2023 Leeds Summer Group Show

I’m pleased to announce that Sound of the Kenwood Chef and Giant Cauliflower Harvest have been selected by curators Courtney Spencer and Helen Dryden for the 2023 Leeds Summer Group Show.

The mixed-media exhibition takes place at The Leeds Playhouse, Leeds, West Yorkshire, 22 July – 7 Sept 2023.

Sound of the Kenwood Chef
Sound of the Kenwood Chef

We received over 500 submissions from 150 artists and 77 works by 54 artists have been selected by the panel.

Courtney Spencer
Giant Cauliflower Harvest
Giant Cauliflower Harvest
2023 Leeds Summer Group Show
2023 Leeds Summer Group Show

The 2023 Leeds Summer Group Show is an eclectic exhibition showcasing talent from across the UK. This annual exhibition was started in 2015 by Courtney Spencer, and this year she will be co-curating the show with Helen Dryden, an artist and curator based in Leeds. They were joined on the selection panel by Nigel Walsh, the Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art for Leeds Museums & Galleries, based at Leeds Art Gallery.

The show’s selection panel

Nigel Walsh is the Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art for Leeds Museums & Galleries, based at Leeds Art Gallery. He joined the team in 1986 as its first dedicated Exhibitions Curator, after training with the Scottish Art Council in Glasgow following a degree in English Studies and Fine Art (History of Art) from a Scottish University. Until very recently he was Chair of Trustees of the Ilkley Literature Festival where he’d been a member of the Board for 20 years.

Helen Dryden is a Leeds based visual artist who works primarily in painting and is the curator of Compact Contemporary Gallery which is housed in her studio at Sunny Bank Mills. She has an MA in Curation Practices from Leeds Arts University and a BA(Hons) in Graphic Arts and Design from Leeds Beckett University. 

Courtney Spencer is an Australian artist, curator and collaborator. She was the director of an arts charity for five years, began the Leeds Summer Group Show in 2015 and is the founder of The Art Court which works to support artists and collectors in the North of England. She has worked with organisations including National Trust; The Mercer Art Gallery, Harrogate; S1 Artspace, Sheffield; Leeds Playhouse; and The Old Parcels Office, Scarborough. She also writes a monthly column called Snooping Through Studios for The State Of The Arts. 

Update:

Exhibition images courtesy of curator Helen Dryden.

Ilkley Arts Open Exhibition 2023

Part 1 - detail

I’m pleased to announce that Summer 2022 Part 1 & 2 have been selected for the Ilkley Arts Open Exhibition 2023.

The selection panel included Clare Alton-Fletcher (Chief Executive at West Yorkshire Print Workshop), Jane Kay (Creative Director at The Gallery at Sunny Bank Mills), Martyn Lucas (Artist and Curator at Turnpike Gallery) and Joanne Tinker (Artist and Gallerist at Tinker Gallery).

Ilkley Arts Open Exhibition
Ilkley Arts Open Exhibition

The exhibition on the theme of ‘Take Time’, takes place at Ilkley Manor House, Castle Yard, Ilkley, West Yorkshire LS29 9DT,  and is open Sat 16th Sept – Sun 15th Oct (open to the public on weekends)

Selected artists for the exhibition
Selected artists for the exhibition

Over 400 artworks were submitted by 200 artists. 

Summer 22 Part 1 - part of Ilkley Arts Open Exhibition 2023
Summer 22 Part 1 – part of Ilkley Arts Open Exhibition 2023

Each artwork is 21 x 21 cm. Hand embroidered, hand stitched. Vintage Sylko thread, cotton cloth. 

Summer 22 Part 2
Summer 22 Part 2

Thank you to Ilkley Arts for selecting my art in the exhibition.

Away from the Chaos

My latest piece – a mini artwork called Away from the Chaos – has been chosen by curator Ivonne Fernandez for the ”Miniatur-Ausstellung zum Thema Autismus – Autism” Doll House exhibition at Villa Mosaïk, Steubenstraße 79, Aschaffenburg, Germany.

The artwork

“Children on the autism spectrum often play in an inflexible, rule bound way. The features associated with autism, including cognitive rigidity, pervasive anxiety, and resistance to change.”

For people on the spectrum routine, repetition, and ritual bring order to an otherwise chaotic world.

The colour blue’s association to autism originated with the autism advocacy association known as Autism Speaks. Their “Light it Up Blue” campaign calls for people to wear blue to promote autism awareness. Blue is also the organisation’s primary colour and is associated with a calm feeling and acceptance in an otherwise loud and busy world for people on the spectrum.

Size 11.5 x 11.5cm, perle & embroidery thread, hand embroidered onto vintage cotton cloth.

Away from the Chaos hand embroidered art
Away from the Chaos
Away from the Chaos - detail
Away from the Chaos – detail

This is the third Doll House exhibition I’ve taken part in in Germany and the UK.

Artists taking part in the exhibition
Artists taking part in the exhibition