There are substantial numbers of creatives with the talent, ambition and drive to succeed within the market but lack support and direction to get there. Mark Devereux Projects provides a generous and thoughtful approach to working with artists. This July, CUBE hosts the official launch and exhibition for new Manchester-based organisation, Mark Devereux Projects. Means of Feedback features new and recent works from the organisation’s three inaugural artists: Nicola Dale, David Ogle and Nicola Ellis.

Nicola Dale, Sequel, 2012

As part of Means of Feedback, Manchester-based Nicola Dale is creating The Weight Between Words – a new work consisting of thousands of paper rectangles, each hand-cut with a bookbinding awl to the same size, shape and accumulative weight of a printer’s lead type. In conversation with Yorkshire Sculpture Park’s Curator, Helen Pheby [to be included in the accompanying publication], Nicola Dale reflects on how this work first started: “The first piece I picked up wasn’t a letter, but a space – being made of lead, this small rectangle was heavy despite its size and it made me think how once upon a time even a gap, a pause, a breath had some actual weight in the production of knowledge… but now even words themselves are weightless when they pass into digital form.”

David Ogle, Pink, Orange, Yellow, Green, 4, 2013

After his recent solo exhibition for this year’s Sculpture Shock and Catlin Art Prize awards in London, David Ogle is developing a new site-specific work especially for Mark Devereux Projects exhibition, Means of Feedback. Exploring materials and notions of how objects are perceived in space, Ogle’s work uses light to create innately ephemeral experiences. Beginning as a strict mathematical procedure, the rules and formulas are then ‘played-out’ within an environment, allowing the physical space to shape and manipulate the work. Ogle states; “Through negating material properties my work seeks a kind of fragility; resting on the edge between a sculptural form and an environmental effect of light that manifests itself within a space, a context from which the work is inseparable.”

Nicola Ellis, Paregro, 2013

Nicola Ellis will be exhibiting new works responding to her recent piece, Paregro part of the FOUR exhibition at Cornerhouse, Manchester. Exploring her fascination with natural and synthetic materials, Ellis has collected thousands of pieces of reclaimed glass from building and demolition sites to create a new sculptural work. In a recent conversation about the process behind the making of her works, Ellis comments: “It’s about finding something out about the material and process, which then explodes into the final work. The origins of the piece are in that discovery process. The spectrum starts broad and is then narrowed down with specific focus on the creation of the work, but once the final piece has been made this process then opens up again.”

Coinciding with Means of Feedback and formed in collaboration with Whitworth Art Gallery, Manchester, Mark Devereux Projects will be working with Nicola Dale, David Ogle and Nicola Ellis to create new, site-specific and performative responses to the exhibitions in Whitworth Art Gallery for a special After Hours event on Saturday 13 July from 7:30-10:30pm. Further information about this event will be announced on the Mark Devereux Projects website shortly.

Accompanying the launch of Mark Devereux Projects and Means of Feedback, a new publication will be available showcasing the work of Nicola Dale, David Ogle and Nicola Ellis, along with texts from Project Space Leeds’ Director Kerry Harker, Yorkshire Sculpture Park’s Curator Helen Pheby, Whitworth Art Gallery’s Curator Mary Griffiths and Mark Devereux.

Initially trained as an artist, Mark Devereux founded and Directed Blank Media Collective in 2006 and was later pivotal in the launch of Manchester’s BLANKSPACE Gallery, before stepping-down from his role as Director & Head of Exhibitions last July. Now concentrating on a focused and dedicated support structure for early-career artists, Devereux comments: “I have spoken to hundreds of artists over the years and one of the key areas that continued to arise was the need for more one-to-one guidance and support. Already, since making my idea public in January, artists from not just the North-West but from around the UK have contacted me and we’ve met to talk about their work.”

Find out more about Mark Devereux Projects on Central Station here. Information about how any early-career artist can join Mark Devereux Projects Associate Membership can be found on the MDP website.

Means of Feedback is at CUBE, 113-115 Portland Street, Manchester, M1 6DW from 12 – 17 July 2013 (Preview: 11 July, 6-9pm).

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Read more about Mark Devereux on Central Station here.

Not For Rental is a movie-inspired charity exhibition produced by Little White Lies magazine, co-starring hundreds of the world’s best and emerging creative talent in the fields of art, street art, design, illustration, craft, photography, film and more. View the full cast here.

