Liz West presents new permanent commssion Sevenfold at The Met Theatre in Bury

 Liz West | Sevenfold
The Met, Bury

Commission opens 9 December 2016  

Liz West’s Sevenfold revealed as centrepiece of The Met

When The Met opens its doors in December 2016, following a £4.6 million refurbishment, at the centre of the historical building will be a newly commissioned art installation by internationally renowned artist, Liz West. The installation, Sevenfold, will mark the completion of this project to transform one of the North’s leading cultural live music, theatre and arts venues located in the heart of Bury.
  
The site-responsive piece will inject vibrant colours and a sense of illusion into the magnificent entrance and staircase of the Victorian neo-classical building.  Light is very important to Liz’s work, and this is a space that is flooded with natural light, which Sevenfold will draw upon to highlight the architecture and magnificence of The Met’s 1840s architecture.   

Sevenfold takes its reference from Newton’s rainbow sequence of red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet. Seven (six prisms in the main installation plus one mini above the reception desk) individual and vast prisms have been created that use mirrors to further radiate colour and reflect elements of the beautifully restored architecture. As visitors ascend the staircase they find themselves at eye level with the artwork, giving the chance to marvel Sevenfold at its luminous best.  

David Agnew, artistic director of The Met, says, “We wanted to celebrate the light and sense of rejuvenation that the restoration of this stunning building has opened up and embraced.  The vision of this project is to use the past to illuminate the future, which Liz’s piece perfectly embodies.  As people enter the building they’ll be able to enjoy the visual spectacle of Sevenfold as it radiates against the vastness and intricacy of the Victorian plasterwork.”   

Liz West says, “I am delighted to be given this opportunity to make my first permanent installation, it is an honour to be asked to make a new work in such an magnificent and multi-purpose setting. The light-based, theatrical and immersive nature of my work ties in perfectly with The Met and the buildings use. I hope that visitors enjoy my work for many years to come and are able to see new elements within the installation every time they look at the piece.”   

The refurbishment project has allowed a re-imagination of The Met, which occupies the space of Derby Hall.  Built by the 13th Earl of Derby, Derby Hall shares its architect, Sydney Smirke, with the circular reading room at the British Museum.  It’s always been one of Bury’s grandest civic buildings having begun life as a Public Rooms, it’s also been used as the Town Hall, council building and since 1979, as Bury Metropolitan Arts Association.    

To see more about the plans for the building visit www.themet.biz/better To see more about Liz West’s work visit www.liz-west.com

 

Liz West - Coming up this Spring

Through No. 3, 2015. Photo credit: Adam Pester Photography

Spring is coming... 

I have been overwhelmed with your kind responses to my first public art commission Through No. 3. Originally destined to only be shown for 6 weeks over the Christmas period, the work is on view indefinitely in Spinningfields, Manchester. If you are in Manchester over the next few months, be sure to track it down, especially if it is a rare sunny day! 

I am delighted to have recently been shortlisted for this years Aesthetica Art Prize and will be exhibiting work in the Art Prize exhibition Opening on 13 April at York St. Mary's. Having been chosen to receive one of the RBS Bursary Awards, I will be showing brand new work in the Royal British Society of Sculptors Bursary group exhibition, previewing on 16 March. Also, I am honoured to have my work presented in a new Thames & Hudson publication 'Lumitecture: Illuminating Interiors For Designers & Architects' by Anna Yudina, which is out now. 

Over the Spring months there will be several opportunities to see and experience my work. Below I have listed some upcoming opportunities that you may be interested in. You can find more information about my work by visiting www.liz-west.com.

New Site-Specific Installation



Liz will be artist-in-residence and unveiling a brand new installation at Light + Building in Frankfurt on 14th and 15th March.

Complementary Saturation is a new site-specific spatial installation exploring the relationship between complementary colours and on the people experiencing them. The work has been commissioned by the International Association of Lighting Designers and sponsored by Lumenpulse.

Liz will be giving a free artist talk as part of the IALD's Lighting Perspectives seminar at 10.45am on 14th March. Click HERE for more information.












 

Upcoming Group Exhibition

Liz will be showing new works in the Royal British Society of Sculptors (RBS) Bursary exhibition. Each year the RBS Bursary Awards are given to 10 early career artists working in 3 dimensions judged to be of outstanding talent. Integral to the society’s aim to promote the diverse language of contemporary sculpture, the Bursary Awards provide a platform to emerging sculptors to realise their full potential in the professional sphere.  

Preview: 16 March 2016, 6.30 - 8.30pm. Open from 17 March - 20 May 2016, Wednesday - Friday 12.30 - 5.30pm (or by appointment).


