A major exhibition of contemporary art is opening at Barrow’s Art Gene gallery in Abbey Road.
Every two years Art Gene invites professional artists from the north east and the north west to enter Art Gene Open Exhibition for a prize worth £6,500.
This includes a £2,000 artist’s fee and a two-month, research and development residency at Art Gene working from one of the centre’s large studio spaces.
Barrow’s John Hall and Steve Massam from Kirkby Stephen are among the entrants whose work is on show. Others are Eric Bainbridge, Darren Banks, Sally Barker, Cath Campbell, Joe Clark, David Conroy, Charlotte Dawson, Leo Fitzmaurice, Matthew Holding, Joe Hillier, Rachel Lancaster, Camilla Lyon, Paul Merrick, Miles Thurlow, William Titley, UHC Collective, and Wolfgang Weileder.
The exhibition is curated by Paul Moss and Miles Thurlow, cofounders and directors of Workplace Gallery in Newcastle.
The exhibition investigates the recent tendency towards the use of architecture, urbanism and built environment as a subject for art.
As Barrow undergoes one of the biggest regeneration projects in the UK, the exhibition is a timely showcase of work about civic bureaucracy, architectural models, precarious sculptural interventions, and cut and paste video clips video clips of domestic horror film interiors.
The gallery is open Wednesdays to Saturdays between 12:30pm and 4:30pm and until 6pm on Thursdays.
Admission is free.
The winner of the prize will be announced tomorrow night and the exhibition will run until November 30.
