If you appreciate ART in any form, Northgate Studio in the heart of Chester is the place to be.
With regular fine art exhibitions, a number of fantastic creative workshops, art lectures and creative talks, theatrical performances and musical events, there is always something exciting going on here.
‘Sun, Colours and Imagination’ art exhibition by William Duncan and Alex Rezende
MAD WORLD photographic art exhibition by Gary Sheridan
MAD WORLD by GARY SHERIDAN
We are excited to announce Gary’s new exhibition which will take place at Chester Art Centre for 2 weeks starting on the 27th of August and will run until the 10th of September 2020. We sincerely hope that we can have a private view on the 27th but this will have to be subject to the government rules by the time the show opens. Bare with us for further confirmation!
It was whilst studying photography at the University of Wolverhampton in the UK that Gary found his passion for conceptual photography. His work draws on personal experience and his natural inquisitiveness in human behaviour.
He constructs a series of work from a concept, or he will see images in everyday life that speaks volumes to him. Whichever method of construction he uses, he intends the images to be multi-layered and engage the viewer thoughtfully and aesthetically. His work is vibrant, beautiful and seductive, with a vein of humour that runs through its body, just as life should be, yet life is not always a bed of roses and Gary’s work often breaks down the façade to reveal…
The Mad World exhibition features work from his latest award-winning series Waiting for the Tide to Turn, Are Friends Electric and In Dreams.
“In a mad world, only the mad are sane”
Recent Awards
Bronze Award – Tokyo International Foto Awards, Fine Art 2019 TIFA
Bronze Award – Worlds Top 10 Fashion Photo, Fine Art, One Eyeland 2019
3 x Honorable Mention – International Photography Awards, Fine Art Series 2019 IPA
Honorable Mention – International Photography Awards, Street Photography 2019 IPA
Nominee – Fine Art Photography Awards – Conceptual 2019 FAPA
Finalist – Worlds Top 10 Fashion Photo 2018 – Oneyeland
Honorable Mention – International Photography Awards, Fine Art Portrait 2018 IPA
The Kinky Life of Trees by Brigitte Watkinson
We are very excited to be showing Brigitte Watkinson’s ‘The Kinky Life of Trees’ from 16th April to 7th May 2020. Why not join us for the private view on Thursday, 16th April from 18:30 to 21:00.
Brigitte is a Cheshire artist who, nevertheless, was born and raised in the wooded hills and mountains of Bavaria, Germany, and now lives and works near Northwich, Cheshire. Her childhood was filled with wondrous and mysterious stories of anthropomorphic forests and creatures within; stories that have stayed with her to this day. Brigitte’s paintings are a reflection of these tales: she plays these out in her bold and outspoken paintings through unconventional materials, shapes, colours and textures.
The kinky life of trees is a body of work influenced by the writings of Peter Wohlleben and Colin Trudge, who have both written extensively about trees and the communication between them. This, combined with her heritage, manifested itself in the notion that trees not only have feelings, but also feelings for one another. The kinky life of trees has begun.
Brigitte is currently studying for a Master’s degree in Fine Art.
We look forward to seeing you on 16th April for wine, kinky trees and fantastic artwork!
You can see more of Brigitte’s paintings on her web page: www.makeslugsbeautiful.co.uk
Italy Seen With Different Eyes – Travel Photography by Marco Costa
Marco Costa is an Italian Energy Engineer by profession and travel photographer by circumstance. Thanks to his current role, he often has the chance to travel and explore Europe, including Italy, of course.
This exhibition focuses on the recurrent trips back to his home country, showing landscapes, urban scenes and architecture.
The pictures span from the mountains where he grew up to the recently explored Sicilian landscapes, Venice, Rome and the lake Maggiore, in the north of Italy.
It’s by no means a comprehensive summary of what many consider the most beautiful country in the world. It’s a collection of fragments, moments and views captured through the eyes of someone looking back at his motherland with renewed curiosity and interest that the detachment living abroad brings.
The exhibition will run for two weeks between 21 February and 10 March 2020. We look forward to seeing you on Saturday, 22nd of February for the private view of some fantastic Italian views (and fantastic Italian wines!:-) )
‘Leafy Chester’ art exhibition by Steve Moon
Leafy Chester by Steve Moon
We are delighted to announce that one of the best friends of Chester Art Centre is finally exhibiting his art with us! ‘Leafy Chester’ by Steven Moon is a very much anticipated exhibition and will run for 2 weeks between 4 February 2020 and 20 February 2020, with the private view taking place on Thursday the 6th of February.
