Digital Gallery: Dead Pigeon Gallery at 189 Oakfield Rd

April 20, 2020

About Dead Pigeon Gallery

Dead Pigeon Gallery is a roaming gallery, which brings contemporary art to communities and individuals who may not usually engage with art, through socially engaged practice. Dead Pigeon gallery presents exhibitions in unexpected places, often situated in working class communities, breaking down barriers of elitism and encouraging the ethos that art is for everyone. Led by Jayne Lawless, a multi media fine artist with a background in sculpture, working with Catherine Dalton and Josie Jenkins, Dead Pigeon Gallery has delivered socially engaged exhibitions and events at unique venues across Merseyside, since 2017. It also commissions artists and designers to produce artwork for ethical merchandise, which is sold for income to support the Project.

Current show: In A Little Terraced House Oct 2019 – March 2020

189 Oakfield Rd, Liverpool 4 0UF

Virtual Access

Dead Pigeon Gallery continued it’s journey across the City landing at 189 Oakfield Rd, on the Anfield/Everton border, hosted by Homebaked Community Land Trust (CLT) in one of their soon to be renovated houses.

Two founder members of Dead Pigeon Gallery, Jayne Lawless and Catherine Dalton, became involved with Homebaked in 2011 and where always struck by how many fellow artists had also come to light via the project. As Homebaked CLT reaches a pivotal moment in it’s history both projects felt now was the time to collaborate again.

Everyone included in this show has worked with, or connected via either Homebaked CLT or the Homebaked Community Bakery. They have taken roles such as bakers, board members, managers and counter assistants, highlighting the value of having artists on board at whatever level. Jayne Lawless, artist curator and co-founder of Dead Pigeon Gallery says: ‘We’re proud of the cultural legacy that has grown out of Homebaked and Dead Pigeon Gallery has now invited artists back to take over this house to mark the end of a long journey to save the high street and a new sense of hope for the future. As artists who grew up in Everton and Anfield, we want to particularly highlight the wealth of creativity present in the everyday of our communities.’

WHO Brad Barret, Janet Brandon, Maria Brewster, Fred Brown, Tim Brunsden, Peter Carney, Catherine Dalton, Jess Doyle, Grace Harrison, Jeanne Van Heeswijk, Tim Jeeves, Sam Jones, Britt Jurgensen, Jayne Lawless, Mark Loudon, Deborah Morgan, Louis Jeck Prestidge, Silent Sleep, Lena Simic, Jo Steel, Mia Tagg, Melissa Tennant, Ehsan Vaziri and Franny G Williams. WHEN Open Night: Thursday 10th October, 6 – 9pm. Exhibition running from Oct 2019 – March 2020

Hallway with Jayne’s work gear
and

Erased
Deborah Morgan

Years ago, I polished stones in this street,
plucked from the ground, carried into our kitchen;
soaked each tiny treasure in soapy water.

Traced their trembling ripples with a fingertip, rub-dried
inside the old towel Mum used to dye her hair.
Afterwards, arranged them back on the ground in a pattern;

pulled up weeds growing in seamless spaces.
Why shouldn’t our pavements have a bit of sparkle
and style? But now, my old street is dying;

Windows smashed in; walls crushed to dust.
It happened so slowly –
ten years it took for everything to disappear.

I shout at the wide mouth of the excavator:
What the hell? Why are you doing this?
But he’s surrounded by metal, the man, and

falling bricks, so he can’t hear my voice
as he rubs out our street.
Finally ticks all the boxes.

They can shut down the file,
order a cappuccino from Costa,
bring the matter to an end.

Britt Jurgenson Fireplace part of
Britt Jurgensen
Talking Homes, 2019
Durational performance installation

Homegrown Prints
On the Terrace, 2019
Limited edition screen print on recycled spent paper

Homegrown Collective, 2019
Limited edition screen print on recycled spent paper

Raised from The Commons, 2019
Limited edition screen print on recycled spent paper

Britt Jurgensen
Talking Homes, 2019
Durational performance installation

Tim Brunsden
Breath, 2019

Film A playful take on the sense of home we get from being in the Mersey. Where you are on equal terms with the natural world around you. It is a crossing of boundaries where you have overwhelming connections to the present.

I have always been fascinated with the hidden language in renaissance painting and love the idea of telling other stories the serve as subplots in grand portraits and scenes: Covert opinion pieces painted in by the artist, or objects that reveal true character and power dynamics, and often subverting the obvious subject matter.

For a long time, I wanted to produce a series of photographic portraits that make use of the familiar images from the Renaissance but swap and update the signs and symbols with contemporary objects, modern fabrics and materials, to tell the stories of some of our contemporary women in Liverpool who transform hearts, minds and neighbourhoods through disruption, subversion and artistic practice.

After a summer of celebrating the centenary of some women’s right to vote, I wanted to celebrate those who defy category, and who are generous with their time, spaces and resources – offering opportunities to others to express themselves and flourish.

At the end of 2018 a group of us got together to start work on a couple of portraits in the hope of producing a series of portraits that draw on the familiar and offer layers of story of their own – celebrating generosity of spirit and commitment to people and communities that support creativity.

We are hoping that these two portraits will inspire you to support a further 10 being produced over the coming 12 months. The aim is to support independent arts programming and education led by women like these!

The people behind RWoL are:
Michelle Roberts – Photographer
Mina Bihi – Photographer
Caroline Benzies – Photographer
Karyn Dickinson – Photographer
Jazamin Sinclair – Phorographer
Ian Brown – Hair and Make-up
Mary Lamb – Costume Mia Tagg – Concept and Art Direction

Catherine Dalton
Hand Mirror, 2019
Ink, stitch, lino print on fabric

Catherine Dalton
Tiles, 2019
Ink and lino print on cotton fabric