GHost IV: Presence and Absence

GHost IV: Presence and Absence

curates by Sarah Sparkes

Read more on the GHost Blog

VENUE

St. John on Bethnal Green

200 Cambridge Heath Road, E2 9PA (next to Bethnal Green tube)

December 6^th 7^th & 8th

An exhibition and series of art events exploring the desire to materialise what is absent via the medium of haunted landscapes or through the manifestation of a ghost. Works have been selected in response to research seminars, held earlier this year, at UOL. The exhibition will feature audio visual installation plus a programme of performances and artists film screenings all sited throughout this atmospheric John Soane Church of St John Bethnal Green.

The winter nights are long and dark and the church's stone floors breathe out cold vapours. Wrap up warm, or bring a blanket . Wander around the vestibule, belfry and gallery, haunted by manifestations of moving images, interventions and performances and entwined with the smell of incense. Then settle down in a pew and cast yourself adrift in the films and sounds of haunted landscapes, haunted seas.

Warming winter drinks will be served.

Programme

December 6th 6.00pm – 9.00pm

First Thursdays Opening Night: Exhibition of audio-visual installation and performances throughout the venue and continual screening of Haunted Landscapes, a selection of artists short films, in the nave .

December 7th 6.00pm – 10.00pm

Adrift::

The nave of st. Johns will play host to a programme of live soundscape performances and film screenings including an edited show reel of international films, “Haunted Sea” first shown at Folkestone Triennial 2011. Exhibition and performances throughout the venue.

December 8th 2.30pm – 7.30pm

Exhibition of audio-visual installation throughout the venue and continual screening of Haunted Landscapes, a selection of artists short films, in the nave

7.30 – late: GHost selects John Carpenter’s The Fog for Phantasmagloria Film Night (note: there is an entry fee for the Fog screening – more details here)

A Travel Guide to Camberwell - launch

I am proud to have two of my paintings included as illustrations for the  publication, 'A Travel Guide to Camberwell'.
The launch is at The House Gallery in Camberwell, November 28th, 7.30pm - 9.00pm.

"the lion tamer meets his end" Sarah Sparkes, 2012

My painting, 'Chutney Preserves 4: the animal fair' –  inspired  by  Sidney Shepherd's. 'The Camberwell Fair' circ. 1850' will be featured.  

Detail of "Chutney Preserves 4:The Animal Fair" Sarah Sparkes, 2010
you can see the whole painting here

Also included is a new work, made specially for this publication, ' "the lion tamer meets his end".   This painting will illustrate my mate Scott Wood's text, 'Fortean Camberwell', a wonderful collection of weird tales which make me proud to live in Camberwell.  
Scott will be leading a ghost walk around SE5 on the launch night.  You can also take part in an unwrong quiz and take away your very own copy of the Guide.

Details of the launch:

"Deserter's Camp 2012" Nunhead Open 9

Details of "Deserter's Camp 2012", wall paper pyramids and sand. Installed in the cloakroom of the old community centre, Nunhead.

I was invited to make a site-specific work for the abandoned community centre in Nunhead as part of the Nunhead Arts Festival.  I first became acquainted with this amazing space in 2009 when I was artist in residence there for Nunhead 6, and created the work "Deserters".  A film showing part of this work can be seen here: 
 
"Deserter's Camp 2012" continues the narrative  theme of abandonment and a missing community and combines these with a response to intriguing architectural elements – a series of imposing pyramid ceilings – that crown most of the spaces in the community centre.

 "Deserter's Camp 2012" was one os several artist's projects performance interventions, film and video taking place alongside the main Nunhead Open 9 open exhibition at the Old Community Centre 7-9 September.

Artists:
Sarah Christian, Daniel Lehan, Sarah Doyle-Khan, Tisna Westerhof, Rachael Haines, Hatty Lee, Beris Blake, Peter Asgaba, Calum F Kerr, Miyuki Kasahara, Sarah Sparkes, Brian Mckenzie, Theresa Bottomley, Ludwig Ramsey, Harriet Hill, Linda Barck and more.

