Dates:
23 Jun 2023 - 25 Aug 2023
People:
Location:
Aire Place Studios, Leeds
Project:
Opening Times
Wednesdays & Fridays 11am – 5pm. Please book ahead of your visit.
Opening Event
Friday 30 June, 6:30pm – 9:30pm
APS Gallery in partnership with Ort Gallery and ICF presents the Agency of Realised Worlds, an exhibition that celebrates the life work of the Artist Clem Archibald.
Clem is a skilled self-taught artist in his seventies who has lived in LS4 in Leeds since arriving from St. Kitts aged 8 years old.
This exhibition is a collaboration between Artist Clem Archibald and Curator Sarah Francis which explores and showcases Archibald’s unseen painting over six decades. Two different creatives, two different socio-cultural perspectives, with a shared sense of the different worlds realised through art and making. The project has spanned 12 months, curating the stories and paintings that represent different stages of Clem’s life and experiences. This is an autobiographical journey of an artist almost left behind by barriers in the cultural world, showcasing his unprecedented talent.
This exhibition stems from Ort Gallery and ICF’s Emergence(y) project for emerging curators, which Sarah Francis was selected to participate in in 2021. As part of the project, Francis undertook a period of research and development towards this exhibition with Clem Archibald. Emergence(y) was funded by Arts Council England.
ICF’s professional development work during this period was generously supported by Esmée Fairbairn Foundation.
“Art has the power to transport an artist from a world they feel a sense of unbelonging into a world of their own imagination, of safety and where they can share their stories. A world where they can be their authentic selves without the fear of prejudice, and harm from others. A world that is unashamedly the WE we seek. These worlds we create carry transformative powers to be able to translate these stories into the real world, so that we can connect, relate, and be moved with exploration. Agency of Realised worlds explores the talented work of Clem, a proud Leeds artist we should all be celebrating. His art is saturated in Leeds history and an untold personal connection which he explores in his paintings. I have been a privileged guest inside Clem’s world and I am so thrilled to be permitted to showcase his paintings in this exhibition. His artwork should be in collections, and I hope that after 60 years this exhibition can form the start of his legacy and a shift in finding and platforming our hidden voices within Leeds.” Sarah Francis, Curator.
Aire Place Studios is a creative studio which holds spaces of equality and solidarity. They host comfortable studios spaces, hold safer spaces for workshops and a bold gallery space centred around innovation and inclusivity. Aire Place Studios also features a collective of associated artists who exist to radically uplift under-represented creatives with empathy and warmth to realise the potential of those often overlooked by traditional art institutions. This dynamic collaboration builds trust and collective accountability to serve their communities.
Ort Gallery is a visual arts and poetry organisation based in Birmingham. They are on a social mission to redefine contemporary visual arts by rejecting the sector’s exclusivity, centering access and equity, and providing inclusive high quality art experiences. They support this mission with a care-centred approach known as Warmth.
People:
Project:
Opening Times
Wednesdays & Fridays 11am – 5pm. Please book ahead of your visit.
Opening Event
Friday 30 June, 6:30pm – 9:30pm
APS Gallery in partnership with Ort Gallery and ICF presents the Agency of Realised Worlds, an exhibition that celebrates the life work of the Artist Clem Archibald.
Clem is a skilled self-taught artist in his seventies who has lived in LS4 in Leeds since arriving from St. Kitts aged 8 years old.
This exhibition is a collaboration between Artist Clem Archibald and Curator Sarah Francis which explores and showcases Archibald’s unseen painting over six decades. Two different creatives, two different socio-cultural perspectives, with a shared sense of the different worlds realised through art and making. The project has spanned 12 months, curating the stories and paintings that represent different stages of Clem’s life and experiences. This is an autobiographical journey of an artist almost left behind by barriers in the cultural world, showcasing his unprecedented talent.
This exhibition stems from Ort Gallery and ICF’s Emergence(y) project for emerging curators, which Sarah Francis was selected to participate in in 2021. As part of the project, Francis undertook a period of research and development towards this exhibition with Clem Archibald. Emergence(y) was funded by Arts Council England.
ICF’s professional development work during this period was generously supported by Esmée Fairbairn Foundation.
“Art has the power to transport an artist from a world they feel a sense of unbelonging into a world of their own imagination, of safety and where they can share their stories. A world where they can be their authentic selves without the fear of prejudice, and harm from others. A world that is unashamedly the WE we seek. These worlds we create carry transformative powers to be able to translate these stories into the real world, so that we can connect, relate, and be moved with exploration. Agency of Realised worlds explores the talented work of Clem, a proud Leeds artist we should all be celebrating. His art is saturated in Leeds history and an untold personal connection which he explores in his paintings. I have been a privileged guest inside Clem’s world and I am so thrilled to be permitted to showcase his paintings in this exhibition. His artwork should be in collections, and I hope that after 60 years this exhibition can form the start of his legacy and a shift in finding and platforming our hidden voices within Leeds.” Sarah Francis, Curator.
Aire Place Studios is a creative studio which holds spaces of equality and solidarity. They host comfortable studios spaces, hold safer spaces for workshops and a bold gallery space centred around innovation and inclusivity. Aire Place Studios also features a collective of associated artists who exist to radically uplift under-represented creatives with empathy and warmth to realise the potential of those often overlooked by traditional art institutions. This dynamic collaboration builds trust and collective accountability to serve their communities.
Ort Gallery is a visual arts and poetry organisation based in Birmingham. They are on a social mission to redefine contemporary visual arts by rejecting the sector’s exclusivity, centering access and equity, and providing inclusive high quality art experiences. They support this mission with a care-centred approach known as Warmth.
Dates:
23 Jun 2023 - 25 Aug 2023
Location:
Aire Place Studios, Leeds
