Manchester-based artists and curators Rosanne Robertson and Debbie Sharp, known as The Penthouse, completed a residency with Skimstone Arts in summer 2018.

They were one of four artists awarded residencies in the summer of 2018, each responding to the theme of ‘celebration’, as Skimstone Arts marked its 10th anniversary.

The Penthouse presented an ongoing artwork which was open ended, subverting the idea of ‘monuments’ being set in time. Monument to the Past was a performance of deconstruction, tearing down old patriarchal and unequal systems that do not champion or position diverse people as monumental. This performance demonstrated The Penthouse’s practice to audiences including Skimstone’s Young Artists Collective (YAC), and paved the way for Monument to the Future.

Monument to the Future was a collective live sonic artwork performed with Skimstone’s Young Artists Collective. Young artist Kieran recorded and edited his very first soundscape and introduced it to the audience, bringing explorations of the sonic landscape of Newcastle into the performance. Video and photography from the artists’ sound and environment walk were projected as well as a new illustration by YAC member Alice, titled Monument to Freedom. YAC artist and musician AJ brought innovative ways of experimenting with sound to the project and started the performance with what was playfully named the Fidget Spinner Orchestra. Alice experimented with electronic sounds combining interests in gaming and experimental music; YAC drummer and artist Ben brought his intuitive percussion and free jazz to produce a section of vocals where YAC members Nicole and Steven learned how to perform with a loop station, bringing haunting and poetic vocals to the mix. The artists worked together to structure the different sections of performance and brought the piece to an end by listening to each other after a cacophonous noise section at the end.

The Penthouse said: “The summer residency with Skimstone Arts was a rewarding and exciting experience with the freedom to experiment and collaborate with The Young Artist Collective.

“We found the experience to be of mutual learning- we learned from Claire and Peter and the rest of the Skimstone Arts as an organisation how to work continuously with young people from varying backgrounds and how to develop our interest in the political importance of socially engaged and our aims for socio-political arts practice.

“We learned from The Young Artist Collective to continue working with personal and challenging themes and how they can connect us. We felt we could provide a place for the young people to try out new things and combine visual and sonic art forms, conversation around collective improvisation, listening to each other and well being involved in physical sound making and drawing became key parts of our process.”

Claire Webster Saaremets of Skimstone Arts said: “The Penthouse brought a strong sense of artistic exploration and an immediate connection with our young artists and ourselves. We loved the theme of ‘Monument’, especially when a new YAC member found a confidence to create and perform with them. We look forward to more collaborations with The Penthouse in the future.”

AJ, a member of the Young Artists Collective, said: “I enjoyed working with The Penthouse, even from the beginning we had a base line understanding of each other and I think we had very similar comfort levels in how we liked to work. I liked that they worked with sound which was musical but was very kinetic.”

The Penthouse was established in 2012 as an experimental art studio and project space in Manchester’s Northern Quarter by artist / curators Rosanne Robertson and Debbie Sharp. The Penthouse built its foundations on experimentalism, DIY attitude, action and as a test bed for over 300 artists.

The residency was supported by Arts Council England’s Elevate fund.

MONUMENT is a living archive and experimental performance project by The Penthouse artist directors Rosanne Robertson and Debbie Sharp.

The artists have explored the idea of what connects us and the idea of the monument- and what our relationship with the monumental says about us as a society. The idea of a temporary monument of noise and action subverts the idea of something being set in time or stone with an ever changing MONUMENT to the past, present and future. Rosanne Robertson and Debbie Sharp have produced a new live performance titled ‘Monument to the Past’ considering destruction and direct action which will pave the way and set the scene for ‘Monument to the Future’ a live collaboration between The Penthouse and the Young Artists Collective.

Monument to the Future will be a live collage of sound and visuals celebrating flux with improvised noise as a tool for connection and resistance.
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Inner Paradise is an exhibition preview and opening by Martim Dinis. Inner Paradise explores our relationship to personal and collective pleasure through movement, tableaux and celebrational gesture, formign part of the artist’s series of research into what paradise is.

Martim and the Young Artists Collective work together to capture moments of individual statements about pleasure and dreams, transforming them into pictoral and allegorical works.
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Upcoming residency artist Irantzu Aguirre (Chanson de la nuit (1927), C.Salzedo; Technicolor for Harp and Electronics (2008), A.Negron) introduces her experimental harp playing.