Leah – Gloucestershire by Jameson Kergozou

Not For Rental is run in aid of the hard-working charities Macmillan Cancer Support and Art Against Knives.

Philip Seymour Hoffman by Adam Cruft

At it’s core, Not For Rental is an art exhibition, but one you can only fully experience once you step inside the door: be prepared to fall in love with movies all over again. Plus, there’s also an extended-cut roster of curated side events including workshops, talks and film/screening nights.

Pomegranate by Karolin Schnoor

Not For Rental will be open to the public for one week before the artworks go on sale on Saturday 13 July (from 10am – 6pm) with all proceeds going to Macmillan Cancer Support and Art Against Knives. Each unique artwork will be signed by the artist and available to buy at £50 each on a first come, first served basis.

Read the story behind the exhibition on Huck Magazine online here.

Not For Rental runs from 4 – 13 July at 71a Gallery, London EC2A 4QS (Mon – Sun 10am – 6:30pm).

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Victoria Evans is a Glasgow based artist working out of Wasps’ Briggait Studios in the Merchant City. This is where she makes…

I’m primarily an oil painter – a very messy one – and I work on a large scale, so a studio/workshop is a must. The beautiful cultural complex at the Briggait helps keep me in touch with a diverse group of artists, and the building’s Victorian industrial vibe, updated for contemporary use is a continual inspiration. My work often deals with feelings about impermanence and time passing, so the fact that parts of the building date as far back as the 17th Century resonates with me.

I’m lucky enough to have a studio with high ceilings, iron rafters which I’ve hung a swing from, and big windows with a view on to a little green. It’s pretty much my fantasy of what a painter’s studio should be like. When I moved in three years ago I remember feeling guilty that I’d landed such a perfect spot so early in my career. Now I’m very much at home and would sacrifice a lot before I’d give it up.

One of my other favourite parts of the studio complex is the airy, piazza-like 1873 Hall – a stone flagged covered courtyard that used to be a fish market. My upcoming exhibition ‘Standing Stones’, which opens 21 June and runs until 19 July, was especially conceived for this space. For more details about Evans’ exhibition, please go here.

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‘Where I Make’ invites readers behind the scenes of artists from many disciplines to share photographs and a little insight about where they create their masterpieces. See more from the series here.

For 5 weeks during February and March 2013, Shaddock was artist in residence in Gallery 3 of Market Gallery, Duke Street, Glasgow. Helen used her blog as an online diary during the residency, tracking the development of her ideas and revealing the processes used to make the work. Here, Shaddock tells us about her residency and the resulting exhibition.

Several times a year, Market Gallery invites artists to apply to participate in its ‘Studio Projects’. This programme includes a four-week residency in one of Market’s gallery spaces and a resulting four week exhibition.

My proposal for the Studio Project was to conduct intensive research into colour and test the possibilities of combining controlled processes with chance elements when making work. I wanted to respond to the industrial nature of the gallery and make the most of the space, enabling me to work on a larger scale and experiment with the installation of work.

I specifically wanted to extend my work using plaster, polymer and pigments. I had previously used drainpipes as moulds to create column-like sculptures, but was keen to make my own moulds. The casting process is labour intensive and time consuming, but I was lucky enough to benefit from having a team of Market Gallery volunteers who kindly assisted me in the production of the work. This was a huge help, as someone could hold the mould while the other person poured the plaster. It also allowed me to work on a scale that I have never been able to achieve on my own. Some of the sculptures became so large that it took a team of four people to remove the cast from the mould!

I began by making funnel moulds from lino and dripping layers of different coloured plaster inside. I then poured more layers of different coloured plaster into the mould and rotated the funnel until the plaster covered the inside of the mould and set as a hollow sculpture. I repeated this numerous times until it was strong enough to remove from the mould.

I also made casts whereby I applied layers of different coloured plaster and then fully filled the lino moulds, leaving them to rest at an angle so as to create a less predictable shape.

I embraced the unexpected and allowed for chance elements within the process. Removing moulds from casts is exciting and can be quite nerve-wracking, particularly when I have invested a lot of time and resources into creating something that I do not know will work. When I took one of the sculptures out of its mould, I noticed that the pattern left on the lino was very interesting. In fact, I felt that this was more curious than the sculpture.