Originally from the Wirral, Steve Moon has been living in Chester for eight years. He has done art for as long as he can remember and has been painting in oils since he was eleven. In the last ten years Steve has worked in acrylics more than oils but he enjoys experimenting with different mediums and styles. Steve says that he is not a ‘fully professional artist’ but is fortunate to have a day job that gives him half of the year off. In the last few years much of his off time Steve spent in his studio.
‘The paintings in this series are strongly influenced by the landscapes of Gustav Klimt. The techniques he used gave his landscapes a pattern like quality, for some of the works Klimt (probably) used a telescope to frame distant mountains and hillside towns as seen across alpine lakes.
I was intrigued by the idea of adapting Klimt’s ‘telescope’ landscape techniques to the not-at-all mountainous Chester. My hope was that by using binoculars and sketch pad, a camera phone, several view points and lots of careful composition planning I could create townscapes that were pattern like, true and yet also not what the eye would immediately see. All the pieces were planned in the field but painted in my studio. Further inspiration came from an article on Radio 4’s Front Row which somewhat condescendingly dubbed our city as ‘leafy Chester’, implying, I felt, that it was a touch more smug home counties than real north.
In the paintings of Grosvenor Park I’ve purposely obscured all but the plinth of the somewhat overblown statue of our park’s eponymous benefactor. Sharp eyed locals may have noticed that in one painting, in order to the portray the noble lord obscured, I first had to move his monument 20 meters into frame, a technique known as artistic license :)’
~SJM~
SUMMER EXHIBITION 3 – Marine and Coastal paintings in oils, oil pastel and watercolour by Sue Walsh
This summer we are happy to exhibit Sue Walsh’s fantastic artwork for the third time! Sue’s summer seascape shows are becoming a wonderful tradition at Chester Art Centre and a new collection has been created especially for her 2020 summer exhibition.
S R Walsh is a local artist whose work has recently been exhibited in London, New York, Monaco, St Ives Cornwall and, of course, Chester.
‘SUMMER EXHIBITION 3’ will run from 7 July 2020 until 11 August, with the private Prosecco Distanced Event held on Saturday, 18 July between 1 PM and 7 PM. Due to the social distancing regulations and the size of the gallery, we have decided to stretch the fun across the whole day! Pop in talk to Sue and get a private mini-tour of the exhibition with a glass of Prosecco in your hand 🙂 ! If you can, please do let us know approximately when you are planning to pay us a visit, so we can make sure everyone is safe and happy 🙂
“You are invited to call in to Chester Art Centre to see for yourself why my paintings are chosen by people from all over the world to enhance their homes and offices.
My paintings capture the light, atmosphere and moods that connect us to nature.”
We look forward to seeing you on the 18th of July for Prosecco, gorgeous sea breeze and fantastic artwork!
Take a look at some of Sue’s paintings on her web page www.sue-walsh.co.uk or take a look at some of her work on our new online gallery: www.artexclusive.co.uk/collections/sue-walsh
100 Drawings by David Bowker
David Bowker was born in Prestwich, Manchester and attended Butterstile County Primary School, where he was encouraged to draw and paint especially by teacher Miss Barbara Evans. He then went to Stand Grammar School, where he kept receiving encouragement in art by his teachers including Mr John Moss. He created his first oil painting in 1982, which was a landscape depicting Winter Hill at sunset. David’s first solo exhibition took place at local library in Prestwich two years later, and he continued to exhibit there in group and one-man shows until August 2006, encouraged principally by ex-Head Librarian Mr Harry Wilkinson; exhibited work at other venues including craft fairs, building societies and galleries.
In 1986 David won BBC TV North-west Tonight painting competition with painting entitled ‘Prestwich View’; the chief judge was Mr Harold Riley and Young Artist award at L.S. Lowry Centenary Celebration exhibition ‘Contemporary Salford’ at Chapman Gallery, Salford University with painting ‘Hanover Court’ a year later.
David studied for an honours degree in Combined Studies (Visual Arts and Art & Design History) at Bolton Institute of Higher Education between 1993 and 1997 and in 1998 he started teaching English as a Foreign Language, working in Eskisehir, Turkey and continuing to draw in free time. David holds an M.A. in Applied Linguistics through distance learning at Birmingham University. Teaching English continues up to the present and the list of countries he has worked in keeps growing and also includes Portugal, Italy, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the U.K.
