Rose Howey Cooperative Gallery
Originally initiated as part of a MA Contemporary Curating module; helping to establish this unique gallery space and co-curating shows and events within Rose Howey Housing Co-operative soon became much more than a 'school project'.
Working collaboratively with Rose Howey resident and fellow MMU postgraduate student, Ulysse Di Meglio and resident/artist Jennifer Version, we transformed the large, neglected communal living area into a bright and airy gallery space, with the initial objective of hosting a short (2-3 day) art exhibition each month in collaboration with internal and external artists (residents/friends and associates of Rose Howey (RH) Housing Cooperative), artistic collectives (Migrant Artists Mutual Aid (MaMa), 26:86 Collective and AnySquared Projects) and art institutions (The Open Eye Galley).
The intention being, to creative an inclusive, community enriching programme which facilitates the sharing of art and discussion between groups of people that may not have previously had such an opportunity. This concept not only benefits the residents of Rose Howey by improving their communal living space and creating an artist dialogue, but also the surrounding communities and associates of the housing coop and fellow artists.
By creating these accessible spaces, we can facilitate the exchanging of ideas, give artists the chance to exhibit when larger establishments may not and show challenging, politically driven art to an audience which may not normally frequent art galleries or a museum environment.
'July 1, 2 3 - Origins and Expressions of Political Desires'
- Rose Howey, residents and friends
The first exhibition held at RHCG was , ‘July 1, 2, 3…’. Primarily a show to introduce the artists and exhibitors who would be showing throughout the year, it also served as a launch event for the galley space itself. The mixed media, group show was a fluid and flexible coming together of ideas, with major input from the artists themselves and a loosely structured brief. Focusing on the personally political, the exhibition showcased the expression of each artist's "personal relationship to dissent, social engagement and radical social change", and resulted in striking, challenging works ranging from hanging crocheted pieces to large scale oil paintings.
‘Chernobyl: 30 Years on’
- 26:86 Collective; Claire Baker et al.
Our second show of the season was ‘Chernobyl…’, a single collective, purely photographic exhibition showing for the first time, new works by 26:86 Collective, a group of artists of varying practices based in the North of England. The show featured artistic output following their expedition to Chernobyl and Pripyat in Ukraine which investigated the site on the 30th anniversary of the biggest and most devastating nuclear disaster of the 20th century.
Again co-curating with Ulysse, we worked closely with Claire Baker, a 26:86 artist and representative, to help realise her vision and exhibit the work from her artist collective. Alongside this we hosted an artist’s talk, which Claire gave within the exhibition space.
Other RHCG projects include an ongoing collaboration with Chicago-based artist initiative, AnySquared, for the exhibition/project 'Transatlantic Rumours: Chicago to Liverpool 2016'. Under this umbrella we exhibited 'Fax Transmission OK' by Amie Sell and 'Get To Know AnySquared' - Original Photos by Kat C Zea.
The later was a particular exciting piece, starting out as a series of studio portraits taken in April 2016, in Chicago, by Kat C Zea. The images were then emailed to Rose Howey Cooperative Gallery were chance helped to shape our interpretation of the work. Upon sending the first image to print, paper, ink and printer disagreements resulted in quite a spectacular outcome! We immediately loved the result and subsequently continued this printing method for the rest of the portraits. A literal visual commentary on the project title itself, the web-like strands of ink and patches of missing detail mimic the information lost in the spread of data/instruction/news/fact/"rumour".
(All imagery can be found on the Rose Howey Cooperative Gallery Facebook page or on Twitter @RoseHoweyCG)
Rose Howey Cooperative Gallery is on hiatus due to founding members currently pursuing individual paths. I look forward to working with the RHCG team in the future to continue our mission of making meaningful art more accessible!