I am interested in the relationship between two-dimensions and three-dimensions and wanted to create a sheet of plaster that would be able to stand or be propped against a wall. I covered sheets of cardboard in parcel tape and then used a variety of techniques to coat the surface with layers of coloured plaster.

Conscious of the amount of floor based work that I was producing, I developed some wall-based works so as to make for a more interesting viewing experience. Referring back to the gallery space, I made a number of ‘object paintings’ the shape and size of the breezeblock walls.

I continued to use cardboard and parcel tape to make angular moulds, creating some unusual forms.

I had prepared some solid birch triangular shapes with plywood edges that could fit together and support each other. I played with the surface of the wood, leaving some faces bare so as to acknowledge the beauty of the wooden grain. I also poured different coloured plaster onto the surface that had a plywood boundary, and adopted an experimental screenprinting method using stencils on the reverse side. I assembled the pieces so that there would be surprise elements for the viewer when they walked around the form.

Over the duration of the residency I had produced a vast amount of work, and selecting what to include in the exhibition was a challenge. I wanted the installation of the exhibition to reveal signs of the production of the work, and did not want to present each piece as an autonomous object.

Overall the residency was an amazing experience and allowed me to produce work to a scale that I could not achieve in my studio. The public seemed to enjoy watching the development of the work as they passed the gallery each day, and I had some great chats with passersby who were intrigued by what I was doing. I am delighted with the work, and feel that there is real potential for further development.

I would like to thank the wonderful team of Market Gallery volunteers who assisted in the production of the work, the other artists exhibiting at Market Gallery, and the Market Gallery committee for their support and for helping make the residency such a positive experience.

The exhibition runs until 12 April and the gallery is open 11am – 5pm Thursday – Sunday.

This project is supported by Creative Scotland who awarded Helen Shaddock with Talent and Professional Development funding.

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The Marmite Prize for painting (installation view), 2 March – 6 April 2013. Photography Janet Wilson. Courtesy The Glasgow School of Art.

When you find yourself feeling weak and absolute defeat seems inescapable, there’s always one last option; the self defeating strategy. By asserting your own worthlessness you deny your adversaries the satisfaction of your defeat. Like the dog that’s rolled over to wee on itself, there’s no dignity left to destroy and, with nothing left to swing at, your adversaries get bored, leaving you to escape and regroup. In this sense, the self-defeating strategy is a temporary last resort, a nihilistic band-aid, a strategy to survive by, not to live by.

At first glance, self-defeat seems to be the strategy of contemporary painting as demonstrated by the 4th Marmite Prize for Painting and echoed by their dedication to the artist collective ‘BANK’. Why would a contemporary painting exhibition dedicate itself to the memory of BANK? Perhaps there’s some answer to be found in the way BANK described itself:
“talentless moronic, bullying, snide, obnoxious, self-righteous, grungy, pathetic, facile, ungracious, idiotic, childish, self-deprecating, critical, uncritical, naive, radical, cowardly, parasitical, big headed, socially inept, attention seeking, freeloading, innovative, outsiders, party poopers, losers, loudmouths, wannabes, stupid, beautiful, BANK”

From 1991 to 2003 BANK strove to live up to these ideals before finally succumbing to the pressures of infighting. In the words of John Beagles, whose talk on the exhibition described BANK as a reaction against the ‘deadening’ of contemporary art at the hands of ‘Goldsmith careerists’. Why a group of London based artists in 1991 would adopt such a ‘grungy’ persona seems obvious enough, but the decision of a painting exhibition in 2013 to dedicate itself to those grungy artists demands some investigation.

The Marmite Prize for painting (installation view), 2 March – 6 April 2013. Photography Janet Wilson. Courtesy The Glasgow School of Art.

Painting, for centuries enjoying status above all other mediums, is today an icon of the past. Since the renaissance, the history of Western art was told as a relay of genius painters until the contemporary era when no painter could ever be called a genius again. Conceptualism took painting apart down to its smallest pieces leaving contemporary painters scratching their heads, trying to put the pieces back together. In truth, painting’s days of glory were numbered the moment that photography was invented. By the time that Conceptualism bumped painting off the main stage, many were glad to see it go. But now, after decades of institutional and theoretical dominance in art, painting is also an icon of a time when artists were still calling the shots.

