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IN CONVERSATION

Jacob Cartwright Daniel Fogarty Mary Griffiths Mark Kennard Tim Machin Assunta Ruocco Evangelia Spiliopoulou

Curated by Sophia Crilly

5 April to 14 June 2014

In Conversation, at Touchstones , is an exhibition of new and previously unseen works in drawing, film, print, and painting, by both invited artists and artists represented by Bureau.

Featuring predominantly abstract works, several pieces in the exhibition are created through the artists’ constructions of their own self-imposed limitations or parameters, ‘rules’ for making art. Other works evoke a particular feeling, and draw on references from the canon of art history, from the romantic landscape paintings of Caspar David Friedrich, to more recent Modernist tendencies. Some new works are specific to time and place, having been made in response to the exhibition locale of Rochdale, drawing on histories to inspire abstractions.

The selected artworks, although diverse in approach and influence, come together ‘in conversation’ to create a dialogue about abstraction, materiality, process and production. Through shared aesthetic considerations and meditative qualities, these contemplative and elegant works can be seen to possess a particular ‘language’.

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NOTES TO EDITORS

Jacob Cartwright graduated from BA (Hons) Fine Art at Nottingham Trent University, and previously studied at Academie St Joost, Breda, The Netherlands, and Winchester School of Art. He has a forthcoming exhibition with Bureau in 2014, and Stinkhorn, his acclaimed solo exhibition with the gallery took place in 2009-10. Most recently, he was Artist-in-Residence at Headlands Center for the Arts, San Francisco in 2013 (with collaborator Nick Jordan). Recent selected film screenings and exhibitions include: The Manchester Contemporary, with Bureau, Manchester; Doug Adams Gallery, University of California, Berkeley, USA; From the Mountains to the Sea, Ansel Adams Film Weekend, National Maritime Museum, London; London Short Film Festival, Riverside Studios, London; Washington DC Independent Film Festival; Long Island International Film Festival, New York; Heartland Alliance for Human Rights, Illinois States Museum; Ghost Town, Saison Video Festival, Lille, France (2013); River's Edge International Film Festival 2012, USA (Winner: Best in Fest); Encounters Short Film Festival, Bristol; American Film Festival, Wroclaw, Poland; Zaragoza Environmental Film Festival, Spain; Long Island International Film Festival, New York; Louisville International Film Festival, Kentucky; Kansas International Film Festival; The Big Muddy Film Festival, Illinois (Winner: Best Film); Document Art, Pitesti City, Romania; Tales From Planet Earth, Marquee Theatre, Wisconsin (2012); 55th BFI London Film Festival, London; The Animal Gaze Returned, School of Fine Art, London Metropolitan University; Ciclón, The Audubon Trilogy, Musée du Quai Branly, Paris, France (2011); Industry and Idleness, Contemporary Art Society, London (2010-11); Cairo: The Breaking Up of the Ice, , Manchester (2010); and Alchemy, 12-month Artist-in-Residence, , Manchester (2008). Cartwright has also participated in prestigious exhibitions such as Art Futures, Bloomberg Space, London (2008); Jerwood Drawing Prize, Jerwood Space, London, and touring UK (2007-08); Birdwatching, De Vishal, Haarlem, Netherlands; and John Moores 22, The Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool.

Daniel Fogarty graduated from BA Fine Art at Sheffield Hallam University in 2009. Solo exhibitions include: The First OXO Conference, Malgras | Naudet, Manchester; Another TV Ident, Vinyl Artspace, Birmingham (2013); IDENTS, Cornerhouse, Manchester; and Totem, at Bureau, Manchester (2012). Recent group exhibitions include: I Do Nothing But Think Of You, The Oriel Sycharth Gallery, Wrexham, Wales (2014); PRISM Manchester (Curated by Lionel Dobie Projects); Android, Piccadilly Place, Manchester; Unspecific Objects, at Malgras | Naudet, Manchester, and The Royal Standard, Liverpool (2013); Held, Open Eye Gallery and various locations, Liverpool; The Manchester Contemporary, with Bureau, Manchester; COPY In Residence, Site Gallery, Sheffield; Atelier [zero], Piccadilly Basin, Manchester; 60 Drawings, Bankley Gallery, Manchester (2012); The Manchester Contemporary, with Bureau, Manchester; Eye Service, invited guest curator, Bloc Projects, Sheffield; The Production of Curation, Rogue Project Space, Manchester; Sunk Costs, Islington Mill, Salford; We Are All In This Together, Bureau; PRISM #9, Sheffield; BlankExpression, BLANKSPACE, Manchester (2011); Rubric: Document (online); and Out of the Wilderness, Bloc Projects, Sheffield (2010);

Mary Griffiths graduated from MA Fine Art at Manchester School of Art in 2009, and is also Curator of Modern Art at the , Manchester, where she has been in post since 2000. Griffiths acclaimed solo exhibition Fathom, took place at Bureau in early 2012, and she has a solo exhibition forthcoming with the gallery in Autumn 2014. In 2013 she was shortlisted for the prestigious Artangel Open. Selected group exhibitions include: The Drawing Project, , Manchester (2014); Tip of the Iceberg: Art from Up North, Contemporary Art Society, London; The PRESS RELEASE INFORMATION – For Immediate Release:

Manchester Contemporary, with Bureau, Manchester; Some Recent Examples, Sevendale House, Manchester (2013); Cabedal, Plataforma Revólver, Lisbon; The Manchester Contemporary, with Bureau, Manchester; 60 Drawings, Bankley Gallery, Manchester (2012); Memory of a Hope, Ceri Hand Gallery, Liverpool; Workhouse, The Hive, Manchester (2011); This and That, Triple Base Gallery, San Francisco, USA; Four Artists from the Manchester School of Art, FAFA Gallery, Finnish Academy of Fine Arts, Helsinki, Finland (2009); and Jerwood Drawing Prize 2008, Jerwood Space, London and touring UK (2008-09). Her work was featured in Drawing Paper (2012), and her monograph, Pictures of War, was published by Carcanet in 2009.

