Acme Studios news

Fire Station artists in new gallery show

Fri, 18 Mar 2011 09:00:00 +0000

Three artists from Acme’s Fire Station Work/Live programme feature in the opening show at EB&Flow, a new gallery in Shoreditch which aims to discover and support emerging contemporary artists. New works by Briony Anderson, Gemma Anderson and Sue Corke are included in ‘Since Tomorrow’, curated by Attilia Fattori Franchini, celebrating the core group of EB&Flow artists.

Acme Studios and EB&Flow have a complementary approach to supporting artists. EB&Flow aim to build long-term relationships with artists from a formative stage in their career and as their practice develops. Acme’s Fire Station Work/Live Programme is intended to allow artists more time to concentrate on the development of their work and professional careers.

Acme has run an innovative work/live programme for artists in a converted fire station in East London since 1997. The programme, one of the most supportive in the UK, has helped over 50 artists, with many going on to achieve significant national and international reputations. This year marks the hundredth anniversary of the building’s opening and throughout 2011 Acme will be running a series of events to celebrate both the centenary and the artists who have benefited from the programme.

‘Since Tomorrow’ exhibition dates, 2 April – 26 May

For more information on EB&Flow visit: www.ebandflowgallery.com

For more information on Acme’s Fire Station Work/Live Programme visit: www.acme.org.uk/firestationworklive.php

Register an interest in future studios

Wed, 09 Mar 2011 09:00:00 +0000

Acme Studios is currently developing 76 new studios at Matchmakers Wharf on the edge of the London 2012 Olympic Park. Near to the media centre in Homerton, E9 we are creating 49 purpose-built studios as part of a canal-side, mixed-use development with Telford Homes. Near to the Aquatics Centre in Stratford, E15 we are creating 27 studios in a listed art deco building at 150 Stratford High Street as part of a mixed-use scheme with Genesis Homes. All the studios will be designed to Acme’s specification and will provide high-quality, long-term and affordable spaces for fine artists. The current completion date for the studios is July 2012.

To register an interest in either of these schemes or studios in any existing Acme building, please click here to visit our Waiting List page. Then download, complete and return a Studio Registration Form along with a CV, monitoring form and £10 registration fee.

Paul Knight at the Acme Project Space

Tue, 15 Feb 2011 09:00:00 +0000

Paul Knight marks the end of his 2010 Australia Council for the Arts London Studio Residency, managed by Acme Studios International Residencies Programme, with a joint exhibition I'll sit slightly behind you. Also featuring work by Australian artist Chantal Faust, the exhibition is described by the artists as "a double act featuring new collages, folded photographs, a video performance and a cannibalistic contract".

This exhibition contains adult nudity and sexually explicit content.

I'll sit slightly behind you opens on Thursday 3 March, 6.30pm to 9pm at the Acme Project Space and runs Thu-Sun until 13 March 2011. For more information, please see below.

Third Acme tenant receives Jessica Wilkes Award

Fri, 14 Jan 2011 09:00:00 +0000

The 2011 recipient of the Acme Studios’ Jessica Wilkes Award is Andro Semeiko. This is the third year of the award which is open to current Acme tenants in occupation of one of our non-residential studios in London. Created as the result of a legacy from the artist Jessica Wilkes who died in November 2005, the award was established by Acme, and Jessica’s family and friends to celebrate her life.

The annual award, worth £10,000, provides an artist with a free studio and grant to enable them to devote more of their time to their studio practice. Andro has a studio at Acme’s Orsman Road building in Hackney and describes what the award means to him:

‘The award has been given to me just at the right time. My work is at a crucial stage at the moment as I need to commit to my practice fully to bring it to a higher level. With the support of the Jessica Wilkes Award, I will be able to broaden my practice and allow enough time in my studio for experimenting. I am also looking forward to the opportunity to develop a solo exhibition at the Acme Project Space.’

Andro was selected by a panel consisting of Melissa Appleton (Jessica’s niece), Jane Colling (artist and friend), Jonathan Harvey (Chief Executive, Acme Studios) and Laura Hewison (Jessica’s niece). Jonathan Harvey explains the decision to select Andro:

‘The panel were excited by Andro’s recent work and felt that the award would be hugely beneficial at this point in his career. Andro will be the third artist to benefit from the hard work and generosity of Jessica’s family and friends in establishing this award. The Jessica Wilkes Award is an important part of our Residency, Awards and Community Programme which will directly support 27 artists this year.’