Weds June 20th-
6.30pm Monument to the Future 30 minute performance by The Penthouse- Rosanne Robertson and Debbie Sharp and the Skimstone Arts Young Artists Collective

7.15pm Experimental harp performance by Irantzu Aguirre

£3 Suggested entry Tickets available at or on door Eventbrite https://bit.ly/2sFMAOU

Richard Shields- The Future is Bright The Past is Colourful- Preview Thurs 12 July 6-9pm at Paradise Works.

In many ways he went ‘too far’ becoming physically, spiritually and mentally involved with the small town of Cushendall- but that is just where he needed to go. His art practice burns as bright as the fire that burns and it comes from the very centre of his being which also burns as bright as the fire that burns as bright as the brightest fire that burns.

The Curfew Tower 2017 Resident Richart Shields is showing a new body of work born of his EVF project devised during his IMPOSE|LIFT residency. Shields is a Manchester based artist from Northern Ireland and was selected for this residency based on his explorative, research based practice combining drawing and performance. This residency focused on the socio political situation of The Curfew Tower and we knew Richard would explore all of the corners of this without holding back.

Shields describes that he has continued to explore issues surrounding the fractious history of his country, offering an alternative Ulster, in which art movements are at the centre of the troubles. Parallels are drawn between what some consider to be elitism within the arts and the secretive nature of Ireland’s paramilitary and masonic style fraternities.

We have had a sneak peek of his new film which is layered with outstanding wit, moments of brilliant connection- wiping our slates clean and welcoming us into a new future.

Join us for the preview this Thursday at Paradise Works

https://richardshieldsartworks.org/The-Future-Is-Bright-The-Past-Is-Colourful 

Download our first newsletter of 2018 as PDF here.

Superbia present Visual Aids -Alternate Endings, Radical Beginnings.

Date: 1 Dec 2017 – World Aids Day

Time: 7-10.30pm (2 part event with HIVideo- see below).

Venue:

The Penthouse at Paradise Works

Paradise Works (2^nd floor)

East Phillip Street

Salford

M3 7LE

Donation entry:  £2 to George House Trust (entry to both Visual Aids & HIVideo).

Tickets: Free from Eventbrite (booking essential). 

This event is included in Manchester’s first Day With(out) Art programme from Superbia which you can read more about here. 

Newly commissioned videos by Mykki Blanco, Cheryl Dunye & Ellen Spiro, Reina Gossett, Thomas Allen Harris, Kia Labeija, Tiona Nekkia McClodden and Brontez Purnell premiering on World AIDS Day 2017.

ALTERNATE ENDINGS, RADICAL BEGINNINGS is the 28th annual iteration of Visual AIDS’ longstanding Day With(out) Art project. Curated by Erin Christovale and Vivian Crockett for Visual AIDS, the video program prioritizes Black narratives within the ongoing AIDS epidemic, commissioning seven new and innovative short videos from artists Mykki Blanco, Cheryl Dunye & Ellen Spiro, Reina Gossett, Thomas Allen Harris, Kia Labeija, Tiona Nekkia McClodden and Brontez Purnell.

In spite of the impact of HIV/AIDS within Black communities, these stories and experiences are constantly excluded from larger artistic and historical narratives. In 2016 African Americans represented 44% of all new HIV diagnoses in the United States. Given this context, it is increasingly urgent to feature a myriad of stories that consider and represent the lives of those housed within this statistic. ALTERNATE ENDINGS, RADICAL BEGINNINGS seeks to highlight the voices of those that are marginalized within broader Black communities nationwide, including queer and trans people. 

The commissioned projects include intimate meditations of young HIV positive protagonists; a consideration of community-based HIV/AIDS activism in the South; explorations of the legacies and contemporary resonances within AIDS archives; a poetic journey through New York exploring historical traces of queer and trans life, and more. Together, the videos provide a platform centering voices deeply impacted by the ongoing epidemic.

This screening is programmed back to back with HIVideo by Balaclava.Q - A Global Exhibition of Video Art for World Aids Day. HIVideo is the moving image strand of Balaclava.Q- an international Queer Art Project and collective. HIVideo seeks to promote contemporary dialogue(s) on World Aids Day via video art from both a local and global perspective. HIVideo complements current discourse and the de- stigmatization / -criminalization movement by creating dialogue about HIV/AIDS via art – and the attendant aesthetics and politics.

The Penthouse Present HIVideo by Balaclava.Q

Date: 1 Dec 2017 – World Aids Day

Time: 7-10.30pm (2 part event back to back with Visual Aids- see below). 