Displayed ‘democratically’ from largest to smallest, this year’s Marmite Prize for Painting features 32 works from national and international artists have been selected from almost 850 entries to show ‘a full spectrum of approaches in painting.’ Within that spectrum exists the decorative beauty of works by Dan Roach, Julian Brown and Paul Newman but also the stark pessimism of works by Tom Palin, Simon Carter, and James Metsoja. Suitably named after the old English word for a cooking pot, the Marmite Prize is a stew of odd ingredients.

Marie d’Elbee’s Dog Watching Sunset. Photography Janet Wilson. Courtesy The Glasgow School of Art.

There’s a large amount of purely abstract work from Yifat Gat, Damien Flood, Playpaint, Amelia Barratt, Clare Price, Andrew Seto but only Marie d’Elbee’s Dog Watching Sunset is balanced with the kind of playfulness which that genre of painting routinely lacks.

Other paintings grab the eye with their likeness to the work of famous painters. Virginia Verran’s P L I N Y looks like a cluttered Miro and Matthew Krishanu’s Two Boys look like they arrived in a box sent by Picasso. There’s a curious variety of suburban landscapes from Greg Rook’s bleak yet suggestive Untitled to Ben Deakin’s mysterious yet meek Hibernator.

Jana van Meerveld’s Bound for Lampedusa. Photography Janet Wilson. Courtesy The Glasgow School of Art.

There’s also a number of naive works from Alison Pilkington and Sabrina Shah that are so nice to look at that you could swear they hadn’t been painted by grown adults. Slightly less naive, and consequently less charming, is Charles William’s figurative effort although Brian Cheeswright’s is at least effective in its disturbance. Jana van Meerveld’s Bound for Lampedusa succeeds in conveying the tragic urgency of its subject matter, Blake Shirley is effectively fun and Alex Hanna painted a roll of bubble wrap.

When exhibitions like the 4th Marmite Prize for Painting attempt to display ‘a full spectrum of approaches in painting’ they inevitably fall prey to the burden of painting’s former glory. In presenting a survey of the entire medium they are obliged to tip their hat in so many different directions that the exhibition as a whole cannot possibly present a push towards any particular orientation. So the medium remains stuck and seemingly defeated. But within that democratic approach exists a principle worth defending.

At its worst, the self-defeating strategy is the impish masochism of the truly beaten but, at its best, self-defeat can be a brilliant ruse. By putting up a front of worthlessness, you can distract your detractors and hide your true worth until it’s grown strong and formidable. This appears to be the case for 4th Marmite Prize for Painting. Like BANK before them, the Marmite Prize’s hidden strength is its staunch autonomy. Curated and judged by artists, the prize reverses the trend of the branded art prizes that aim to remove artists from their communities by turning them into celebrities. Instead the Marmite Prize, with its absurd name, acts as an anti-brand that could never wield more influence than the communities it serves. Without a brand getting in the way we see only the artists and their underdog medium of painting. You could be forgiven for mistaking it for a winning strategy.

Written by Peter Drew

The 4th Marmite Prize for Painting runs until 6 April at The Mackintosh Museum in The Glasgow School of Art.

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Cardiff is a comparatively small city but it has an astoundingly large creative scene for its size. Having moved here around five years ago from London, I’ve found it to be ideally placed. To the east, we are only two hours from London making us the closest European capital city to London. Of course, London has a great reputation for the arts and being so close means that it is easy to stay in touch and keep up. Then to the west, we are only two hours away from the Pembrokeshire coast. This is a coastline that was named as the greatest region on Earth in 2012 by traveller’s bible Lonely Planet. It is a place to which I regularly escape to find solitude and inspiration in the tradition of the Romantic artists of yesteryear.

Being so perfectly placed between two such different but wildly inspiring places and with cultural Welsh heritage that dates back hundreds of years, it’s no wonder our small but perfectly formed city has given birth to such a great wealth of creative talent. I haven’t got time to touch upon every aspect of the city’s creative industries but I can give you a whistle-stop tour of my creative scene:

For the last couple of years I have had the pleasure of being involved with the Cardiff Design Festival, producing and curating exhibitions in both 2011 and 2012. Cardiff is home to some incredible designers and creative thinkers as is showcased each year at the festival which takes place annually since 2005. It has grown year on year since its beginning and last October’s programme was packed full of inspiring and engaging events, exhibitions and talks. This included events such as A Designer and Philosopher Walk into a Bar hosted by Chapter Arts Centre; Living Streets Mobile Cinema Screenings; and Content: A Magazine in Day facilitated by Plastik Magazine. Local Illustrator Matt Joyce also came up with the Doodle Noodle concept which was a rip-roaring success and saw members of the public, young and old, enjoying themselves as they coloured in some giant canvases in the city centre. The highlight of the festival’s programme is of course the presentation of the Best of Welsh Design Awards which this year saw awards, and teapots, going to BFLS Architects, Ctrl Alt Design and Orangebox amongst others.