 

Shortlisted for Art Prize

Liz has been shortlisted for this years Aesthetica Art Prize and exhibition. Showcasing cutting-edge practice from today’s ground-breaking contemporary artists.

Celebrating individual mediums whilst recognising the richness of interdisciplinary practice, the 2016 selection is distributed across the categories of Photographic and Digital Art; Painting and Drawing; Three Dimensional Design and Sculpture, and Video, Installation and Performance. Open from 14 April - 31 May 2016 at York St. Mary's.




Work in New Publication

Liz has work presented in the new Thames & Hudson publication Lumitecture: Illuminating Interiors for Designers and Architects which was released on 29 February. Author Anna Yudina not only pursues the question, "What is light?" but also offers insight on 200 projects that demonstrate its transformative power.

Yudina has organised the book around three sections. First, there's light as it transforms space. Second, Yudina addresses lighting that alters one's perception of time. Finally, the author taps into light's power over emotion. Within each section, sub-categories like "color power" and materialization, daylight and contrast, all factor in. The work is comprehensive and up-to-date but its most powerful attribute is the revelation of light's true potential.







Commission Awarded

Take A Part CIC, Stonehouse Action and Stonehouse community members are thrilled to announce that artist Liz West has been commissioned to develop a new exciting public artwork to respond to the diversity and heritage in Stonehouse, Plymouth.
Liz West was selected via a co-commissioning process with Take A Part CIC, Stonehouse Action and Stonehouse Action’s community members leading to a co-written artist brief which outlined the aims of a commissioned public artwork - the need for humour, warmth, playfulness, spectacle and permanence. Out of numerous applications from the UK and Europe, Stonehouse Action members selected the artist Liz West."

Take A Part CIC Director Kim Wide says, ‘We are thrilled to have Liz working with us on this project which will be vibrant and reflective of the area’s past and future.’ The commission will be completed by June 2016.







 

Exhibition Announcement

Liz West has been awarded Arts Council England Grants for the Arts funding towards a forthcoming major solo exhibition Our Colour Reflection at 20-21 Visual Arts Centre in Scunthorpe, opening in May 2016.  

For Our Colour Reflection Liz will present an ambitious new installation using hundreds of coloured mirrors to transform the Neo-Gothic interior of the former St John’s Church building. The work will both reflect viewers as they look  at the work, and send colour up into the roof-space of the historic building – creating a dialogue between viewer, artwork and architecture. Exact dates and more information to follow shortly.


In the Press
Liz's work has recently been featured in several international publications and online editorial. Here are links to a few articles that have featured work which you might be interested in reading:

Mondo*Arc Magazine p.35-36
Total Lighting Magazine p. 20-21
ATTITUDE Interior Design Magazine
Architectural Lighting Magazine
The Creators Project
FRAME Magazine
Young Artists in Conversation (YAC)  

Through No. 3 by Liz West

Castlefield Gallery is excited to be working in partnership with Allied London in commissioning artist Liz West to create a brand new installation for Spinningfields, Manchester.

Through No. 3 will be a six-metre long triangular corridor of light and colour installed on Crown Square in Spinningfields from the 25 November 2015 to Wednesday 6 January 2016.

Hot from her major commission An Additive Mix at National Media Museum, Bradford and a Bursary Award from the Royal British Society of Sculptors, Through No.3 continues West’s exploration of colour and light as primary material for artwork. The walk-through structure will encourage visitors to literally look at their surroundings in a different light.

Working across a variety of mediums, West creates vivid environments with the aim of provoking a heightened sensory awareness in the viewer. She is interested in exploring how sensory phenomena can evoke psychological and physical responses that tap into our own deeply entrenched relationships to colour. Her intuitive and often playful approach to making sculpture and art installations leads to visually rich works that viewers cannot fail but to be drawn into. Underpinning West’s practice is Josef Albers’ colour theories and his Bauhaus teachings, which she references alongside an informed understanding of Newtonian optics and Goethe’s theory of visual perception.

After graduating The Glasgow School of Art in 2007, West now lives and works in Manchester. She was recently commissioned by the Science Museum London to create a new installation for the National Media Museum, Bradford; she exhibited at The Crypt in Leeds Town Hall for Light Night Leeds (9 Oct 2015), and has recently been announced as one of 10 winners of the Royal British Society of Sculptors Bursary Awards 2015.

The commissioning of Through No.3 has been managed by Castlefield Gallery. “It has been a pleasure to work with Allied London properties, and Chief Executive Michael Ingall throughout the commissioning and development of this new artwork for Spinningfields. Michael understands the importance of artists and creative practitioners to place making, and so it is fantastic to have had Allied London’s commitment to the delivery of this exciting new artwork by artist Liz West for Spinningfields.” Kwong Lee, director, Castlefield Gallery.