Venue:

The Penthouse at Paradise Works

Paradise Works (2^nd floor)

East Phillip Street

Salford

M3 7LE

Donation entry:  £2 to George House Trust. (entry to both screenings).

Tickets: Free from Eventbrite (booking essential).  

This event is included in Manchester’s first Day With(out) Art programme from Superbia.

HIVideo is A Global Exhibition of Video Art for World Aids Day. HIVideo is the moving image strand of Balaclava.Q- an international Queer Art Project and collective, better known as TACTIC 2. HIVideo seeks to promote contemporary dialogue(s) on World Aids Day via video art from both a local and global perspective. HIVideo complements current discourse and the de- stigmatization / -criminalization movement by creating dialogue about HIV/AIDS via art – and the attendant aesthetics and politics.

The 2016 programme is available to view on a newly launched Balaclava.Q YouTube channel here.

In 2016 HIVideo was screened at Manchester’s LGBT Foundation and worldwide across Toronto (Canada), Paris (France), South Africa, Puerto Rico, New Mexico and Oakland (California, US) in galleries, safe spaces and sexual health centres. In 2017 The Penthouse present HIVideo at their home Paradise Works on the Manchester > Salford border. HIVideo brings together international artists and venues across 5 continents to showcase art films which look at HIV/AIDS with the intention of a more direct action approach with a specific theme for artists. Films will be screened on World AIDS Day in Rome, (Italy), Manchester (UK), London (UK), Berlin (Germany), New Zealand, Puerto Rico, Colombia and various other locations across the UK, USA and Europe.

In 2017 Balaclava.Q is working in partnership with RAMP: Recycled Medicine Campaign, LGBT Consortium UK and the global movement Prevention Access Campaign.

The artist films create awareness and promote discourse specifically about the Prevention Access Campaign, a global movement which seeks to educate communities on current findings and statistics which state unequivocally that Undetectable = Untransmissable or U=U as it has been branded by www.preventionaccess.org. At the very core of this year’s screening is a message about intimacy without fear of transmission. 

This screening is programmed back to back with Visual Aids-  a program of newly commissioned videos by Mykki Blanco, Cheryl Dunye & Ellen Spiro, Reina Gossett, Thomas Allen Harris, Kia Labeija, Tiona Nekkia McClodden and Brontez Purnell titled ALTERNATE ENDINGS, RADICAL BEGINNINGS is the 28th annual iteration of Visual AIDS’ longstanding Day With(out) Art project. Curated by Erin Christovale and Vivian Crockett. This event is part of  Manchester’s first Day With(out) Art programme from Superbia. 

This year’s Greater Manchester serving of HIVideo 2017 is presented by The Penthouse .

The Penthouse is an artist led Dyke|Queer contemporary art project and space based in Manchester founded and ran by artists Rosanne Robertson and Debbie Sharp. Curatorial and research projects are focused on Queer art, radical practices, Queer feminism, experimental and raw art- we consider the power at the margins.

The Penthouse is currently based at Paradise Works in a luxurious corner suite-  a fitting home on the border of Salford and Manchester. Paradise Works is a new artist run initiative providing studios & project space to a community of proactive, intergenerational, contemporary artists established 2017.

HIVideo is produced by Balaclava.Q : An international Queer Art Project and collective. Connecting, promoting and Creating Platforms for Queer artists.

Founded in June 2016 by Stiofan O’Ceallaigh as a reaction to the Orlando, Florida massacre, Balaclava.Q is a not-for-profit and relies solely on the passion, motivation and influence of its volunteers, artists and advocates; an international queer visual art project and collective that asks artists to look at tactics that disrupt, activate, instigate and explore contemporary queer concerns. Currently showcasing works by over 200 international queer artists, this project acts as a platform and connector for artists and audiences.

This project is supported by a grant from Superbia. Superbia Grants provide financial support for LGBT events as part of Manchester Pride’s commitment to the quality and diversity of cultural events taking place throughout the year in Greater Manchester. https://superbia.org.uk

Further reading:

Balaclava.Q website                Balaclava Q Twitter

The Penthouse website          The Penthouse Twitter

RAMP: https://rampusa.org/    LGBT Consortium UK: https://www.lgbtconsortium.org.uk/

Prevention Access Campaign: https://www.preventionaccess.org/

Further info/ Press enquiries:

Rosanne Robertson (The Penthouse- Founder and Director) thepenthousenq@gmail.com

Stiofan O’Ceallaigh (Balaclava.Q – Founder and Director), 2017 - balaclava.q@gmail.com / +7541 23 66 35

NEWS / LOVE LETTER: 

Hilton House, birth place of The Penthouse has been sold to oversees investors. Something dies with this sale and it isn’t The Penthouse, it is the old school. The Northern Quarter to many is a place to visit, get a coffee, spot a piece of graffiti and so on- to Terry and his family and to the un likely cross section of Hilton House tenants it was a community and a home within our own city centre. Just like artists, other people want to be connected to where they live and work. Development companies are spending a lot of money saying they can make this happen- selling back to people what they do naturally anyway if they are given the freedom and space. 

