Full Description
Based on rare archival material and numerous interviews with practitioners, Art in the North of England 1979-2008 analyses the relation between political and economic changes stemming from the 1980s and artistic developments in the principal cities of the North of England in the late 20th century. Looking in particular at the art scenes of Liverpool, Manchester, Leeds, Sheffield and Newcastle, Gabriel Gee unveils a set of powerful aesthetic reactions to industrial change and urban reconstruction during this period on the part of artists including John Davies, Pete Clarke, the Amber collective, Richard Wilson, Karen Watson, Nick Crowe & Ian Rawlinson, John Kippin, and the contribution of organisations such as Projects UK/Locus +, East Street Arts, the Henry Moore Sculpture Trust and the Bluecoat Gallery in Liverpool. While the geographical focus of this study is highly specific, a key concern throughout is the relationship between regional, national and international artistic practices and identities. Of interest to all scholars and students concerned with the developments of British art in the second half of the 20th century, the study is also of direct pertinence to observers of global narratives, which are here described and analysed through the concept of trans-industriality.
Contents
Introduction
Part 1: 1980s
Chapter 1: the cloth cap and the red glove: politics and northern aesthetics in the 1980s
Chapter 2: Farewell to an industry
Chapter 3: New North? Artists in the urban fabric
Chapter 4: Cultural regeneration and northern imaginaries
Part 2: 1990s
Chapter 5: A case for capital
Chapter 6: Sculpting an age: industrial metamorphosis
Chapter 7: Do It Yourself: grassroots practices and diversification
Part 3: 2000s
Chapter 8. Creative cities: an art of distinction
Chapter 9 Creative resistance: social clubs and democratic promenade
Chapter 10: Trans-industrial northern spaces
Conclusion
