Photo Art 2012 / 2013 Meet & Greet

It's the start of another academic year. There's a lot of post-summer catching up to do as well as the greeting of our new Freshers. So on Friday 21st September there will be a meet and greet with all current years of Photo Art followed by a drink and lunch at the Hanbury Arms. Hope to see everybody there!

Original message from Peter Bobby:

"I'd like to invite you all to a short all-course meeting (years 1, 2 and 3) on Friday 21st September at 1pm (last day of induction week), in B4 (Main Fine Art Space). It is essential that you attend this if you can as important information for the year will be corresponded in this session. It is also an opportunity to get everyone in one room at the same time, so there will be plenty of people to meet.

 After this, the plan is for all three years to venture down to the Hanbury in Caerleon for a welcome back drink and lunch. This is a fantastic opportunity for you to meet the 1st years and get to know some of those in the 2nd year a little better. Staff will of course be present on mass.

So just to recap:
1pm - All course meeting in B4 (Main Fine Art Space)
1.30pm - All move down to the Hanbury Arms in Caerleon

I think that's about it.

I hope you're all well
Best wishes
Peter"

New Essay: Elliott Wilcox - Walls with Attitude

Walls with Attitude is a new essay on the work of 2008 Photo Art graduate Elliott Wilcox available over at Photomonitor: 

"From the moment we are born we embark upon a lifelong relationship with walls, with all their connotations of containment, protection, division, demarcation, ownership and all the emotive associations that they arouse in us. Walls that we decorate with wallpaper or paint, hang with paintings, drawings, prints, photographs, ornaments etc., become familiar, affording us the sanctity and reassurance of that familiarity and the confirmations of our identity that they bring, as their trappings weave the ambience of domesticity. Other walls such as those in schools, in our workplaces, or those of transit lounges, waiting rooms or prisons offer totally different connotations. These have impersonal, neutral qualities, walls that denote the non-place that we are rarely able to interact with, or to impose our identities upon; and if we do so, we do it at the risk of prosecution, sanction or other punishment. Walls are not to be touched lest they become marked – their history only scantily marked by light, heat or dust, a history that is subtly registered, weightlessly applied. Structurally strong, paradoxically walls often have vulnerable, fragile surfaces that we feel compelled to protect. So, while they protect us we also need to protect them – this symbiotic relationship is one that is unsung, rarely acknowledged, yet a timeless and enduring one." Continue reading ... 

 

Graduate: Opening Night

Some of you may be aware that Charlotte Winter and Jo Sowden, who graduated from Photoart this summer, have both been selected for the forthcoming show 'Graduate' at the Wales Millennium Centre in Cardiff. The opening is on Friday 7th September, 6pm-8pm. If you happen to be in the Cardiff area, this show is well worth a visit and I'm sure Charlotte and Jo would very much appreciate your support. This is the first year that this has taken place, so I also think it's really important that it is well supported. There will be music and drinks at the opening. Friends and family are very welcome. Sam Laughlin from DocPhot and Sarah Wooldridge from Fine Art have also been selected.

Newport Grad Jo Sowden Solo Show

Just to let you all know that following on from Jo Sowden's selection to show in Platform 2012 at the Bristol Diving School and organised by Hand in Glove, Jo has now won their commission for a solo show in Jan 2013 at Motorcade/FlashParade (BV studios, Bristol). Jo was the only one in this show to get this commission.

Here's the announcement on the Hand in Glove website and the Gallery.

Many congratulations to Jo.

Summer Shows

Quite a few Photo Art-related shows going on this summer so if you find yourself in Bristol, London or even Berlin, these will be worth taking a look at.

THE WORLD IN LONDON - THE PHOTOGRAPHER'S GALLERY, LONDON

The World in London is a new portraiture exhibition that opens tomorrow night in London's Victoria Park and includes work by Photo Art tutor Magali Nougarède. Go Magali!

CONTEMPORARY JAPANESE PHOTOBOOKS - THE PHOTOGRAPHER'S GALLERY, LONDON

A hands-on exhibition at the newly opened Photographer's Gallery of rare and elusive Japanese photobooks, curated by former Newport tutor Jason Evans. This year's graduate show saw a number of books created by students and everyone seems to love a good photobook right now! So if you like your photo books and want to see something you've never seen before (and may never see again unless you take a trip to the Far East), you should give this show a look-in.

A PHOTOGRAPH - 401 CONTEMPORARY, BERLIN

Curated by former Photo Art student Stuart Bailes, who met Photo Art 2nd Years on their trip to Berlin back in February, this conceptual exhibition at 401 Contemporary in Berlin looks like a really interesting musing on the relationship between the photograph and the space it inhabits - in this case, a gallery space. The show closes on July 28th and for more information you can read the press release here.

BRISTOL DIVING SCHOOL

Over the past few months the Bristol Diving School has put on a number of short exhibitions including original work and recent Newport graduates. If you're not yet familiar with the Diving School, you should check it out. Former Photo Art student Matt Simmons just completed a one-year residency there and it's open to a new group of graduates every year.

Flash Forward - Emerging Photographers 2012

More congratulations to 2010 Photo Art graduate Jocelyn Allen who has been selected for Magenta's 8th Flash Forward - Emerging Photographers 2012. Chiara Tocci was also selected from Newport.

Jo Sowden's The Lilies of the Field at Videoholica

Many congratulations to Jo Sowden, whose video piece 'The Lilies of the Fields' has been selected for this years 5th 'Videoholica' festival in Varna, Bulgaria. Jo graduated from Photo Art this summer and you may have seen here piece at the graduate show. Her page on the graduate website is here.