In 2010, Andro was awarded the Berwick Gymnasium Fellowship which culminated in a solo exhibition entitled ‘Unveiling’ at Berwick Gymnasium Art Gallery, Berwick-upon-Tweed. To accompany the exhibition, an artist book, ‘Unveiling: Rocket MT2010’, was edited and published by Basement Art Projects with support from Arts Council England Grants for the arts. The publication features images created and compiled by artist Andro Semeiko, and texts specially written by Neil Mulholland and JJ Charlesworth. For more information visit: http://basementartprojects.org/publications/2010_Unveiling_Rocket_MT2010

Housing regeneration project get its own artist

Tue, 11 Jan 2011 09:00:00 +0000

Acme Studios, with the support of the Swan Foundation, has developed a one-year artist residency based around Swan Housing’s major regeneration project at Bow Cross, London, E3. Simon Terrill is today announced as the recipient of the award and will spend the next 12 months working on an experimental photography project with local residents.

Simon explains, ‘My aim is to identify sites in Bow Cross that hold some kind of significance to residents, and once identified, generate a series of staged photographs that aim to extract some of the latent imagery residing here. I intend to establish a process of “scripting” the images in dialogue and collaboration with residents. As a development of my practice, the focus will be on portraiture as well as experiments with time, exposure and the multiple within a single image. With this project, what I mean to end up with is a series of “extracts” that form a larger work, a reversal to how I have tended to work in the past.’

The programme was recently launched with an informal event featuring food and refreshments prepared by residents and an historical photography exhibition of Bow Cross. Simon will receive support throughout the residency from Acme Studios and a member of the residents’ association, as well as funding from Swan Foundation of £10,000 and £10,000 towards project costs.

‘We selected Simon for this award because we felt his work would actively engage the residents of Bow Cross,’ said Brian Gregory, Swan Foundation Trustee. ‘His proposal allows the residents to take part in both guiding and creating a series of art pieces that capture key aspects of life on and around Bow Cross.’

Acme Studios was formed as a housing association in Bow and for nearly 40 years has been supporting artists in the area with affordable housing and studios. Founder and Chief Executive of Acme Studios, Jonathan Harvey says, ‘We were very impressed by Simon’s proposal and his ability to engage people from a range of backgrounds. It is very exciting to be involved in a project a short distance from where Acme began in 1972 which continues our aim to support artists and the communities in which they live and work. The Swan Foundation’s decision to invest in an artist residency instead of commissioning a single piece of art will have a greater and more lasting impression on the residents of Bow Cross.’

The Bow Cross Artist Residency was open to Tower Hamlets artists and was selected by a panel comprising Pamela Brown (Swan Foundation), Brian Gregory (Swan Foundation Trustee) Jonathan Harvey (Acme Studios), Abdullah Hossain (Swan Housing Group) and William Raban (independent artist).

Harrow Road Open Studios 11 and 12 December

Thu, 09 Dec 2010 09:00:00 +0000

Artists at Acme’s new-build artists’ studios at Harrow Road will be opening their doors to the public this weekend. On Saturday between 1pm-6pm and Sunday between 1pm-5pm, local residents and art-lovers will have the opportunity to see inside the purpose-built studios and meet the artists who work there, including:

Agata S. Hamilton, Apolonia J. Lobo, Asaki Kan, Emma Davis, June Bartlett, Katherine Lubar, MINA, Phyllis Gorlick-King, Soledad Bustos Moron, Yukako Shibata

Transport: Kensal Green underground or 18 bus.

www.acme.org.uk/harrow.php

Exhibition blurs lines between patient and psychiatrist

Fri, 22 Oct 2010 09:00:00 +0100

Acme Fire Station artist Gemma Anderson will be showing the culmination of three years’ work at the Acme Project Space from 12 November – 5 December 2010. Portraits: Patients and Psychiatrists contains etched portraits and recorded interviews with patients and psychiatrists at Bethlem Royal Hospital, London. All the etchings are drawn directly from life onto the copperplate and contain objects and imagery which reflect the sitter who is identified only by a first name, with no indication of whether they are patient or psychiatrist.

Gemma is one of 12 artists on Acme's current work/live programme at the Fire Station (2010-15), which is one of the most directly supportive schemes for artists in the United Kingdom, providing combined studio and living space at low rents as well as special bursaries: rent free space and grants of £5,000/year, worth over £30,000.

Exhibition 12 November to 5 December 2010
Thursday to Sunday, 1pm to 6.00pm
www.acme.org.uk/projectspace.php

Third recipient of important artist residency announced

Tue, 12 Oct 2010 09:00:00 +0100

Acme Studios in partnership with Southwark Council and the South London Gallery is delighted to announce the third Southwark Studio Residency holder: K Yoland. Established in 2006, the residency programme is the only scheme in the UK that provides a selected artist with a rent-free studio for 18 months (worth £5,200), a £10,000 cash bursary and professional mentoring and support. The residency is a unique opportunity for an artist who wishes to develop or extend their practice to embrace and reflect the context and the communities in which the studio is located.

