Friday 25 September – Sunday 11 October 2015
Free Admission
Venue: Artwork Atelier, 95 Greengate, Salford M3 7NG
Artist Talk: Saturday 10 October 13.00.
Opening times: Friday 25 and Saturday 26 open 11.00 – 16.00
Viewing by appointment only on 0773 668 1971 between 28 September – 2 October and again between 5 – 9 October.
Open 11.00 – 16.00 Saturday 3 and Saturday 10 October.
Closed Sundays.
TEARS AND TEMPESTS
Manchester artist Jai Redman presents his first full-scale retrospective Full Fathom Five Thy Father Lies.
Opening on Friday 25th September in Manchester, this exhibition will feature over 50 works, with many on show for the first time. Spanning the artist’s 30-year career, the paintings on show will include a delicate watercolour which uses only the artist’s tears. The painting depicts an ornate fig leaf made to spare Queen Victoria’s blushes when viewing Michelangelo’s David.
Curated by Angela Samata and presented in collaboration with the Manchester-based arts organisation Engine, this exhibition represents the most comprehensive showing of the artist’s work to date. The show offers examples from throughout Redman’s career beginning with photographs and sketch books carried while the artist was living in various UK-wide protest camps in the 1980/1990s, including the Newbury Bypass and Twyford Down , to his latest contemporary fine art oil and watercolour paintings from his studio in Salford.
Angela Samata said: “Redman’s work is fascinating with its contemporary commentary together with the skill of the old masters. It was incredibly difficult to select works for the exhibition because it’s all so interesting! Many of the artworks centre around Manchester including a beautiful painting commemorating the relocation of the Lutyen’s Cenotaph in 2014 and several paintings carried out on top of images from the Manchester City Art Gallery, depicting how the painting might look after sea levels have risen!”
The exhibition provides a fascinating insight into Redman’s unwavering commitment to protecting the environment and his skill at creating beautiful, provocative images mostly concerned with challenging and destructive social issues. Formally the Creative Director and founder of Manchester-based artist cooperative The Ultimate Holding Company, Redman’s work has been included in the Tatton Biennial and is held in the collections of several museums and galleries including the Manchester City Art Gallery and Gallery Oldham, as well as many private collections both nationally and internationally.