Barnaby announces national arts commissions for 2016

Four critically acclaimed artists have been invited by Barnaby Festival to exhibit as part of an ambitious visual art programme for Barnaby 2016, in Macclesfield.

Bedwyr Williams, Liliane Lijn, Hondartza Fraga and Hannah Imlach will all be presenting their commissions inspired by Macclesfield’s heritage and the people of the town.

The artworks follow Barnaby Festival’s 2016 theme of Space and are part of a series of eight Arts Council England funded visual arts commissions which include local artists Simon Woolham, Hannah Wooll, Tom Baskeyfield & Mario Popham, and a group comprising Val Lear, Rachael King & Mark Helliwell.

Visitors will encounter drawing, video installation, sculpture, sound, animation and performance in spaces around the town, including the English Gothic Savage Tower in St Michael’s Church, the recently renovated 18th century Townley Street Chapel, and Sparrow Park.

Karl Wallace, Director of Barnaby Festival, said: “We’re incredibly excited about our commissions from four extraordinary and diverse artists. They have all taken the brief and interpreted it in their own way, but all of them have explored the theme of Space and the unique location of Macclesfield.”

The commissions will explore themes such as the environment, Jodrell Bank, local people and even a local yoga teacher. The artists collectively have exhibited all over the world at galleries and shows including the Venice Biennale, The Tate and Manchester Art Gallery.

Artist Hondartza Fraga said: “I am very excited about making work for Barnaby Festival: the opportunity to create new work in response to Jodrell Bank’s Lovell Telescope is fantastic as it provides me with a chance to go back to one of my favourite themes, the exploration of the Universe. I am very much looking forward to spending time exploring the history and surroundings of Jodrell, and to present the new works in Macclesfield.”

The artists and commissions:

Bedwyr Williams will present Flexure. Flexure, a film commissioned for Barnaby, observes the town, its inhabitants and the practice of a local Yoga teacher, whilst exploring the artist’s ideas about space, travel and our methods for coping with our local and universal lives. Flexure will be presented in the town’s beautiful Townley Street Chapel.

Liliane Lijn will present Moonmeme, a real-time computer simulation, whereby Lijn writes the single word SHE across the moon in letters large enough to be seen from Earth. Over the course of each lunation, the movements of moon, Earth and sun demonstrate the interlocking of opposites. Moonmeme will be presented in the dark, intimate space of the Savage Tower at St Michael’s Church, Market Place, accompanied by the sound pieces, SHE and Lunar Tales.

Hondartza Fraga presents From Dark Matter to White Noise inspired by the iconic Lovell Telescope at Jodrell Bank, specifically its history, connection to the surrounding landscape and its significant role in the exploration of the Universe. Using drawing and video, the works explore the relationship between the local landscape surrounding Jodrell and the remote places the telescope explores. From Dark Matter to White Noise will be presented in the Attic of Costa Coffee.

 

Hannah Imlach presents Canopy Lens a re-working of her sculpture Forest Canopy Lens, 2013 made for Heartwood 2013. For Barnaby, the piece will be suspended within Sycamore and Hornbeam in the town’s Sparrow Park, which looks out to the hills beyond Macclesfield. Canopy Lens will allow the trees above to be simultaneously viewed from multiple perspectives; some views of leaves and branches appear clear, others magnified or as blurred shapes of coloured light.

To find out more about the Barnaby Festival visit the website http://www.barnabyfestival.org.uk or follow us on Twitter @BarnabyFestival