Spike Island – the home to UWE Bristol’s BA and MA Fine Art courses – opens its doors for the annual Open Studios event next month, offering a unique opportunity to explore an expansive network of artists, galleries, and creative businesses.
The Open Studios begins with a preview evening on Friday 2 May and runs until Sunday 4 May; visitors will be able to explore the working environments of the hundreds of artists, designers and creative businesses based there, including the UWE Bristol studio space on the ground floor of the building. They can meet the students and artists and see their working practices, enjoy family-friendly activities and browse unique art works for sale.
The BA Fine Art students will present new work, with group exhibitions Steganography and Shadows of Tomorrow, alongside a curated quiet space: THE LOWN FRAGMENT and student-designed bar. Events include fortune telling, screen-printing and fantastical costumed dance performances in honour of Beltane celebrations.
The MA Fine Art students present their work across two interlinking spaces adjacent to the BA Fine Art studios. The work circles the students’ preoccupations and research around materiality, time, and current challenging contexts, through video, performance, installation, painting, drawing, sculpture, and sound.
In addition, for people interested in studying MA in Fine Art or Curating, Dr Steven Paige, Programme Leader MA Fine Art, or Dr Marianne Mulvey, Programme Leader MA Fine Art: Curating, will be available to discuss UWE Bristol’s postgraduate arts courses, between 2pm – 4pm on Saturday 3 and Sunday 4 May.
Megan Broadmeadow, lecturer in Fine Art, said: “Spike Open provides a unique opportunity for our UWE Fine Art students to create ambitious, playful and powerful statements about what art means to them; and in turn that encapsulates the spirit of Bristol’s cultural landscape at that moment in time. It’s an annual highlight of Bristol’s artistic community, and an event that is not to be missed.”
Spike Island Open Studios takes place on Friday 2 May between 6pm and 9pm (preview evening), and on Saturday 3 May and Sunday 4 May between 11am and 5pm.
More information, including how to book the preview evening, is available on the Spike Island website.
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