Join us for the opportunity to meet two artists in their studios and hear about their working methods and latest projects.
The paintings and drawings of Simon Parish are full of quiet affection for the most overlooked structures and situations. Implicit in his working process is an acceptance of the fact that our perceptions of the world are fluid and changeable and contingent on the distilling influences of culture, memory and experience. An avid collector of photographs, he sources and catalogues everything from personal travel photographs to found images in newspapers, magazines and the internet. For him, the information in a photograph can suggest different ways of thinking through and responding to an image.
Travel is also central to Lesley Hicks’ practice. She has produced watercolour paintings and drawings in and inspired by locations as varied as Hungary, Turkey, Vietnam, Indonesia, Thailand, Peru, Bolivia, Morocco, Italy, Corsica and Iceland as well as closer to home in Tyneside allotments. Working on a small, portable scale, her work aims to challenge the tradition of the landscape and present the experience of living and working in a place.
Simon Parish is an MFA graduate of Slade School of Art and has been artist-in-residence at Durham Cathedral (1999-2000) and Florence Trust Studios, London (2001-02). A solo exhibition Between a Here a There and an Elsewhere took place at University of Hertfordshire in 2006 and his work has also been shortlisted for the Jerwood Drawing Prize in 2002, 2006, 2009 and 2012.
Lesley Hicks studied at Newcastle University and the Royal Academy Schools in London as is currently Senior Lecturer in the School of Arts & Media, Teesside University. Exhibitions of her work include: The Broad Horizon, Agnews, London, 1990; Traveller’s Paintings, East West Gallery, London, 1992; Car Park, Gateshead Library Gallery, 2001; Allotment Day, Buddle Art Gallery, Wallsend, 2001 and Selected Work, Customs House, South Shields, 2007. Driven to Draw (20th century Drawings and Sketchbooks from the Royal Academy Collection) Tennant Gallery Royal Academy 2011. Shortlisted for the 2012 Discerning Eye Drawing Bursary.
For any further information about becoming a member of the Contemporary Art Society North or to book places on upcoming events, contact Rebecca Morrill, Head of Collector Development North, on 07815 830 182 or email rebecca@contemporaryartsociety.org