Press enquiries: For further information, to request images or to arrange interviews, please contact: Jennifer Dean, Communications and Audience Development Coordinator on jennifer@castlefieldgallery.co.uk or call +44 (0)161 832 8034 - See more at: http://www.castlefieldgallery.co.uk/news/through-no-3-by-liz-west/#sthash.QYuT9pSy.dpuf

Liz West Awarded Major Commission at National Media Museum

Light Fantastic season celebrates the UNESCO International Year of Light.    

Liz West's new light installation will take centre stage in a season of free events at the National Media Museum, celebrating the UNESCO International Year of Light.

Manchester-based artist Liz West has been commissioned by the Museum to create a brand new £30,000 installation inspired by the theme. It comprises a purpose-built 10m x 5m room containing approximately 300 coloured fluorescent tubes combined with ‘infinity’ mirrors. Titled An Additive Mix, it takes the principle that white light is composed of different colours of the spectrum (additive colours) and places people in the centre of the phenomenon; saturating them in individual hues that collectively create an intense white glow in a seemingly endless space.

An Additive Mix, which is free to enter and designed to be enjoyed by all ages, builds on themes developed in West’s previous works - most recently the acclaimed Your Colour Perception, which was described as ‘walking through a rainbow’. The new work, West’s largest commission to date, turns this occurrence in natural science on its head; reassembling the diffracted colours of the rainbow and projecting them to ‘infinity’ as visitors explore.

Liz West said:    

“This is a body of work that I have dreamed of being able to make for a number of years. To be given the opportunity as part of the Museum’s celebration of light is thrilling and very fitting.”    

“Artworks I remember seeing as a child are the ones in which I was completely immersed, and that’s what I hope An Additive Mix will achieve: taking people out of the ordinary into the extraordinary, and staying in their memories for a long time."  

Light Fantastic: Adventures in the Science of Light (18 July – 1 November), forms part of the National Media Museum’s Festival of Light. Throughout 2015 the festival, inspired by the UNESCO Year of Light, will be home to exhibits, family activities, a series of contemporary science events, a Lates (late-night opening) and more.

Entrance and activities are free.

Contact: Phil Oates, Press Officer, phil.oates@nationalmediamuseum.org.uk, 01274 203317.

2014: My Year in Review

As we all try and combat the January blues (again), I find it a useful pick-me-up to reflect on the previous year hoping that it will serve up some interesting revelations.

2014 was a productive year for me; I entered the year being not quite sure what it was going to deliver (the same with any year), but as time passes more and more opportunities raise their head to me.

In January I was trying to focus on my studio practice and hit a massive creative block. I decided that in order to overcome this, I would start a daily project - I nicknamed this 'The Construction Project'. I would make, document and take apart a new idea every day I visited my studio, I would then write about the work on my blogs. This was a hugely useful experience as not only did it get my creative juices flowing again, it also allowed me to practice my writing skills.

Day 22 of my Construction Project

At the end of January I installed my work Vanishing Boundaries in The Studios at MediaCityUK as part of Future Cities and Quays Culture Sculpture Series in collaboration with Mark Devereux Projects. During its residency, I gave an artists talk at Salford University; I love doing talks, maybe its because I enjoy what I do, like talking and am comfortable with an audience (I wanted to be a Spice Girls as a youth and a ballerina or actress as a teen - this explains a lot!).

Vanishing Boundaries at MediaCityUK

In February I traveled to g39 in Cardiff as co-director of Mark Devereux Projects to take part in an In Conversation as part of the WARP programme. This trip was the first of many, in 2014 I saw more new spaces, met more people and visited more new places that ever before, this can not be a bad thing!

In March my proposal for an exhibition at Exeter Pheonix' Gallery 333 was successful and I set about fabricating, packing and instructing a new site-specific work to be shown for the month. It was the first time I have shown work in the South-West, I always enjoy hearing the responses of a new audience. As a result, my work was featured on the cover of the regional magazine Exeter Living. In the meantime I clambered on with my Construction Project, blogging daily.

In April I spent a lot of time in the studio and even more time perfecting my writing skills. I was startling to get better and felt more confident.

May brought some sunshine and also my first public outing for a couple of months; I presented my work for Cornerhouse's Show & Tell event alongside other North-West based practitioners and creatives. It was a fun day, but as always, it went too fast! As well as this, the long-awaited publication featuring my work and written by Jac Scott was released, The Language of Mixed Media Sculpture is an reference book including the work of 28 international artists. Before the Summer kicked off I was also commissioned by Adobe to create a digital artwork to help launch their new version of Creative Cloud.