Live Art Hide and Seek - Artist Frog Morris will be performing hidden inside a cupboard during the opening night of the exhibition. Can you find him?

Mikey Georgeson - "Museum of Unfiltered Reality".

The Communist Gallery T.V - Work that questions the current political, economic and social circumstances

Artists films and video curated by Louise Colbourne and Jim Hobbs "Cut Up" with Jeff Keen, David Blandy, Ian Helliwell, Katy Dove, Louise Colbourne and Shelly Parker, Mordant Music, Zoe Brown, James Richards, Jim Hobbs and Dennis Mcnanny (Conudndrum)
Programme approx. 60mins

Open: Friday-Sunday 12-5pm
Opening Party: Friday 7 September 6-8pm

The Old Community Centre
56 Nunhead Lane
Nunhead
SE15 3TU
map
http://thesurgery.turnpiece.net/

Camberwell Arts Festival 2012

"Camberwell Tourist Information" 

My painting "Chutney Preserves 4 - The Animal Fair"  was printed as an edition of postcards and banners for Camberwell Arts Festival 2012.  This was part of an on-going project, "Camberwell  Tourist Information" celebrating Camberwell's weird and wonderful history and current attractions through the eyes of 9 invited artists. The postcards were available, for free, at venues around Camberwell and the banners were displayed along the railings of Camberwell Green - they were still there when I passed by recently.

My painting, "Chutney Preserves 4 - The Animal Fair" is a copy of a painting by Sidney Shepherd, made in 1850, depicting revellers at the great Camberwell Fair.  I repainted the people as animals of the kind performing at the fair and to create a flyer themed for the annual performance event I curate for Camberwell Arts Festival - The Chutney Preserves.  Chutney Preserves 4 took place in 2009. 

This year, 2012, saw The Chutney Preserves return for the sixth time with "Chutney Preserves 6 - the Puppet Games".  You can read more about it here.  

Here is my painting in banner form, hanging on the railings of Camberwell Green.  Where you can also see the work of Farah Bajull, Sarah Brigland, Godfrey Donkor, Sarah Doyle, Mary Evans, Garudio Studiage, Daniel Lehan and Derek Mawudoku.

The Camberwell Tourist Information Project will manifest at a later date, in the form of a publication - I'll be contributing a section on the Camberwell Fair.

Ghost Club Talk

I'm honoured to be talking about the GHost project at what may well be the oldest psychical research organisation in the world -   The Ghost Club


from 2pm - 3pm
at
Victory Services Club

63-79 Seymour Street

London W2 2HF

"Guest, Hosts and Ghosts and How to Make Them"

 Sarah Sparkes is an artist and curator.  She is currently an affiliated fellow at the University of London where she runs the creative research project:  "GHost" 

 As a visual arts and creative research project GHost  takes on and explores the conceit of guests, hosts and ghosts, both metaphorically and practically, in its activities.  Functioning in its capacity as a supporting platform (or host) GHost aims to enable invited guests to visually and conceptually manifest and interrogate the idea of the ghost. The project has had two central strands: a consideration of the relevance of ghosts in contemporary culture, centred around a programme of interdisciplinary seminars – so-called Hostings – held in Senate House at the University of London; and a series of exhibitions, screenings and performances designed to make manifest and, by extension, examine the aesthetics of ghosts and haunted spaces held primarily at St John on Bethnal Green, London.

This talk will feature images, recordings and short films documenting the various activities of GHosts exhibitions and Hostings as well as its off-shoot project The Ghosts of Senate House. 

400 Women in Amsterdam

Detail of my painting of Maria de la Luz  for 400 Women

400 Women - now in the Sugar Factory in Amsterdam

Details for 400 Women in it's new site-specific space in Holland: Sugar City is a disused factory just outside Amsterdam.

Preview - 3rd May. 
Exhib. runs from the 4-17th May.
Sugar City Haarlemmerstraatweg 7, 1165 MJ Halfweg.

Opening hours: Tuesday to Sunday 12.00 – 17.00 hours, or by appointment.

