Castlefield Gallery is excited to present the next in its series of Launch Pad exhibitions, a solo show by Darren Nixon.
Selected from CG Associate members’ submissions by artist and Professor of Contemporary Art at the University of Central Lancashire Lubaina Himid, and Castlefield Gallery’s Programme Manager Matthew Pendergast Launch Pad: Darren Nixon will see the artist working in the gallery throughout.
Darren Nixon works largely with the tools and materials of painting but also incorporates strategies more commonly associated with other artistic practices. He uses the paintings he makes as the building materials for a shifting set of constructions, creating works that consider the ways in which ideas and images are affected by the medium in which they find their expression.
Interested as much in failure as he is in success, Nixon treats each part of the painting and construction process as an event, which can be delayed or manipulated, focusing on the varying moments of creative decision-making which shift in intention and meaning as a piece of work develops.
Throughout this public exhibition Nixon will be making new work within the gallery space, whilst also reconfiguring and reconstructing existing works, many of which have only existed in his studio up until now. The creation and exhibition of these works will be developed in relationship with the Castlefield Gallery space, its architecture, audiences and context as a contemporary visual art venue.
Nixon will also be collaborating with photographer Stephen Iles, who will be documenting the progress of the work in the gallery space. These photographic works will be present alongside Nixon’s constructions and the artist himself as he continues to work in the gallery, reflecting on what happens to an artwork when it is photographed and to what extent the image might become the work itself.
The exhibition will be open to the public from the 21-31 May with a special late night on Thursday 28 May from 6-8pm.
Venue: Castlefield Gallery, 2 Hewitt Street, Manchester, M15 4GB
(behind Deansgate train station)
Tel: 0161 832 8034
Web: www.castlefieldgallery.co.uk
Opening Times: Wed to Sun 1pm – 6pm
Admission: FREE. The gallery is fully accessible
