Exhibition Opening
Friday 3rd June 2022, 6–8pm
In collaboration with Grand Union, the MA Art History and Curating course at University of Birmingham presented The Age of Dreamers is Over: a group show navigating the historical scales of anthropogenic* rupture, as well as the potential for collective healing.
This immersive exhibition brought together interactive sculpture, sound, and light works from artists Louise Beer, Jack Lewdjaw, and Mina Heydari-Waite. Unified by the idea of the night and darkness as a site of creative energy and potential growth, the three artists included in this exhibition have examined forms of rupture from the climate crisis; to revolution and colonialism; to the decay of the English high street. Reflecting upon the notion of ruination and rebuilding, The Age of Dreamers is Over serves to explore the impact of human hands on one another and on the very world we live in – if we have the capacity to destroy then we can also attempt to mend and create.
*Anthropogenic: originating in human activity.
louise beer
Louise Beer is a multidisciplinary artist who uses installation, sound, photography and moving image to create environmentally conscious art that explores humanity’s place within Earth and the wider cosmos. Louise lived in Aotearoa New Zealand until 2002, before moving to the UK and her work is heavily influenced by the natural landscape of New Zealand and her experiences there. Louise works at the intersection of art and science, using her work to reflect the mystery of the natural world whilst promoting the need for its preservation.
Louise aimed to showcase the incomprehensible reality of nature and our small place within it. Her work advocates for the importance of darkness in order to see and appreciate the night sky and the truly massive expanse of the cosmos beyond. Light pollution disrupts nocturnal and migrating species, causes health problems and wastes large amounts of energy. In contrast, darkness can stimulate dreams and creativity, allowing us to see the stars and experience the sense of there being something bigger than ourselves. Moreover, Louise sees darkness as something which connects generations of humanity, as since the beginning of human civilisation the night has been synonymous with darkness and stars. Is this connection to our past being lost? And with environmental destruction and global warming rife, what does our future hold?
Louise is a co-director of several collectives: Pale Blue Dot Collective, Lumen, super/collider and Print Science. She has exhibited internationally with recent projects including super/collider x Sail Britain (2019); Somewhere Nowhere Residency funded by Dark Skies Cumbria (2019); Arts Centre Christchurch Te Matatiki Toi Ora Residency (2020) and North York Moors Dark Skies Residency (2022)
Mina Heydari-Waite
Glasgow-based Mina Heydari-Waite is a British-Iranian artist whose work has taken shape in many artistic mediums, such as installation, sound, and video. She is also one half of collaborative duo Peel Eezy, with artist Gemma Crook. Mina takes inspiration from the relationship between places and communities and, consequently, her art often involves collaborative community projects. She has exhibited in cities including Edinburgh, Glasgow, and London, and this exhibition will be her first in Birmingham.
Mina’s work explores cultural histories and imagined futures whilst examining hierarchical dynamics. Her work is highly stylised, combining fact and fiction, narration and tactility. Mina’s current practice, centring around dreaming, has developed through conversations with her mother Hamideh Waite, a psychotherapist and anthropology researcher.
Mina has and continues to hold social dreaming workshops, a practice which draws connections between reality and the subconscious of communities, introducing opportunity for new ideas and futures. The social dreaming matrix is a group practice which was redeveloped in 1982 by the Tavistock Institute, a not-for-profit organisation which applies social science to contemporary issues. Overnight dreams are shared by participants and, subsequently, associations are identified with the issues of current society in mind.
Recent exhibitions include: In sleep it made itself present to them, Collective Gallery, Edinburgh (2021); Occupy, Create, Resist!, Cultural Collective Project as Artist in Residence, Govanhill Baths Community Trust (2021); no-longer-being-able-to-be-able, skelf.org.uk (2020); Mount Strange and The Temple of Fame, Summerhall, Edinburgh (2020)
JACK LEWDJAW
Jack Lewdjaw is a British contemporary artist who lives and works in Bristol, based out of his Spike Island studio. He is Co-Director of the artist-led gallery east bristol contemporary. Jack’s work centres around urban environments, drawing from public signage, shop-front architecture, technological decay and urban ruination. Utilising his background as a freelance graphic designer, Jack’s work is informed by colour, composition, form, and design. His work looks back to the past, referencing the history of design, but also points toward the future, or even an imagined dystopia. The objects Jack creates become relics of the modern world, remnants of a time before anthropogenic destruction. Whilst Jack is fascinated with the broken and redundant in his work, he is not pessimistic about the future but rather sees the ‘breakdowns of yesterday as the building grounds of tomorrow’.
Jack’s artistic process starts with a simple phone camera, capturing inspiration from the metropolitan environment and urban nightlife. These images form the jumping board for Jack’s own ideas, meticulously mapped out in sketchbooks and online software, the finished design of which is then sent to be made. Jack favours acrylic plastic and computer-cut vinyl as his medium, emphasising the artificial flat quality of his works. More recently Jack has been exploring the possibilities of neon, as seen in the work ‘Happy Place’ (2019).
Recent exhibitions include: Andrew Brownsword Gallery Residency, Bath (2022); MAD as MAP, News of the World, Deptford (2019) open/closed, SERF, Leeds (2018); its ok, Spike Island Testspace, Bristol (2017); East Midlands Today, Two Queens, Leicester (2017); eeeeeeeee, CBS Gallery, Liverpool (2017)
EVENTS
Urban Photography Workshop with Jack Lewdjaw
Saturday 4 June, 3pm–4pm
Meet at Grand Union Gallery
Jack Lewdjaw will run a free Urban Photography Workshop in Digbeth, taking us through his artistic process and explaining how he gathers inspirational material using just a camera-phone. Reserve your place online. Places are limited so we recommend early booking.
Listening Event
Thursday 9 June, 1pm–2pm
We are hosting a listening event in the gallery space as an opportunity to listen to the audio works in full and discuss them informally with the curators. Tea and coffee will also be provided.
Breakfast Opening
Thursday 16 June, 8.30am–10am
Join us for a morning opening of the exhibition for an opportunity to chat with the curators. Refreshments will be served.
