GREENLAND STREET, LIVERPOOL
AUTUMN PROGRAMME 2007/2008
A Foundation has invited world-renowned artistes to realise Greenland Street’s commissions for the 2007 autumn programme. Catherine Sullivan will be creating ‘Triangle of Need’, a multi-channel video installation, in The Blade Factory, while the lower level will be transformed into a heavenly garden by Mustafa Hulusi‘s opulent paintings of nature. Brian Griffiths will be producing a large-scale installation in the unique space of The Furnace and US-based collective SIMPARCH will be realising a major new architectural structure in The Coach Shed.
Greenland Street will be open to the public from Friday 19 October until Sunday 20 April* and admission is free.
Catherine Sullivan’s ‘Triangle Of Need’ is an orchestration of a complex set of ideas and participants, weaving an intricate story about evolution, class, wealth and poverty, and the inequalities and injustices in our global economy. Best known for her theatre and video work that explores the conventions of performance and role-playing, Sullivan has collaborated with Los Angeles based composer Sean Griffin, Minneapolis based choreographer Dylan Skybrook, and Nigerian actor and filmmaker Kunle Afolayan, in the creation of this commission. Débuting at the Walker Art Center, Minneapolis in August 2007, ‘Triangle of Need’ will then move to Greenland Street for its European premiere before commencing on a tour of Europe and the United States.
Fresh from representing Cyprus at this year’s Venice Biennale, Mustafa Hulusi will be unveiling a series of his large-scale paintings in the lower level of The Blade Factory. Cennet Bahcesi (‘The Heavenly Garden’ in Turkish) will showcase five new works, commissioned by A Foundation, alongside works from Hulusi’s Elysian series of photo realist paintings of flowers and fruit. Hulusi’s practice sees him construct photographic images taken from nature, which are transformed into hyper-real illustrations that have a distinctive otherworldly and sensuous style.
The Furnace, one of the largest exhibition spaces outside London, is a unique and challenging site for Brian Griffiths’ latest work. Griffiths will draw upon the devices and showmanship of sideshows and circuses, creating new sculptural works and selectively reworking the tradition of freak show banners. These banners will act as backdrops that divide space and shift viewing perspectives, but will also be used to question the role of spectacle and authenticity. The Furnace will be the perfect habitat to experience Brian’s monumental creation, for which he has sourced materials from junk shops and second-hand markets to realise his work.
SIMPARCH’s practice operates between the borders of architecture, design and popular cultures and often results in the creation of large-scale works that take into account the specificities and histories of a given site. For A Foundation they will produce a number of elements such as Free Basin, a large elevated kidney shaped crafted structure which sits alongside a 40ft full pipe, constructed using a complex layering of multiple wooden spines and ribs, similar to a hull in dry dock. SIMPARCH will extend an open invitation to skate the incredible architectural installation. The basin will allow for complex carves, grinds and airs, while the pipe provides skaters with the opportunity to achieve dynamic turns and dives. This is a unique combination of a beautifully crafted art structure being accessible and functional, an installation that skaters around the North West will appreciate.
*Greenland Street will be closed from Saturday 1 December 2007 until Wednesday 20 February 2008.