Peculiar Pleasures at Milkwood Gallery with Arianne Foks

Of course, the city’s design related output is not limited to the Cardiff Design Festival’s two week party in the autumn. ThinkARK, for example, are a group of creative thinkers and social designers who come together regularly to produce a wonderfully diverse range of projects that has included PaperGirl Cardiff, Trade School Cardiff and the PlayARK games festival. I contributed some unicorn porn to PaperGirl Cardiff last year and also had a fantastic time at the games festival playing Renga in the cinema at Chapter. What can be more fun than spending a drizzly Saturday afternoon shooting frickin’ laser beams at cinema screens?

As well as a strong design community, Cardiff also plays host to an extensive network of fine artists and makers. The big draw in the fine art community is the Artes Mundi prize which is hosted by the National Museum of Wales in Cardiff every two years and with a prize of £40,000 is the biggest cash arts prize in the UK. This year’s exhibition took place in the newly refurbished Contemporary Art Galleries at the museum from 6 October 2012 until 13 January 2013 and featured works by seven short-listed artists from around the world. The winner of Artes Mundi 5 was Teresa Margolles who was chosen by a panel of international curators and directors. Adrian Paci’s 16mm film from Artes Mundi 4 still sticks in my mind as one of my personal highlights from the exhibitions I have seen over the years.

In addition to the biannual Artes Mundi exhibition, there are some wonderful gallery spaces in the city which present ongoing programmes of exhibitions. These include Chapter Arts Centre which hosts exhibitions by established artists in its main gallery as well as shows of work by emerging artists as a part of their “Art in the Bar” programme. G39 have recently relocated to some fancy new premises in Roath and shows work by national and international contemporary visual artists, as well as supporting emerging local artists through their WARP programme.

Peculiar Pleasures at Milkwood Gallery with Arianne Foks

Milkwood Gallery are a little smaller and embedded in the heart of the community in Roath. As well as hosting a rolling programme of exhibitions, they are also home to the Basement Residency Programme and are the focal point for the Made in Roath arts festival. I’ve worked with Milkwood Gallery on a number of occasions myself to curate various exhibitions, one of the most memorable was perhaps Peculiar Pleasures which saw Parisian performance artist Arianne Foks waddling through the gallery on a chair to a soundtrack by The Stooges.

Like the design community, there are lots of artists getting together to make things happen for themselves. The BIT Collective, for example, have just set up their studios having not long graduated. Cardiff Art Collective launched last year with an exhibition as a part of the Contemporary Cardiff programme and my own Pack of Wolves made their mark recently with our inaugural exhibition at The Sho Gallery last autumn.

These are just some of the key venues and events that I regularly engage with in Cardiff but this barely scratches the surface. The city’s printmaking fraternity is well represented by Print Market Project and The Printhaus amongst others and there are fantastic photographic galleries in the form of Ffotogallery and Third Floor Gallery. Not to mention the Cardiff Photomarathon; it’s great fun if you’re a glutton for creative punishment. I’ve taken part three times now and it’s definitely a highlight of the year.

With an increase in empty shop units, there are more and more artists taking advantage with pop up exhibitions appearing all around the city centre. I can’t possibly list every event, activity and venue here but if you’re visiting the city be sure to have a nosey at the Art Cardiff website which features plenty of exhibition and events listings as well as profiles of some of our artists and makers. Alternatively, you might like Jennifer for a walkabout and discussion about current exhibitions as a part of Art Club Cardiff.

I’ve tried to avoid mentioning individuals because there are far too many to mention who are doing interesting creative things in Cardiff. However, you can find out about some of the individuals who contribute to the creative life and soul of the city via the Project Cardiff website.

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My Creative Scene is an insight into different creative & cultural happenings in cities where our members and readers live. Browse through more insider guides here or contact us to write about the arts scene where you are.