K Yoland plans to use the residency to work towards a multi-media installation involving performance. Yoland recently moved into the residency studio at Acme’s new-build Galleria studios in Peckham and explains, “The Acme studio is perfect for my multi-disciplinary approach, I am very appreciative of the opportunity to have space to make and plan my work. I now feel that there is more flexibility to experiment and challenge the limits of each project.

From 79 applications for the residency, eight candidates were shortlisted for interview by a panel comprising Coral Flood (Arts Manager, Southwark Council), Dryden Goodwin (independent artist), Jonathan Harvey (Chief Executive, Acme Studios) and Simon Parris (Programme Manager, South London Gallery).

The two previous recipients of the Southwark Studio Residency are Ana Laura Lopez de La Torre (2008-09) and Isa Suarez (2006-07).

Art gallery closed sign is new work for campaign

Tue, 12 Oct 2010 09:00:00 +0100

A new work by British artist, Bob and Roberta Smith created specially for the campaign supported by over 100 leading British artists against the government’s proposed funding cuts of the arts is released today.

Artist Patrick Brill, better known as Bob and Roberta Smith, currently lives and works in London. He is known for artwork that incorporates text - often commenting on art, politics, or popular culture — in his unique, brightly colored lettering style on banners and discarded boards of wood. He became a Tate Trustee in 2009.

Two challenging new works by artist Mark Titchner are also unveiled today across two UK cities as part of the campaign. The Turner Prize nominated artist’s work uses direct language in strong political graphic forms. His lead artwork demands ‘DON’T LET THEM DESTROY ANOTHER BRITISH INDUSTRY!’ tying the debate on cuts to the arts to other vital large-scale industries currently and previously under threat. The striking graphic works will be visible on a quarter of all available official city poster sites across Birmingham from 12 October to 26 October courtesy of Eastside Projects, an artist-run public gallery in the centre of Birmingham. Titchner has purposefully pitched the phrase in a city where cuts to major industries over the past decade have had dramatic impact.

25,000 flyers baring the slogan will also be handed out at Frieze Art Fair in Regents Park this week alongside two billboards featuring Titchner’s ‘Don’t Let Them Destroy’ image and his second work, which, with painful honesty, pleads ‘Cut Us, Don’t Kill Us.’ This will also be placed on the 6x3m billboard on the front façade of Eastside Projects. The artist is also developing a wishing machine to protect the arts organisation for the foreseeable future and which will also be installed on the public façade.

Each week the work of a different artist, created in response to the campaign, is being released. The campaign was launched 10 September with a new video by David Shrigley and a campaign poster by Jeremy Deller, Scott King and William Morris. This was followed by new works by Mark Wallinger, Yinka Shonibare and Cornelia Parker. Supporters of the artists’ campaign are being asked to sign a petition which will be sent to the Culture Secretary, Jeremy Hunt. It points out that it has taken 50 years to create a vibrant arts culture in Britain that is the envy of the world and appeals to the government not to slash arts funding and risk destroying this long-term achievement and the social and economic benefits it brings to all.

The artists acknowledge that reasonable cuts and efficiencies are necessary but they fear that the 25% cuts being proposed will destroy much of what has been achieved and will have a particularly damaging impact on national and regional museums and their collections.

The campaign is being organised by the London branch of a national consortium of over 2,000 arts organisations and artists dedicated to working together and finding new ways to support the arts in the UK. Full petition details on: http://www.savethearts.org.uk

Exhibition at Acme Project Space explores memories of Sydney Road

Wed, 06 Oct 2010 09:00:00 +0100

'Sydney Road' is an exhibition of paintings, photographs, film and collected memorabilia, by Stephanie Kingston which opens at the Acme Project Space on 7 October. The works are the result of Stephanie’s intense engagement with the house in Sydney Road of her Uncle and Aunt, Mark and Marigold Kingston. The paintings reflect the extraordinary vitality of their house. In a most affecting way they also communicate the sense of loss as the house became emptied leaving behind only traces and memories.

In 2009 Stephanie was selected for Acme’s Jessica Wilkes Award and this support enabled her to develop this new series of paintings. The annual award provides an Acme tenant with a grant of £10,000 so they can devote more time and resources to their studio practice.

The application process is now open for current Acme tenants for the 2011 Jessica Wilkes Award.

Exhibition 7 to 31 October 2010
Thursday to Sunday, 12.00 to 6.00pm
www.acme.org.uk/projectspace.php