Announcing Richard Shields (EVF)- The Curfew Tower- IMPOSE||LIFT Artist in Residence. 

We are pleased to announce that Richard Shields has been sent to The Curfew Tower prison from which he aims to rise through the ranks of his own organisation- The EVF. Richard has been selected due to his approach of blurring lines between his life and work- he describes “carrying out residencies in his own life.” Richard’s work becomes an unfolding document of his passage through this world often opening us up to fictional worlds and warping perceptions. Exploration via drawing and performance art bring together the live and the laboured processes that constitute his new worlds that lend from art history, personal history and local history often drawing the audience into the process. 


Richard Shields is a Manchester based artist in that much of his early career involved responding to sites located in the city, surround by a local peer group. The artist went on to develop a studio practice referencing personal situations from his life there, however Shields is not from Manchester. Originally from Bangor, County Down in Northern Ireland, Shields moved to Manchester looking for something different.

Having been brought up, unbaptized in an apolitical house by parents of Catholic and Protestant heritage Shields was not influenced by one of the country’s prominent political or religious viewpoints, which resulted in a diminished sense of national identity and tribal unity.

Growing up in Northern Ireland in the 80’s and 90’s Shields was witness to news reports of violent acts, political speeches, heavy police and army presence, bonfires, marches, sectarian graffiti drawn on random objects and painted on community walls and stories of mysterious characters who would go in and out of prison throughout ‘the troubles’ only to find a new lease of life, leaving prison behind them.

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Excited to announce our next Curfew Tower 17 IMPOSE||LIFT artists in residence: 

ROWAN EASTWOOD

CHLOE BEECHHAM

Rowan Eastwood graduated from Leeds Beckett University with a Fine Art BA Hons in 2013. Eastwood now works and lives in Manchester, based in Depot Art Studios which she co-founded in 2015. Eastwood regularly exhibits, recently showing work at PS Mirabel and Bankley Gallery. In 2016 she was selected for The Penthouse’s ‘Might & Main’ residency, and won second prize in PS Mirabel’s art prize (selected by Mark Doyle, Touchstones gallery curator and collections manager, Lisa Denyer, artist and precious winner, Magnus Quaife, artist and lecturer, Robert Miller, contemporary art collector).

Image. 'Insulation Installation' Foil covered insulation. 2017. 

www.rowaneastwood.co.uk 


Chloe Beecham is a graduate from Manchester School of Art. She is an artist interested in contrasts between the masculine and the feminine, often using the traditional practice of embroidery to create contemporary sculpture, installation and drawing. She has exhibited nationally and is currently developing her practice alongside occasional teaching. Chloe was recently selected for Saltaire Open Houses as part of Saltaire Arts Trail 2017.

image. Constructed Drawing

https://www.chloebeecham.co.uk

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