POP-UP SLOP
Where: The Long Gallery, Newcastle University Kings Rd, Newcastle, NE1 7RH
When: 3rd-6th November 2022, 10- 5pm
This exhibition took place in Newcastle Upon Tyne, and featured 11 artists from across the country. We wanted to challenge what we’re familiar with as ‘rural art’. Having grown up in the countryside, physical access to art was often limited due to isolated locations, lack of transport and information, and economic barriers. Any exhibitions that were available to view were idealised and sanitised by commercial galleries. We want to show the real issues, complexities and lives of artists with rural connections, and provide an opportunity to share the exciting contemporary work that is overlooked. The work included drawing, sculpture, video, photography, poetry and sound art, and the preview night featured a live improvised performance from musician Adam Soper.
The artists...
Rosa-Maria Nuutinen
Potkukelkka- Video
Patjat jäi pihalle (The Mattresses Were Left Outside); Betox; 'Dad, the office drawers are still in the garden.'; Perintö (Heritage); Finlandia- Photographs Printed on 180gsm unlaminated matt paper
“Rosa-Maria Nuutinen (b. Hämeenlinna, Finland) is a London based artist working with several mediums including drawing, photography, creative writing and film. As a core of her work Nuutinen is concerned by the ideas of our current society’s impact on people and on the environment. Nuutinen considers our society’s connection and disconnection towards ourselves, our bodies, other people and the alternative places to be and exist in response to those. Her work explores the notion of absence and the act of trying to preserve something, resulting in both fictional and dystopian narratives. These existential experiences come across as gooey biotechnological insides and savouring a sauna moment with your old wrinkly grandmother.” @rosanuutinen
Eleanor Rodwell
Home, 2018 (series)- Solid bronze cast
Eleanor is a Norfolk-based artist, whose practice centers around the body and its response to environment and emotional experience. “That autumn, I collected oak galls and conkers from the garden and local lanes. Oak galls (or oak apples) are acorns that have mutated around an egg laid by a parasitic wasp. The acorn deforms around the larvae, protecting and nurturing it, but becoming ruined as a seed itself. I was fascinated by both these and the conkers, whose forms combine soft maternity and violence; it echoed the relationship with my home and the brutal process of leaving its comfort.”
Contact Eleanor at [email protected] to buy her sculptures. @erodwellart www.eleanorrodwell.co.uk
David Foggo
Spunking Concrete- Collage
David is a text based artist living in Newcastle upon Tyne, with a BA in Fine Art at Northumbria University and MFA from Newcastle University. He currently has a studio at the Newbridge Project in Shieldfield and exhibits nationally and internationally. ”Spunking Concrete is a collage incorporating a framed reproduction of Constable’s Hay Wain with newspaper text. The Hay Wain is symbolic of the English countryside, albeit an idealised one. The work can be seen as a reflection on a number of themes and issues including the rural environment, landscape, political and social commentary - national identity, planning policies and population concerns, and ultimately reflects a sense of loss.” @foggo.david
Bill Vine
The East Strand- Audio Piece
Bill Vine (1980) is an experimental composer, performer, improviser, audio/visual artist and experimental instrument maker. His work explores audience engagement, performance practice, field recording, environmental sustainability, and the re-use of purpose built electronic musical instruments. He is lead artist/artistic director for the audio/visual performance group [UNIT], and the intermedia project Flux:Intermedia. “The East Strand [..] uses 3D binaural field recordings, this time taken in the Isle of Wight at the end of the summer, coupled with the unheard sounds of electromagnetic activity closer to home and traditional acoustic instruments. It sits somewhere between a lament and celebration, attempting to find beauty in the ongoing aftermath of a family tragedy.” www.ryoanji-bill.bandcamp.com @billbillvine
Adam Soper
Fuel for Rules and Veiled- Audio Piece and Pen on Paper
Adam Soper is a PhD researcher and music educator, who uses intuitive creative music practices to explore the occult and ontological questions. “These practices are principally applied to investigate multiple contradictory histories of spacial and temporal significance: such as the lunar calendar, solstices and locations of historic worship like Christian churches, Roman Temples and significant folkloric sites.” www.adamsoper.bandcamp.com @soperadam
Helen Vine
GROWN HOME / SHE TOLD ME / HICKLING / WHAT HAPPENS WHILST I'M SLEEPING- Poetry
