.uk.
ENDS
For further information, images and interviews please contact:
Amy Clancy
press@alexandra-arts.org.uk | www.alexandra-arts.org.uk | @AlexArtsMCR #pankhurstinthepark
NOTES TO EDITORS
Lotte Karlsen
Lotte Karlsen FRSA, born 1974 in Hammerfest, Norway is a multidisciplinary artist working fluidly across the boundaries of fine art, social practice, sculpture and craft. Currently living and working in Manchester, UK. Karlsen earned an early degree in glass blowing from the world renowned Kosta Glass School in Sweden's Crystal Kingdom. Later obtaining an MA in Art as Environment at Manchester Institute for Research and Innovation in Art and Design (MIRIAD), her work in recent years has blurred the lines of conceptualism, artivism and craft. She has exhibited her work in London, Milan, Tokyo, Seoul, Barcelona, Paris, New York and throughout Scandinavia.
http://www.synchronizedliquid.com/#lotte-karlsen
West Chelsea Artist Studios
'Sound of Silence' will be exhibited inside a small white cube inside artist Scotto Mycklebust's studio, which is located in West Chelsea Artist studio complex in New York. The building houses galleries, multiple artists and art dealers, and resides close to the far west side of Chelsea — the city of New York's premier contemporary-art district — which is home to high-profile spaces including Gagosian Gallery and Gladstone Gallery.
http://westchelseaartists.com/
Alexandra Arts
Founded in 2010 by Norwegian Artist, Lotte Karlsen, Alexandra Arts is an artist-led collective based in Manchester's Alexandra Park. The collective aims to empower the local community around the park through engagement with their local environment and social history, and to promote the wealth of talented female artists in Manchester, and beyond, by providing a platform for their work. In 2014, Alexandra Arts established Pankhurst in the Park to highlight Alexandra Park’s rich historical connection to the Suffrage Movement and its inspiring socio-political heritage, which has until now has left no trace locally.
Pankhurst in the Park 2016
Pankhurst in the Park 2016 is an Arts Council England and Manchester City Council funded, public programme of artist commissions, an international artist in residency and outreach and educational programme, which took place in Manchester from March – May, 2016 and will arrive in New York between August - September, 2016.
Curated by the Manchester-based, artist-led collective, Alexandra Arts, Pankhurst in the Park is inspired by Alexandra Park’s rich historical connection to the Suffrage Movement, whose iconic leader, Emmeline Pankhurst, was born and bred only yards from the Park in the neighbouring Moss Side estate. The 2016 programme, builds on the hugely successful events of 2014/15.
Observing the unobserved with Bunny Collective
Take a peek at the latest exhibition from the all-girl art collective – with I-D
“What We Are Doing is the new exhibition from all-girl art movement, the Bunny Collective, which aims to elevate the insignificant and shine light on all that is disregarded within our consumerist society. The title, taken from a quote by American political theorist, Hannah Arendt, invites artists to consider what it means to emphasise aspects of the human condition that frequently go unobserved. Having completed a two month residency at Manchester’s Alexandra Park, working with local artists and youth groups, Bunny Collective will stage their final exhibition as part of the #PankhurstinthePark Spring Showdown at the park this Saturday. ”
See the full article here
What We Are Doing - Bunny Collective
After a two month residency at Alexandra Park for Pankhurst in the Park 2016, during which time they worked with school children, artists, youth groups, and many others, Bunny Collective will reveal their final exhibition titled 'What We Are Doing'. Set in Alexandra Park's woodland, the Bunnies will lead guided tours around their exhibition, before interviewing Sarah Gavron, Director of the award-winning 2015 film, Suffragette, as part of the #PankhurstinthePark Spring Showdown with Bunny Collective & Suffragette Director, Sarah Gavron. We can't wait!
Join us and them, this Saturday (7 May), from 2pm onwards. All events are free. However, booking is required for the talk with Sarah Gavron (register via EventBrite) and only a few tickets remain.
Exhibiting Artists: Aoife O Dwyer, Camilla Frankl-Slater, Charlotte Cullen, Eleanor Cully, Hannah Le Feuvre, Riika Enne, Sasha Cresdee, Saffa Khan and Samantha Conlon
What We Are Doing - text by Kathryn O'Regan
Taking the title from a quote by Hannah Arendt – "What I propose, therefore, is very simple: it is nothing more than to think what we are doing" – the exhibition, which will be located in the park’s fairy-tale woodland setting, invites the participating artists to consider what it means to emphasise aspects of the human condition that frequently go unobserved, or those acts which are discounted, intangible, insubstantial or fleeting. In particular, What we are doing will hope to explore Arendt’s distinction between labour and work.
For Arendt, labour encompasses the elements of human existence that are characterised by their ephemerality and that which are not physically quantifiable. In Arendt’s view, life depends on these humble acts of labour which do not leave behind a material trace, yet are wholly necessary for human survival. On the other hand, for Arendt, work involves the physical production of consumable things. Work is characterised by its permanence, artificiality, durability and reliance on manmade tools for production.
