This is where you will find information on our upcoming events, artist residencies and previous exhibitions.
If you would like to find out more about our visual arts programme and the range of artists and organisations with work with please click here.
Exhibition OPEN during ALL mill events including gigs and club nights till 26th Feb
Dynamic Death Party is an exhibition of work by recent graduates. A giddy eulogy for the cracking mass. Together these artists share a position, a point that knows its end. What opportunities and projects will shape their lives and in the end what will it mean?
'Nothing affects our understanding of life more than the knowledge of death, it can't be ignored...it must be celebrated.'
Local curators Jeni Wright and Gass Pendergast have invited 7 artists from across the North of England to contribute to a conversation about death, including amongst others work by Melissa Tutin, Jacqueline Smith and Stephen Nuttall aka the Fag Baboon.These emerging artists come together to transform two floors of the mill using a diverse range of artisti mediums, resulting in a collision that promises to be nothing but dynamic. The subject has been taken seriously but not without a sense of humour!
This is a FREE EVENT.
Thursday 1st March: 1:30-3:30pm
Saturday 3rd March: 6:30-7:30pm
Diego Mallo is currently our artist in residence. Diego was selected from a number of artists based at La Escocesa Studios who were interested in spending time here in Salford. On looking at his work we felt that there was a certain synergy between his work and two of our very successful Islington Mill artists, Rachel Goodyear and Alison Erika Forde.
Diego specialises in painting, drawing, scultpure, serigraphy and animation with his modus operandi remaining the same - he uses daily life to dig deep without mercy into the human soul, into the dubious values of our society and the paradoxes of contemporary reality. Through this exploration he creates borderline characters which he himself describes as 'fragile characters, some completly broken, confronted with the senselessness of their emotional anesthesia and involved in their everyday perversions without being aware of having chosen.'
Diego is currently enjoying soaking in Manchester's cultural scene and is loving life here at the Mill! He is currently working on completing an ambitious large scale animation on our derelict 5th floor project space. His residency will conclude with an open studio on Thursday 1st March 1:30-3.30pm and Saturday 3rd March 6:30-7:30pm. Susie MacMurray's installation 'Stratum' will also be open during this time.
Thursday 1st March: 3-9pm
In association with Designers Northern Alliance.
A celebration of the work of graduate graphic design students from the University of Salford set alongside the theme of Carnival! Created to bring together industry, design graduates and academics from the North. DNA holds events which have included talks, portfolios, surgeries with industry experts from high profile design agencies and exhibitions showcasing some of the best graduate talent.
This is an opportunity to celebrate the best of the Northern creative industries as well as spotting new talent from graduates from Salford University.
FREE event.
Thursday 5th April: 5pm-midnight
Suggested Donation £3
The Mill will re-open for a 11 day programme from 28th March-9th April. We'll be launching our Easter programme with a photography exhibition by our own Mill resident David Williams. David has lived here at the Mill for several years and as well as being a very talented photographer, David has single-handedly been responsible for all the beautiful plants that make our courtyard an amazing urban oasis during the Summer months.
The garden never ceases to amaze people as they happen across it totally unexpectedly. Last Summer's blooms form the subject matter for David's photographs and will give you an idea of how stunning our garden will be once again later this year. However, the maintenance of the garden is a big big ask so to help support David with the garden we are going to have a garden party on April 5th to raise funds to contribute to the further development and maintenance of the garden.
Expect chilled vibes, food stalls and as always, great art.
Wednesday April 25th: 6-9pm
Our next full season will open on April 25th with a very special multi-disciplinary exhibition by 2nd year MMU sculpture students. We're really excited to work with these very enthusiastic students as our ethos has always been to support emerging artists. We look forward to see what they bring to the Mill and how they transform the space.
Early May-June 3rd
Our artists in residence 'CHERYL' will be touching base in the Mill in early May and we could not possibly be any more excited! CHERYL will be featuring at events in the Mill and the unmissable festivals Sounds from the Other City and Future Everything.Their stay here in Manchester will culminate in their masterpiece event for the Jubilee weekend. WATCH THIS SPACE!