Helen is a freelance artist living in Norwich, and has been BBC Radio Norfolk’s Friday Night Poet in Residence, and a 2022 Kendal Poetry Festival Bursary recipient. “I grew up in a village and have always lived in rural places. My work is hugely influenced by the environment surrounding me. Themes explored in my poetry include the home and human impact on our natural world. My art is observational, contemplative, whimsical, abstract and fragmented. I play with the idea of the idyllic and the tensions between beauty and damage. My work can be both comforting and haunting. I am particularly inspired by water.” @helenvine.poetry
Cody Sowerby
Photograph on Wooden Board
“My work follows a process of research, both archival and physical (visiting sites/ places) which then manifests as sculpture and installation. I’m interested in the idea of Utopia – how this is always someone else’s idea of hell, and how nostalgia is an element of utopian thought. A component of my research has been visiting sites associated with nuclear utopias- counter cultural communities and protest sites which often exist in liminal spaces between the picturesque countryside and towns, or abandoned military installations: I’ve been surprised by how many military bases there are in what’s supposed to be the middle of nowhere- the romantic vision of the countryside being a blanket over more nefarious activities.”
Julian Mckenny
Means of Escape- Photography
“I am a photographer and artist who set up a small permaculture based market garden in Pembrokeshire, west Wales. The submitted images are from the series Means of Escape which follows our exploits as we set up in a bare field and live in a caravan having sold our house in urban Manchester. (see http://www.julianmckenny.com/means-of-escape-homepage). The work is intended to be poetic-documentary, capturing off-hand moments of weather and reaction to the place. Means of Escape reflects some of the shock of finding ourselves in this different, rural place and the visceral reaction to that. www.julianmckenny.com
Laura M R Harrison
Polylithia (enigma)- Mixed Media Sculpture
“The sculpture on show in this exhibition is part of a growing body of artistic research which draws from mysterious ancient monuments and standing stones, and enigmatic forms such as Durer's solid. Other works in the series reference the tools and rituals of fortune telling and divinatory practices such as tarot reading (cartomancy), the throwing of lots or dice (cleromancy), and palm reading (chiromancy). Laura lives and works in a small rural village south of Carlisle, Cumbria. She is a member of Art Crit North Cumbria and the ARG research group.” www.lauramrharrison.co.uk @lauramrharrison
Amanda Stanton-Nelson
Two Women Pissing- Pencil on Paper
“The scene feels innocent and accurate, a sweet and recognisable scene of girlhood in a rural area. I aimed to take something that is often looked down on by middle and upper classes as vulgar behavior, i.e., underage drinking and urinating in country parks and fields, and highlight the nostalgia and innocence of its reality.” Contact Amanda at [email protected] to buy her sketches and zines. @amandasn.studio
Eliza Brown
‘The Footpath Trap, Panoramic Disorientation.’- Panoramic Drawing, Found Charcoal
“Made from charcoal found whilst on a walk, it spans almost 5 metres across and 60cm high. At first you appear to be observing the idyllic rural, spanning as far as the eye can see. Yet this piece is made up of three separate panoramas, blurring together to form a continuous footpath that is so close to, yet still trapped away from, true access to the land. This work uses panoramic devices and expressive charcoal to comment on the inequity of access to land, with the majority of England’s pathways and natural spots being privately owned and inaccessible. We are steered through the landscape by red tape and threats of prosecution, as this piece keeps the viewer trapped in fenced off and gated footpaths, just out of reach from nature.”@artist_elizabrown
When: 3rd-6th November 2022, 10- 5pm
This exhibition took place in Newcastle Upon Tyne, and featured 11 artists from across the country. We wanted to challenge what we’re familiar with as ‘rural art’. Having grown up in the countryside, physical access to art was often limited due to isolated locations, lack of transport and information, and economic barriers. Any exhibitions that were available to view were idealised and sanitised by commercial galleries. We want to show the real issues, complexities and lives of artists with rural connections, and provide an opportunity to share the exciting contemporary work that is overlooked. The work included drawing, sculpture, video, photography, poetry and sound art, and the preview night featured a live improvised performance from musician Adam Soper.