The goal of What we are doing will be to shine a light on that which may be deemed insignificant or disregarded within a contemporary society that privileges the commercial, the consumable, the physical and the permanent.
Like Bunny Collective’s previous exhibitions, notions of correspondence, connection and collaboration will be paramount. What we are doing asks the artists to consider what these concepts might mean in terms of Arendt’s labour and work divide; industry; history; heritage and political action.
Image © Samantha Conlon, Bunny Collective
Where to find us and how
Where and how to find us
‘Tea Hive’ Pavilion- The nearest park entrance is on Demesne Road, where it meets Smalldale Avenue. Satnav postcode M16 8PJ https://goo.gl/maps/cJBaAURvkWk
The 85 bus stops along Alexandra Road South where it crosses Demesne Road. https://goo.gl/maps/7Ddhv3RDWxr Bus 101, 104, 015 and 109 stops by the Shell garage on Princess Parkway https://goo.gl/maps/vJDbJDHRsfF2
Woodland exhibition area – Nearest entrance to the woodland is on Alexandra Road South, opposite Range Road. Satnav postcode M16 8ER. https://goo.gl/maps/PNWvvQBRDJ82
Bus 85 does three stops along the parks boarder on Alexandra Road South, get off at the second of three. Coming from town or Chorlton. https://goo.gl/maps/omg1eNdJs3v
Chorlton Lodge – the Parks Lodge house is located on the corner of Smalldale Avenue and Claremont Road. Satnav postcode M16 7JH https://goo.gl/maps/9it2NDv2MAJ2
Bus 101,104, 105 and 109 stops on Princess Road, where it meets Claremont Road https://goo.gl/maps/D8ZASZRkndE2
The official address for Alexandra Park is 180 Russell Street, M16 7JL Manchester https://goo.gl/maps/QN38NgZVvcn
'High Tea' Menu by Tea Hive
Lil' Fee and Veba's Caribbean-infused High Tea: Menu
A selection of sandwiches per person, selection including:
2 slices of cake per person from an extensive range
A freshly made fluffy Tea Hive sweet scone - served with homemade jam selection and Cornish clotted cream
Pots of tea/cafeteria of coffee
There is also a bar on site serving alcoholic beverages
All served and made by the lovely people at Tea Hive Pavilion
Wonder Women 2016 highlights, Part 2: Mean Girls & Suffrajitsus - Yes, that's us!
Part two of creative tourist's Wonder Women 2016 highlights includes a Mean Girls pop-up in an Ancoats theatre and Suffrajitsus in Alexandra Park.
With over 50 events taking place in ten days as part of Wonder Women 2016 (3-13 March), we are super chuffed that creativetourist.com has pick our Pankhurst in the Park launch party event, 'Wonder Warrior', as a must see festival highlight! It's less than a week to go now until Legacy Fatale hits the streets of Manchester on International Woman's Day. Check out Creative Tourist's description below, and visit our events page to find out what to expect...
"Alexandra Arts kicks off the Pankhurst in the Park 2016 programme with New York based collective Legacy Fatale, whose newly commissioned piece is a celebration of Mrs Pankhurst’s ‘Suffrajitsu’ body guards. These, if you aren’t familiar, were women trained in the martial art of Bartitsu. This event represents Pankhurst in the Park’s 2016 official launch party with DJ Andrea Trout, at ‘Tea Hive’ Pavilion in Alexandra Park. Suitable for ages 18+, ‘Tea Hive’ Pavilion, Alexandra Park, 12 March, 6pm-12am, free" @ creativetourist.com
Pankhurst in the Park Returns with Warriors and Wonder Women
Pankhurst in the Park 2016 Presents Legacy Fatale
Pop up performances: 8-11 March, 2016; Manchester City Centre locations.
Free, all ages.
Launch event: Saturday 12 March; 'Tea Hive' Pavilion, Alexandra Park, M16 8PJ. 6pm - midnight. Free, 18+.
Alexandra Arts has announced the return of Pankhurst in the Park, a public programme of free, age-friendly events, artist commissions, an international curator in residency and educational programme, taking place in Manchester from March to May, 2016, and in New York between June and July, 2016.
Curator of Pankhurst in the Park, Lotte Karlsen said:
“Pankhurst in the Park aims to empower the local communities around Alexandra Park through engagement with their local environment and social history, and to promote the wealth of talented female artists in Manchester and beyond by providing a platform for their work. We are thrilled that Arts Council England and Manchester City Council have recognised the value of the work we are doing, and have granted funding for the Spring programme."
Kicking off the programme with an ‘animal print extravaganza’, performance art collective, Legacy Fatale, will travel from New York to channel the ancient, nomadic, warrior women of the Amazon on the streets of Manchester from 8 to 11 March, during Wonder Women 2016. This will lead up to an interactive 'Wonder Warrior' performance and artist presentation as part of Pankhurst in the Park's official launch party with DJ Andrea Trout, at ‘Tea Hive’ Pavilion in Alexandra Park on 12 March, 2016.