CHERYL is a four-member, semi-anonymous, often cat-masked artist collective based in Brooklyn, New York, known for its video art, museum installations, performances and dance parties. CHERYL explores the themes of mortality, manis, the feline-human connection, the limits of shoulders, the flammability of dollar-store hair extensions, and the staining power of fake blood. Through themes ranging from topical to bizarre, the CHERYL's revel in the joyous power of dance-induced psychosis/euphoria. CHERYL has been bringing its particular brand of FRESHMAGICK to New York City since colonial times, and has since acquired a dedicated cult following and media attention for over-the-top happenings involving outrageous costumes, exuberant dance moves, and particpatory dance floor suicide. Since 2008, CHERYL has produced a thematic video every four to eight weeks.
'Imagine Dolly Parton meeting Alfred Hitchcock and Richard Simmons at Conway'
CHERYL's video and performance work has been featured through various installations and events with the Museum of Modern Art, MoMA PS1, the Whitney Museum of American Art, the Brooklyn Museum, The Jewish Museum, the Bruce High Quality Foundation and Eyebeam Art and Technology Center.
There is an interview with CHERYL here and they have been featured in everything from New York Times to Time Out. For all the links and more info simply visit their website.
Susie MacMurray Installation
As part of Islington Mill’s 10-year anniversary artist Susie MacMurray has reinstalled her seminal work Stratum. Developed while she was in residence at Islington Mill as a graduate student in 2001, Stratum transformed the attic spaces of the building in a cloud of white duck down. The large-scale work subsequently became a central piece within Susie’s portfolio. Following her installation at the Mill, Susie has recently exhibited at the Museum of Art & Design, New York, the Arsenale in Venice for Spazio Thetis, and at the Royal Academy - GSK Contemporary, London.
The installation will continue throughout 2012 with an accompanying programme of talks and events. The installation is in the attic of the building with restricted access.
To book a viewing of the installation please contact shereen@islingtonmill.com
// Life Drawing: Every Wednesday 7-9: £6 each class or three classes for £15
Does what it says on the tin. Fantastic renowned experience in the newly refurbished Mill. Everyone is welcome to join however there is no tuition, Mr Barney Doodlebug will be joining the class on the first Wednesday of every month with his music show, not to be missed. Please, bring your own materials.
January is models of the larger size
To keep up to date with the goings on follow the life drawing+ blog
PAST EXHIBITION
David Wojtowycz was our artist in residence in September. He developed a series of new works that were a culmination of two previous projects he'd undertaken at September Gallery in Berlin and Black Mariah in Cork.
The exhibition was a series of works based around the 1970s novel American Bodies by Peter Wahowitz. Whether real or imagined, the novel functions as the uniting thread between each of the works –texts, drawings, posters and colours proliferate from the abstract novel title and its morphed cover design.
Drawing on a range of source material including gay magazines from the 70s and 80s, film posters, advertising images and trailers of old black and white movies David created images that allude to the glamour and kitch of the period whilst resonating with undertones of gay history and the looming end of an idealised era.
Working with a mix of watercolour, drawing, poster making, sculpture and installation his work rests between a traditional gallery show and the creation of a complete environment that takes the viewer into a new space filled with the reflections of bodies, lines of text, delicate watercolours and hybrid images that conjure up imprecise memories, emotions, and a sense of fear and longing.
PAST RESIDENCY
As part of Asia Triennial Manchester Islington Mill hosted Mongolian artist Enkhbold Togmidshiirev. Enkhbold’s practice involves using his traditional Mongolian tent – a Ger - as the site for performances that reveal and reflect on nomadic culture and its traditions.
Enkhbold performed in Islington Mill’s courtyard on 7th October where the audience were invited to sit inside his Ger and participate in his performance. Enkhbold gave a talk about his work and his involvement with the Blue Sun artists group, a studio collective based in the Mongolian capital city of Ulaanbaatar and showed off examples off their work.