The artists...
Rosa-Maria Nuutinen
Potkukelkka- Video
Patjat jäi pihalle (The Mattresses Were Left Outside); Betox; 'Dad, the office drawers are still in the garden.'; Perintö (Heritage); Finlandia- Photographs Printed on 180gsm unlaminated matt paper
“Rosa-Maria Nuutinen (b. Hämeenlinna, Finland) is a London based artist working with several mediums including drawing, photography, creative writing and film. As a core of her work Nuutinen is concerned by the ideas of our current society’s impact on people and on the environment. Nuutinen considers our society’s connection and disconnection towards ourselves, our bodies, other people and the alternative places to be and exist in response to those. Her work explores the notion of absence and the act of trying to preserve something, resulting in both fictional and dystopian narratives. These existential experiences come across as gooey biotechnological insides and savouring a sauna moment with your old wrinkly grandmother.” @rosanuutinen
Eleanor Rodwell
Home, 2018 (series)- Solid bronze cast
Eleanor is a Norfolk-based artist, whose practice centers around the body and its response to environment and emotional experience. “That autumn, I collected oak galls and conkers from the garden and local lanes. Oak galls (or oak apples) are acorns that have mutated around an egg laid by a parasitic wasp. The acorn deforms around the larvae, protecting and nurturing it, but becoming ruined as a seed itself. I was fascinated by both these and the conkers, whose forms combine soft maternity and violence; it echoed the relationship with my home and the brutal process of leaving its comfort.”
Contact Eleanor at [email protected] to buy her sculptures. @erodwellart www.eleanorrodwell.co.uk
David Foggo
Spunking Concrete- Collage
David is a text based artist living in Newcastle upon Tyne, with a BA in Fine Art at Northumbria University and MFA from Newcastle University. He currently has a studio at the Newbridge Project in Shieldfield and exhibits nationally and internationally. ”Spunking Concrete is a collage incorporating a framed reproduction of Constable’s Hay Wain with newspaper text. The Hay Wain is symbolic of the English countryside, albeit an idealised one. The work can be seen as a reflection on a number of themes and issues including the rural environment, landscape, political and social commentary - national identity, planning policies and population concerns, and ultimately reflects a sense of loss.” @foggo.david
Bill Vine
The East Strand- Audio Piece
Bill Vine (1980) is an experimental composer, performer, improviser, audio/visual artist and experimental instrument maker. His work explores audience engagement, performance practice, field recording, environmental sustainability, and the re-use of purpose built electronic musical instruments. He is lead artist/artistic director for the audio/visual performance group [UNIT], and the intermedia project Flux:Intermedia. “The East Strand [..] uses 3D binaural field recordings, this time taken in the Isle of Wight at the end of the summer, coupled with the unheard sounds of electromagnetic activity closer to home and traditional acoustic instruments. It sits somewhere between a lament and celebration, attempting to find beauty in the ongoing aftermath of a family tragedy.” www.ryoanji-bill.bandcamp.com @billbillvine
Adam Soper
Fuel for Rules and Veiled- Audio Piece and Pen on Paper
Adam Soper is a PhD researcher and music educator, who uses intuitive creative music practices to explore the occult and ontological questions. “These practices are principally applied to investigate multiple contradictory histories of spacial and temporal significance: such as the lunar calendar, solstices and locations of historic worship like Christian churches, Roman Temples and significant folkloric sites.” www.adamsoper.bandcamp.com @soperadam
Helen Vine
GROWN HOME / SHE TOLD ME / HICKLING / WHAT HAPPENS WHILST I'M SLEEPING- Poetry