The Sugar Factory in Amsterdam shows an exhibition of portraits of 400 women who have been murdered in the Mexican city Ciudad Juárez during the past 20 years. The British artist Tamsyn Challenger asked 200 international artists to draw portraits of each of these women, based on photos. According to Radio Netherlands Wordwide, "there is no satisfactory explanation for why such a large number of women are murdered in the Mexican city. The majority of victims are students and factory workers of 15 to 25 years old. In most cases, there are signs of sexual violence, abuse or torture."
The exibition is on from May 3-16.

On Spiritualism

Never Afraid - the mission Sarah Sparkes, mixed media 1995 - 2012

On Spiritualism' exhibition / events

'On Spiritualism'
Swedenborg, Spirit and Art
 MAY 2012
EXHIBITION

artists exhibiting -
CALUM F. KERR - VOGELFORD - KEVIN QUIGLEY - MARTIN SEXTON
MARIANNE WALKER - NICHOLAS JOHNSON - SARAH SPARKES
curated by Kevin Quigley


Swedenborg said that all life has correspondence between spiritual and natural things and these are extended to all objects in the physical world.
"Light corresponds to wisdom because wisdom enlightens the mind as light enlightens the eye. Warmth corresponds to love because love warms the mind as heat does the body"
.......but SPIRIT is a questionable 'thing' / the invisible in-between / the quantum strata / the creativity force / divination / divine guidance / essence of life / punch drunk / omnipresent being / nothingness.....
On Spiritualism exhibit and series of events doesn't set out give an definition to what is SPIRIT - but rather wants to open up a dialogue to question the idea of Spirit and Spiritualism.
Our diverse group of artists / speakers / performers have a wide range of analytical self-reflective approaches to SPIRITUALISM; they have produced works / ideas and expressions within in the metaphysical / anthropological / philosophical / analytical / anthroposophical approaches - all these approaches do hold a common bond where they are looking at the profound idea and thoughts of the identity of self, reality and the world around us.


'On Spiritualism'
@ Apiary Studios
3 May 2012
exhibition/live performances

www.apiarystudios.org

6pm - 9pm

100 Mothers Come to Chester

My painting/ collage of my mum will be coming out of the attic along with 100+ other mothers for another showing as part of Harry Pye's fabulous "100 Mothers" project

‘Mothers' an exhibition of 100 artists' portraits of their mothers will be on show in Chester from March 8th - 30th 2012.

March 8th until March the 30th 2012.

Artists who responded include: Hugh Mendes, Jamie Dyson, Katie Jones, Jessica Voorsanger, Flo Perry, Anj Smith, Gavin Toye, Kes Richardson, Daisy De Villeneuve, Geraldine Swayne, Guy Allot, Dinos Chapman, Chantal Joffe, Vic Reeves, Grayson Perry, Adam Dant, George Shaw, John Strutton, Richard Wathen, Beverley Daniels, David Shrigley, Peter Harris, Bob & Roberta Smith, Nicola Hicks, Sean O'Connor, Billy Childish, Olivia Plender, Chris Tosic, Lucy Pawlak, Marcus Cope, Michelle Sarah England, Sarah Sparkes, Chris Coombes, Kyle Hawkins, Phil Jones, Neil Innes, Sandra Turnbull, Adrian R. Shaw, Catrin Huber, Helen Barff, Mari Sunna, Martin Dukes, Alex Hamilton, August Kunapu, Lee Maelzer, Helen Barff, Eva Bensasson, Josie McCoy, Kay Harwood, Edith Flowers, Cian Quayle, Julian Wakeling, Ed Ward, Mat Humphrey, Jasper Joffe, Frances Scott, Francesca Sharkey, Isaac Quaye, Rowland Smith, Caroline List, Matthew Stradling, Sam Hallows, Mimei Thompson, Dan Kennedy-Martin, Gordon BeswickThe show will open at Contemporary Art Space Chester (CASC) the new gallery on the University of Chester Kingsway site in Newton at 5.30 pm on March 8th. Harry Pye an artist and writer, who supplied canvases to fifty male and fifty female artists, created the exhibition. Harry asked them to use the canvas to make an image based on their mother.

http://www.chester.ac.uk/art-design/mothers-gallery