Curated by the Manchester-based, artist-led collective, Alexandra Arts, Pankhurst in the Park is inspired by Alexandra Park’s rich historical connection to the Suffrage Movement, whose iconic leader, Emmeline Pankhurst, was born and bred yards from the Park in the neighbouring Moss Side Estate.
For the Pankhurst in the Park programme, Legacy Fatale's commission will be a "Suffrajitsu" choreography piece inspired by Emmeline Pankhurst's bodyguards - women trained in the martial art of Bartitsu to form the elite secret society known as the “Amazons” - and an animal print extravaganza inspired by the ancient, warrior women of the Amazon.
Coco Dolle, Founding Leader and Curator of Legacy Fatale said:
"Taking cues from the legendary Amazon Warriors, the iconic Wonder Woman, and the fierce Suffragettes, we will integrate social protest, ancient symbology and Bartitsu practices paying homage to feminism's ferocious heritage."
The Spring programme builds on the success of Pankhurst in the Park 2014/15, and will again be accompanied by an integrated educational programme with investing partner St Mary’s CE Primary School in Moss Side.
Following the launch event, an international artist collective will take up residence and begin an engagement project with local teenage girls, and a series of free events will take place in and around Alexandra Park. This will include free, age-friendly art workshops for older residents of Whalley Range and Moss Side, as well as a heritage cycle ride for all ages as part of Transport for Greater Manchester's Women on Wheels campaign.
Pankhurst in the Park presents Legacy Fatale
Pankhurst in the Park kicks off with a Suffrajitsu Wonder Warrior performance
Alexandra Art is kicking off the 'Pankhurst in the Park' 2016 programme of events by taking part in 'Wonder Women'. For this radical fem fest Alexandra Arts are working with New York based collective LEGACY FATALE, led by artists Coco Dolle and Shawn Bishop.
LEGACY FATALE is a performance choreography group founded in 2008 that celebrates the ancient nomadic warrior women of the Amazon. The collective represents a breed of hybrid historic and pop cultural icons, a cross-pollination of mythical and contemporary female archetypes.
This commissioned choreography piece is a fusion of Mrs Pankhurst’s ‘Suffrajitsu’ bodyguards - the elite secret society of “Amazons”, women trained in the martial art of Bartitsu - and an animal print extravaganza that will be popping up across the city (look out for locations via social media) between Tuesday 8th March (International Woman's Day) and Friday 11th March. This micro-residency will lead up to an interactive 'Wonder Warrior' performance and artist presentation as part of PitP's official launch party with DJ Andrea Trout at the 'Tea Hive' Pavilion in Alexandra Park on 12 March, 2016.
“Through a series of intensifying performances, Legacy Fatale will expand upon the lexicon of the female power struggle, bridging myth, history and pop culture. Taking cues from the legendary Amazon Warriors, the iconic Wonder Woman, and the fierce Suffragettes, we will integrate social protest, ancient symbology and Bartitsu practices paying homage to feminisms' ferocious heritage” - Coco Dolle and Shawn Bishop of LEGACY FATALE
Alexandra Arts
Pankhurst in the Park 2016 – presents Legacy Fatale
'Tea Hive' Pavilion, Alexandra Park, M16 8PJ Manchester
Date: 12 March, 2016
Times: 6pm - midnight (18+)
Free
Wonder Women
This event is part of Wonder Women, Manchester’s annual feminist festival. From 3-13 March 2016, 'Wonder Women' celebrates the women’s movement, which was born in our city, through film, art, music, walking tours, gallery takeovers, comedy and debate, asking how far we’ve come in 100 years – and how far we have yet to go.
Pankhurst in the Park
Pankhurst in the Park 2016 is an Arts Council England funded, public programme of free age-friendly events, artist commissions, an international artist in residency and educational programme, taking place in Manchester March – May 2016.
Stay up to date with with the 'Pankhurst in the Park' 2016 programme by following us:
Pankhurst in the Park 2016
Alexandra Arts is thrilled to announce that we have been awarded funds from Grants for the Arts for Pankhurst in the Park! Kicking off in spring 2016. Thank you Arts Council England!
'Pankhurst in the Park' 2016- taking inspiration from Alexandra Park's rich heritage connected to Iconic Suffragette, Emmeline Pankhurst; this years programme includes a International Artist Residency (AiR), artist commissions and age friendly engagement opportunities. Accompanied by an integrated Arts Awards educational program with St Mary's Primary School in Moss Side.
This year we will do things a bit different with the Artist in Residency – it will be done by invitation only. We secured our funding later then expected, so unfortunately we have run out time to do a open call for this years AiR.
We will continue to strengthen our ties with New York, capitalising on the connection made during 'Pankhurst in the Park' 2014. In the pipe line is a series of transatlantic exchanges and an exhibition in New York. Watch this space......
The full park programme, including the Artist in Residency and New York venue will be announced on Friday the 29th of February 2016.
Gifs by Pablo Melhor