Helen is a freelance artist living in Norwich, and has been BBC Radio Norfolk’s Friday Night Poet in Residence, and a 2022 Kendal Poetry Festival Bursary recipient. “I grew up in a village and have always lived in rural places. My work is hugely influenced by the environment surrounding me. Themes explored in my poetry include the home and human impact on our natural world. My art is observational, contemplative, whimsical, abstract and fragmented. I play with the idea of the idyllic and the tensions between beauty and damage. My work can be both comforting and haunting. I am particularly inspired by water.” @helenvine.poetry
Cody Sowerby
Photograph on Wooden Board
“My work follows a process of research, both archival and physical (visiting sites/ places) which then manifests as sculpture and installation. I’m interested in the idea of Utopia – how this is always someone else’s idea of hell, and how nostalgia is an element of utopian thought. A component of my research has been visiting sites associated with nuclear utopias- counter cultural communities and protest sites which often exist in liminal spaces between the picturesque countryside and towns, or abandoned military installations: I’ve been surprised by how many military bases there are in what’s supposed to be the middle of nowhere- the romantic vision of the countryside being a blanket over more nefarious activities.”
Julian Mckenny
Means of Escape- Photography
“I am a photographer and artist who set up a small permaculture based market garden in Pembrokeshire, west Wales. The submitted images are from the series Means of Escape which follows our exploits as we set up in a bare field and live in a caravan having sold our house in urban Manchester. (see http://www.julianmckenny.com/means-of-escape-homepage). The work is intended to be poetic-documentary, capturing off-hand moments of weather and reaction to the place. Means of Escape reflects some of the shock of finding ourselves in this different, rural place and the visceral reaction to that. www.julianmckenny.com
Laura M R Harrison
Polylithia (enigma)- Mixed Media Sculpture
“The sculpture on show in this exhibition is part of a growing body of artistic research which draws from mysterious ancient monuments and standing stones, and enigmatic forms such as Durer's solid. Other works in the series reference the tools and rituals of fortune telling and divinatory practices such as tarot reading (cartomancy), the throwing of lots or dice (cleromancy), and palm reading (chiromancy). Laura lives and works in a small rural village south of Carlisle, Cumbria. She is a member of Art Crit North Cumbria and the ARG research group.” www.lauramrharrison.co.uk @lauramrharrison
Amanda Stanton-Nelson
Two Women Pissing- Pencil on Paper
“The scene feels innocent and accurate, a sweet and recognisable scene of girlhood in a rural area. I aimed to take something that is often looked down on by middle and upper classes as vulgar behavior, i.e., underage drinking and urinating in country parks and fields, and highlight the nostalgia and innocence of its reality.” Contact Amanda at [email protected] to buy her sketches and zines. @amandasn.studio
Eliza Brown
‘The Footpath Trap, Panoramic Disorientation.’- Panoramic Drawing, Found Charcoal
“Made from charcoal found whilst on a walk, it spans almost 5 metres across and 60cm high. At first you appear to be observing the idyllic rural, spanning as far as the eye can see. Yet this piece is made up of three separate panoramas, blurring together to form a continuous footpath that is so close to, yet still trapped away from, true access to the land. This work uses panoramic devices and expressive charcoal to comment on the inequity of access to land, with the majority of England’s pathways and natural spots being privately owned and inaccessible. We are steered through the landscape by red tape and threats of prosecution, as this piece keeps the viewer trapped in fenced off and gated footpaths, just out of reach from nature.”@artist_elizabrown