David has been exhibiting his work in various locations around the UK and has a ‘permanent’ exhibition of works including collages and paintings displayed at Caledonian College of Engineering, Muscat, Oman.
The exhibition at Chester Art Centre will run until the 13th of July 2021.
Come along for the official opening on 1 July at 6:30 to meet David and have a glass of wine!
Life – by Bryn & Anastasia
Selected works by Bryn Sutcliffe and Anastasia Tilston, showcasing natural beauty and wildlife in its glory will be on display at Chester Art Centre from 1 October until 15 October.
You will have already met both Bryn and Anastasia if you have ever visited the art centre:).
Bryn has been with us from the very beginning and we have had the joy of watching him progress with his work and get established in the international art scene. At the moment Bryn is working with Wonderland Memorabilia as well as selling a lot of his work in London and online. At the same time, many of his pieces can be found at Chester Art Centre, where he is often busy painting or making frames 🙂
“I began to experiment with many different medias at college and developed my skills using paint. At university I was encouraged to integrate conceptual ideas behind my work and hone in on particular medias which I preferred to use. Today, I mainly work in oil and acrylic paint but find acrylics lend themselves better to the spontaneous approach in my work. I specialise in figurative art in acrylic paint as I have always been fascinated and inspired by the human form. I have recently been commissioned by the Grosvenor Museum in Chester and many famous celebrities own pieces of my work.” (Bryn)
www.brynsutcliffe.com
Anastasia is usually the one running around and doing 15 different things at the time around the gallery or can be found in front of the computer doing admin. Sometimes, however, she does manage to make some jewellery and take a few arty photographs. This time she will be exhibiting only new things, since her most recent obsession with electroforming… Exciting times! 🙂
www.anastasiatilston.com
The official event for the exhibition will take place on 3 October, where you will be able to meet the artists and watch them work!
Come along and bring your friends for some beautiful art, jewellery and a glass of wine!
The Musings of Airosolix – Art Exhibition by Mark Funge
‘The Musings of Airosolix’ is my first official solo show, with different examples of my work in a variety of mediums, mostly based around aerosol.
My first artistic love, aerosol art (Graffiti), has been a part of my life since the mid 1980’s and is still a major part of my commercial work with ‘Laughing Crow Design’.
The photos of ‘The Old Lines’ is where I began to practice and ‘In the Yard’ is where I have fun and paint now 30+ years on.
This art form has permeated itself through many other influences especially my fascination with Japanese woodblock designs,
The Kami (Gods/deities) & Yokai (mythological creatures), Tattoos, the art of the Samurai and martial traditions.
About Mark Funge:
Scarborough born and current Chester resident, artist Mark Funge has been creating art since the 1980’s. Mark’s first commercial pieces were part of the fund raising for S.Y.A.G (Scarborough Youth Arts Group), where he was part of a team of artists creating large scale murals for youth clubs, nightclubs and other organisations throughout Yorkshire and Humberside. Mark studied Graphic design and Advertising which can be seen in his current style.
Mark established Laughing Crow Design in October of 2017 working with and for local companies in and around the Cheshire and Merseyside area, You may have seen or even had your picture taken in front of Mark’s work in Chester when he produced the wings on the window of local charity, The Share Shop, to help promote their bid to raise money for a house for the homeless. Currently Mark is working with Blackburne House and the Windrush project in Liverpool to produce a large piece of work, where the descendants of the Windrush generation were involved and helped. This piece of work when finished will be a permanent fixture at the Museum of Liverpool.
The exhibition will run until 7 September.
Join us on 23 August at 6:30 PM onwards for a couple of beers (or a glass of wine), meet the artist and browse through some very cool pieces of Mark’s work!
Impossible
Mark Edmonds is an artist based in Stoke on Trent working exclusively in mixed media, which is a conscious choice by him.
‘I work in contemporary mediums. My studio is a mess of circuit boards, plastic resins and paint. I spend my time meditating and splicing one material with another. I love the contrast I create between colours and textures, everything is in a constant juxtaposition. I am probably considered a painter by many, but I feel more like a sculptor who works on canvas. To me the challenge is to create something with ‘feeling’ that evokes strong feelings in others. I am not always successful and at times this journey is painful, especially when you make that connection. Often, I feel naked when this happens, because someone is looking at me without my armour of bullshit. After the initial shock dies down and I no longer feel as vulnerable, I realise I have achieved something, that I am not pretending, there is a genuine connection.
The exhibition will run until 23 July.
Join us for a glass of bubbly and some breath-taking contemporary art on 11 July at 7 PM.