Talented graduates at European arts spectacular
Eight talented graduates of Nottingham Trent University’s School of Art and Design have been given the chance to exhibit their work alongside some of Europe’s finest young artists.
The team are among 15 artists representing the UK at the XIV Biennale of Young Artists from Europe and the Mediterranean, which takes place in Skopje in the Republic of Macedonia up until 12th September.
The Biennale – which aims to promote young artists’ creativity, encourage international exchanges and strengthen cultural links – is regarded as a window to the continent’s best young art and design talent.
The multidisciplinary event, organised by the BJCEM Association, encompasses work from a variety of fields including painting, sculpture, fashion, architecture, cinema, video, photography, writing, theatre and dance.
Lucinda Chua, Iain Finlay, Nicholas Saunders, Marianna Simnett and Timothy Smith – along with Alison Garner, Anna Harding and Kimberley Turner from Left Luggage Theatre – will join more than 700 artists from 43 countries exhibiting their work.
The group is following in the footsteps of a quartet of Nottingham Trent University graduates who last year were among the first British artists to ever exhibit their work at the Biennale. The artists were invited to show their work by Arts Council England, East Midlands.
There will be an additional Nottingham Trent University element to the exhibition as fine art graduate Hugh Dichmont has been invited to be part of a team of international curators for the event, which is expected to attract 250,000 people and takes place across a range of venues.
Lucinda Chua (BA Photography) is showing her independently taken formal portraits which have been merged together to create a composite photograph in which the sitters appear to have shared the same moment in time. Many of the subjects are strangers in reality, but the gestures and exchanges within the picture imply otherwise.
Iain Finlay (BA Contemporary Arts) is a writer/director of fictional cinema. To date his films have had minimal or no dialogue, relying on telling a story purely through image and sound. He has constructed narratives which explore themes of relationships with strangers or environments at points of change.
Left Luggage Theatre’s Alison Garner, Anna Harding and Kimberley Turner (BA Theatre Design) who formed the company along with four other graduates in their final year at Nottingham Trent University, will create a ‘site-responsive’ performance whereby the audience is immersed in an environment incorporating soundscape, multi-sensory installation and puppetry.
Freelance illustrator and printmaker, Nicholas Saunders (BA Graphic Design) will be exhibiting his work which is influenced by old American screen-printed rock and folk posters. Named as one of the UK’s top ten illustrators, Nicholas has worked for a number of high-profile clients and was involved in assisting the graphics department on the recent Harry Potter films.
Marianna Simnett (BA Fine Art) is a visual artist, whose project ‘Waterways’ invites the viewer to walk around her dual screen installation. Her piece is influenced by the territory of land with the viewer acting as an active participant as he/she chooses which side of the piece to watch. Water dissolves the boundaries between territories with its need to seep into gaps and flood spaces; and conversely, to drain habitats and break structure.
Timothy Smith’s (MA Photography) ‘Time Based Photographs’ combine photography with cinema by providing a time-based experience of the photograph. In his work, Valligrane, he makes use of a digital projector to take the viewer on a journey inwards into the photograph as their perception travel down a seemingly endless forest path. The idea is that new temporalities are emerging within new media that are no longer purely photographic or cinematic.
The Head of Visual Arts in Nottingham Trent University’s School of Art and Design, Professor Terry Shave, said: “These eight artists represent the exceptional standard and range of work our graduate artists and designers produce.
"They already have considerable reputations in their respective fields with numerous commissions and exhibitions that reflect significant national standing. They each share a commitment to progressive, innovative practice which is underpinned by groundbreaking and challenging work.”
He added: “The East Midlands is one of the most significantly progressive and supportive regions for the creative arts industry.
"With major new galleries opening in Nottingham, plus an expansive network of artist-lead projects and design initiatives, our showcasing of these artists in the Biennale will truly enhance our city’s reputation as a creative destination of choice to both study and work.”
Laura Dyer, Executive Director, Arts Council England, East Midlands said: "The Biennale brings great art to everyone and is particularly important to the graduates taking part at the very beginning of their career.
"I hope that their work will both inspire and delight the audiences and other participants, these young people represent some of the very best of artistic life in England."