June and July were a write-off! I indulged myself in a couple of family trips - one of which being my Hen-weekend in Carsingson Village and a week away with my mum in one of my most favourite places in the world: Southwold. My wedding followed in early July and then a honeymoon in Italy. Staying in Limone on Lake Garda and trips to Florence and Verona were culturally and artistically delicious. However, I did manage to slip in one cheeky artistic outing thanks to Turf Projects who commissioned me to make a crazy golf hole for their 9-hole PUTT PUTT #2 extravaganza in Croydon.

Colour Intervals in PUTT PUTT #2

As soon as our flight landed at Manchester airport in August my phone was ringing... I had been commissioned by Eden Arts to make a new work for Kendal Calling music festival in Cumbria as part of their Arts Council England funded Woodland Arts Trail. It was a fantastic opportunity to test a new work in the great outdoors. It rained all weekend, the music was good, the pies were even better and the work survived 4 horrendously wet days and nights. Success?

Beyond Space at Kendal Calling

In August I also took part in Bury International Summer School; a wonderful 5 days were spent getting to know great people. I must say that the food was amazing (thanks to Sue Trehy) and kept all our minds concentrated throughout. I made some wonderful connections which will hopefully lead to some AMAZING projects this year! Please watch this space...

At the end of August and throughout September I helped lead several workshops for LeftCoast in Blackpool. The aim was to share ideas with the great people of Blackpool to illuminate their bikes and dogs for two separate events: Ride The Lights and LumiDogs. I was also commissioned to design and light up loads of bikes for the event in which 10,000 people took to the promenade and ride their bikes underneath the famous Blackpool illuminations. A real spectacle and a privilege to be part of!

In the month I re-made, re-interpreted and installed my Barnaby Festival commission into Sevendale House in Manchester's Northern Quarter. This is still in situe if anyone wants to catch a glimpse before it comes down in March. I also found some time to move studios from the 2nd floor to the 4th floor at Rogue. Phew!

Consumed #2

At the end of September was Rogue Artists' Studios annual Open Studios event, which was a great success this year with more people attending that ever before. I was put in charge with all the marketing for the event as well as taking the job or Social Media officer for the studio group on a continuing basis. I made a new light installation that filled the whole of my space and allowed me to explore my new home. Thank you everyone who came, it was a great weekend. September was a CRAZY month!

Shifting Luminosity at Rogue Open Studios

At the Autumn drew in, so did the opportunity to create more light-works. At the beginning of October I took part in Light Night Leeds, where I created a brand new site-specific installation in Leeds Art Gallery. Thousands upon thousands of visitors came and saw the work, a great event to be part of! In October I also had a piece of writing published in online magazine EDGEcondition vol.3 Art & Architecture, have a read if you haven't already?

Intervals at Leeds Art Gallery

Mid-way through October, I took the opportunity to go on my first artist residency to Kurt Schwitters Merz Barn at the Cylinders Estate in Cumbria. I blogged about my experience every day. It was a tough week as I had, by this point in the year, started to totally pull apart and reassess my practice. The residency acted as a well-timed retreat, where I took time to think, draw plans and read a lot. Thank god I went with friend and fellow-artist Alana Tyson for moral support.

In November I had my work included in Hanover Projects' In The City publication as well as featuring on the cover and inside The University of Texas publication/journal Reunion: The Dallas Review. I am gathering a nice little collection of books that my work has featured in, they all sit there on my shelf, in date order...

The Dallas Review

At the end of November I was asked to write a piece for A-N News about the 30th anniversary of Castlefield Gallery. This really tested my writing skills and was a very useful exercise. More of that please? I also did some filmed with A-N for a new film they are making about their bloggers, all will be revealed soon!

I installed new work at Airspace Gallery in Stoke-on-Trent for their In The Window space, this allowed me to create another site-responsive work, this time using cellulose acetate and florescent bulbs. A wonderful opportunity to see the development of my practice and the working-up of fresh ideas in the flesh.

Assaulting the Asphalt at Airspace Gallery

To finish off the year with a bang, I was approached by I-D Magazine and Vice Magazine in New York who were/are making a series of documentaries about obsessed collectors. Me being the Guinness World Record holder for having the Largest collection of Spice Girls memorabilia was a perfect subject for one of their films. The filming took place in December and was tiring but fun... not as glamorous as you imagine and involved leather trousers (I will say no more). The mini documentary will be shown in the Spring via online channel Noisey TV.

Me with some of my Spice Girls stage costumes on the I-D shoot

So, there it is! My 2014. It was a good one personally and professionally. Thanks to everyone who made it so brilliant. x