THE first public art exhibition will be held at the North West Media Centre at the University of Chester’s Warrington Campus in October.
Artist and Photographer Phil Barton will be holding a workshop and exhibition exploring environmental regeneration the North West Media Centre tower development.
This new facility includes a large space downstairs for film screenings and for exhibitions of students’ work, as well as visiting photographers and other exhibitors.
Phil lives in Rusholme, Manchester and for 35 years he worked locally, regionally and nationally in environmental regeneration, most recently leading the Wigan-based charity, Keep Britain Tidy.
Phil has exhibited in Cornwall, East London, Liverpool and Leicester as well as in and around Manchester.
Nature Rearranged brings together his photographic body of work from the past 20 years with more recent installations.
Inspired by ‘land’ artists such as Richard Long, Chris Drury and Andy Goldsworthy, Phil rearranges objects and natural materials found at a location and photographs the results to draw attention to the wonder of ‘nature everyday’ which is all around us, but so often missed.
More recently he has exhibited as Barborough Kettleton with his life partner Helena Kettleborough, drawing on a millennial archive of newspaper cuttings to create installations which draw attention to the plight of the ‘other than human’ with whom we share our world.
Phil will be displaying his most recent experimental and emergent pieces, exhibited for the first time – Arboricide – inspired by his sense of loss of mature trees in his south Manchester neighbourhood in the past 12 months. He will be inviting responses from visitors to the exhibition.
The free exhibition, hosted by the University’s Department of Media, will take place from Friday, October 14 to Sunday, October 16. Barborough Kettleton will also run a free workshop – Pilgrimage for Gaia – in the Tower Gallery on Sunday, October 16 from 3pm to 5pm exploring the challenges facing the natural world and drawing on the artworks on display.
Phil said: “I am delighted to have been given the opportunity to show my work at the exciting Tower Gallery. ‘Nature Rearranged’ draws attention to the beauty of the natural world – and the plight of the ‘other than human’ as a result of human pressure.
“I hope it will connect with visitors and inspire renewed action for a healthy planet.”
Head of Media at the University of Chester Dr Alec Charles added: “It’s great to have this exciting exhibit coming to our brand new gallery. We very much hope that people will come along and enjoy the exhibition – and that our gallery will offer a resource for artists from across the region and a new space for local people to experience some great works of art.”
The North West Media Centre Tower Gallery is based at the Warrington Campus on Crab Lane, Warrington WA2 0DB.
The gallery is open from 6pm to 8.30pm on Friday, October 14 and from 11am to 6pm on Saturday and Sunday, October 15 and 16.
