Saturday 20 – Sunday 28 February 2016
BIG REVEAL: Friday 19 February 2016, 18.00
at The Royal Standard, Liverpool
Open Friday – Sunday, or by appointment
(it’s all) Tropical present a new experimental exhibition format teasing at the line between collaboration and compatibility.
Inspired by lonely hearts columns and the timeless charms of Cilla Black, three Tropical artists welcomed the New Year with a WLTM call for creative types.
From a flurry of passionate submissions each artist worked with curator Rachel Cunningham Clark to select their perfect match. During a six week labour of love, each new partnership has worked long distance across a violet wall of solitary studio practice to make each other’s dreams come true.
Not permitted to share images of final works or works in progress, collaborative ideas have been exchanged through email, WhatsApp and late night liaisons. All participants will first set eyes on the completed creations at the Blind Date BIG REVEAL.
Josef Zachary Shanley Jackson and Caitlin Merrett King share an appreciation for composition and craftsmanship, channelling the careful effort and nervous anticipation of a first date into a new installation. Lindsey Mendick and Millington|Marriott have devised a multisensory ménage a trois that uses maximal aesthetics and a sense of the absurd to charter new ground in each other’s practice. Alfie Strong partners with Uma Breakdown for modern day mysticism partially inspired by bodily fluids. Their site specific artwork will be initiated with a one off performance at the exhibition’s unveiling, the residue of which will remain for the duration of the show.
Established in 2014, (it’s all) Tropical are an art collective operating from Sheffield, London, and Leeds, currently featuring artists Lindsey Mendick, Josef Zachary Shanley Jackson, Alfie Strong, Claudia Dance-Wells and curator Rachel Cunningham Clark. Dedicated to instilling a sense of surprise and excitement into emerging art, they are responsible for a series of refreshing and challenging exhibitions and events at artist led spaces across the UK, nearly always organised through open calls.
Past projects include Institute of Tropical Art, SCTFTHOS, Leeds, Treat Yo Self, Bloc Projects, Sheffield, Best In Show, Same Shit Different Day, London, Faux Sho, Assembly House, Leeds, No Grey Areas, HAHA Gallery, Southampton, £1 Fish, S1 Artspace, Sheffield, Overseasoned Part Deux, Artemis House, York and Overseasoned, Gage Gallery, Sheffield.
Email: contactitsalltropical@gmail.com
Website: www.itsalltropical.co.uk
Blind Date was made possible thanks to the support of The Royal Standard.