The Penthouse has been freedom and space in the middle of it all- the young call PPI call centre workers, the alcoholic odd job men, the Jehova’s witnesses, the old school accountants, the communists, the ‘doctor’ from Libya who found space for his business in Hilton House and an ally in Terry, the drag queens, the artists, the musicians, the knocked off goods salesmen. Walking down the spiral staircase Terry has time for everybody he passes, he prays for his tenants when they are suffering from life’s cruelties. Terry is what will be missed most of all. We won’t focus on the sale of some crumbling concrete that will make the money Terry and his family are too old school to tap. We will focus on what Terry made that place for whoever needed it to get by. And we will make freedom and time and space for those who need it as far as we can in new ways when supporting artists and making platforms. 

We’ve all got our missions, beliefs, statements, aims. The young lads from the call centres who smoke out the front used to annoy us but we became good neighbours. They always offered to help us out- they couldn’t believe how much graft we used to do in there- shifting, loading, building etc. “Your hardcore yous like”. I even forgive them for drawing penises on anything we ever tried to do around the building. In a funny way I think we gained their respect when we lit a rainbow of smoke bombs on the roof and we drew all over our car for Manchester Pride “Dyke Power” and spun off. 

 A lot of these young people have no opportunities- they are from parts of Manchester that doesn’t see any of the benefits of cultural investment. They don’t have a creative space, a community centre, a library, a place where they might find the thing they can do or love. The ones who are leading these call centres are trying to make something and even though they are annoying in many ways we hope they find the cracks in the system that gives them the money they see every other fucker benefiting from. 

Image: HOMOCULT

Terry is for the underdog- whoever they might be. We had many many conversations about power and crooked systems- about religion, spirituality, sexuality. He gave us an English version of the Quran and we introduced him to Queer Art. We wrote QUEER REVOLT across the windows for a show as part of our IMPOSE||LIFT project curating The Curfew Tower (Northern Ireland). It is very visible from the surrounding area between NQ and Great Ancoats Street. He never said anything but when we asked he said he was “getting shit for it” but it’s our space and we should do with it what we need to. On talking to Terry about the EDL marches in Manchester that resulted in violence we told him about the Queer Resistance to the EDL racism and violence and he very much appreciated it. 

It all happened out on the entrance to Hilton House and Terry had a quip for everybody. His Dad Mr Shafi- came round with his business hat on and little notebook to make sure business was taken care of. A shake of the hand and a nod, always happy as long as business was being done. They wanted the building to live and it did- first home to their thriving school uniform business that turned Hilton House into “the centre of the world” as Terry called it and then to a long line of ventures. 

Looking around Hilton House many fallen pieces of it’s glamorous past can be found- elaborately patterned tiles, golden trim, brass handles, the empty ornamental fish pond. It’s time has passed. But it has been important- an incubator for our own way. Fiercly independent and a safe space for a thousand odd balls- we cried everyday of our last show there- Queer Art Show 5. People said it felt like family. This can’t be bought and sold. 

Queer Art Show 5 (below)

We would like to say thank you to every person who made the last 5 years so special, interesting and important. You have brought yourselves, your ideas, your works, sounds, vibes and you have been yourself. Our space hasn’t been for everybody- we purposefully did not institutionalize ourselves and were often ‘rough around the edges’- this leaves uncertainties, gaps, leaps and imagination and you joined it all up with us. 

We are not going to take this opportunity to say all of the great things we have done like some sort of PR stunt to big ourselves up ‘moving forward’. Being an artist led organisation involves business- no doubt- but it involves many other things if we let it- love, sincerity, connection, hope. We entered this venture together- a pair of dykes in love with a passion for the unknown, our art practices and the practices of our peers. We have learned a lot about what this means. 

Thank you to Terry, Mr Shafi, his family and to all of the artists we have worked with over this time. 

You know who you are. 

Long live The Penthouse <3