New Art MK: Eight Artists From Milton Keynes

Exhibitions

8 July - 18 September 2011

This summer MK Gallery presents an exciting group exhibition by eight emerging artists from Milton Keynes, who work in a range of media including photography, drawing, painting and cross-stitching.

All eight artists were shortlisted finalists in the MK Community Foundation’s Arts Bursary Award 2010.

The eight exhibiting artists are:

Jamie Chalmers (aka Mr X Stitch), brings the world of cross-stitch and embroidery to a whole new audience, aiming to “restore embroidery to its rightful position within the art world”.

Caroline Devine uses the human voice as raw material for much of her work, layering sounds and exploring speech, song, text, oral history, memory and acoustic space.

Lauren Keeley recent body of bold, expressive paintings explores surface and  medium through the use of structures and systems alongside arbitrary aesthetic decisions that drive her painting process.

Jason Smith is based at Westbury Studios in Milton Keynes and makes works on paper and large-scale sculptural installations such as those shown at the Open University, MK City Centre and Woburn Abbey.

Stuart Southwell works with photography, using a clever balance of horror and humour, to create a fictional family, commenting on identities adopted within society along the way.

Kamil Szkopik (born in Poland) produces photographs of strangers that often play with conventions of identity, sexuality and society.

Frazer Waller has worked as a reportage photographer for extreme sport and music magazines but also produces his own series of photographs focusing on the creative exploration of social, cultural and personal issues.

Emma Wilde produces meticulously observed drawings which are rendered in pencil or paint often on cheap everyday materials like notebooks or newsprint.