Mark Kennard studied Fine Art at Manchester School of Art, and previously Graphic Design at the University of Salford. He has exhibited work across the UK and internationally, at galleries in Berlin, Helsinki, and New York, and has undertaken residencies in Helsinki (The Cable Factory) and Rotterdam. Forthcoming exhibitions in 2014 include: Detail, H Project Space, Bangkok, Thailand, and Transition Gallery, London. Recent selected exhibitions include: Without an Edge There is No Middle, Pluspace, Coventry; Summer Show, Malgras | Naudet, Manchester; Treatment, PS Mirabel, Manchester (2013); 60 Drawings, Bankley Gallery, Manchester; International Drawing Project, PR1 Gallery, UCLAN, Preston; Salon Neu, Embassy, Edinburgh (2012); The Manchester Contemporary, Manchester (2012); We Are All In This Together, Bureau, Manchester; Unrealised Potential, Northern Gallery for Contemporary Art (NGCA), Sunderland (2011); Industry & Idleness, Contemporary Art Society, London (2010-11); Unrealised Potential, Cornerhouse, Manchester (2010).

Tim Machin graduated from MA Fine Art (Drawing) at Wimbledon School of Art, London in 2002, and previously from BFA (Hons) at the Ruskin School of Fine Art, University of Oxford. Solo exhibitions include: Astrolabe, Aspex, Portsmouth (2007); New Work, LOT, Bristol (2005); and Pooleyville, Artworks MK, Milton Keynes (2005). Machin was previously nominated for Becks Futures (2006); won the Aspex Emergency2 (2005); and was shortlisted for the Jerwood Drawing Prize, London and touring UK (2002-03). Recent selected group exhibitions include: Tip of the Iceberg: Art from Up North, Contemporary Art Society, London; The Manchester Contemporary, with Bureau, Manchester (2013); Meanwhile, John Hansard Gallery, University of Southampton; Sustainability, University of Oxford Botanic Gardens (2012); Industry & Idleness, Contemporary Art Society, London (2010-11); Undone, Henry Moore Institute, Leeds (2010); Between Tracks, Badhaus, St Gallen, Switzerland (2009); 100 Years, 100 Artists, 100 Works of Art, Platform for Art, A Foundation, London; The Golden Record, Collective Gallery, Edinburgh; Swap / Vaihto, Bureau, Manchester and The Cable Factory, Helsinki (2008); The Owl of Minerva, fa projects, London; Consignia, Hiscox Art Projects, London (2005); Artfutures, Contemporary Art Society, London (2003).

Assunta Ruocco is currently undertaking a practice based PhD at Loughborough University, School of the Arts, and is based in Loughborough and London. She previously studied MA Contemporary Art Theory at Goldsmiths, London (2008-10); MA Contemporary Visual Art, University College Falmouth (2006-07); and BA Fine Art at Ecole de Recherche Graphique (ERG), Institut Superieur d’Art Plastiques, Brussels (2001-05). Her solo exhibition, A Record of Unaddressed Activity, was held at C-o-m-p-o-s-i-t-e, Brussels, in early 2014. Previous exhibitions include: On Physical Work, Bureau, Manchester; Summer Fete, Ceri Hand Gallery (2013); Pictures and Frames, solo exhibition, galerie sans titre, Brussels (2010); Trident Way 2, group exhibition, Departure Gallery, London; Un Coeur Simple, group exhibition curated by Michel Assenmaker, galerie sans PRESS RELEASE INFORMATION – For Immediate Release:

titre, Brussels (2009); AnaDoma-FilmVideoFest, Braunshweig, Germany (2008); Paris province, Bruxelles capitale group exhibition, Centre Wallonie - Bruxelles, Paris; Par la bande, group exhibition, Galerie Usage Externe, Brussels (2004).

Evangelia Spiliopoulou studied Drawing and Fine Art in Athens and in 2009 completed MA Fine Art at Manchester School of Art. Solo exhibitions include: Of Time And at (2013), and Place Understanding, at Bureau, Manchester (2010). On Physical Work, a duo exhibition with Assunta Ruocco, was held at Bureau, Manchester in 2013. Recent group exhibitions include: Celeste Art Prize (awarded Distinction), Ex-Bibli Contemporary Art Centre, Rome; Afresh, State Museum of Contemporary Art, Athens; Android, Piccadilly Place, Manchester (2013); Cabedal, Plataforma Revolver, Lisbon; The Manchester Contemporary art fair with Bureau, Manchester; Working Title, with Pavel Büchler, PeepHole, Milan (2012); Industry & Idleness, Contemporary Art Society, London (2010-11); and Van Abbemuseum Library, Eindhoven (2009).

LISTINGS INFORMATION

Exhibition (Contemporary Art): In Conversation Artists: Jacob Cartwright, Daniel Fogarty, Mary Griffiths, Mark Kennard, Tim Machin, Assunta Ruocco, Evangelia Spiliopoulou

Preview: 6 – 8pm, Friday 4 April 2014 Exhibition Dates: 5 April – 14 June 2014

Venue: Touchstones Rochdale, The Esplanade, Rochdale, Lancashire. OL16 1AQ Opening Times: 10am - 5pm, Tuesday to Saturday. Free Admission. Fully Accessible.

Phone: 01706 924928 (Touchstones Rochdale) Email: [email protected] Website(s): www.link4life.org/centres/touchstones-rochdale // or www.bureaugallery.com

For further information & images please email: [email protected]