[in]visible city
Public Art Group Show guest-curated for UKMAS
13th-22th August 2021
Numerous locations across Somers Town: UK Mexican Arts Society; The Cock Tavern; Somers Town local shops;
Oakshott Court Social Housing Estate; 'Fine Tutors' construction site, Chalton St x Phoenix Rd
Numerous locations across Somers Town: UK Mexican Arts Society; The Cock Tavern; Somers Town local shops;
Oakshott Court Social Housing Estate; 'Fine Tutors' construction site, Chalton St x Phoenix Rd
[in]visible city is a pattern of 11 art interventions within the urban fabric of Somers Town. The exhibition spans artists from Dorset, Glasgow, London and Nottingham and includes works by Luke Raphael Andrew, Anaïs Comer, María Camila Cepeda Gnecco, Pip Denham, Maya Rose Edwards, Katharina Fitz, Hongyu Luo, Owl Call Radio, Salvi De Sena, Katherine Smith and Bethany Ellen Walker. Presented in the UK Mexican Arts Society; The Cock Tavern; local shops and cost-cutters; ‘Fine Tutors’ building remains and hoarding around its construction site; Oakshott Court Social Housing; Chalton Street & Phoenix Rd Crossroad; local telephone booths; these ‘art injections’ trace the signs dwelling [in]visible organism of Somers Town.
A precious ‘cultural cradle’, Somers Town is home to writer and philosopher Mary Wollstonecraft who died there in 1797 after giving birth to Mary Shelley, the author of Frankenstein. Charles Dickens, who briefly lived in this area as a child, commemorated Somers Town in The Pickwick Papers, David Copperfield, Oliver Twist. Nowadays, enclosed in between major developments of Kings Cross and Euston, Somers Town is a sacred environment cherishing community and locality – an [in]visible unique organism entangled within the global body.
Drawing inspiration from Italo Calvino’s Invisible Cities, the theme of this exhibition is not the ‘city’ exactly but what is inside and round about it. [in]visible city imagines urban fabric as an inventory or rather as an invention constituted from memories, times, languages, people, events, sounds, moments. Enveloping and nourishing each other, these elements form an intercorporeal being - a presumptive realm of the tangible and visible, which extends beyond the things we touch and see at present.
A precious ‘cultural cradle’, Somers Town is home to writer and philosopher Mary Wollstonecraft who died there in 1797 after giving birth to Mary Shelley, the author of Frankenstein. Charles Dickens, who briefly lived in this area as a child, commemorated Somers Town in The Pickwick Papers, David Copperfield, Oliver Twist. Nowadays, enclosed in between major developments of Kings Cross and Euston, Somers Town is a sacred environment cherishing community and locality – an [in]visible unique organism entangled within the global body.
Drawing inspiration from Italo Calvino’s Invisible Cities, the theme of this exhibition is not the ‘city’ exactly but what is inside and round about it. [in]visible city imagines urban fabric as an inventory or rather as an invention constituted from memories, times, languages, people, events, sounds, moments. Enveloping and nourishing each other, these elements form an intercorporeal being - a presumptive realm of the tangible and visible, which extends beyond the things we touch and see at present.
About the Artists
Luke Raphael Andrew is a Glasgow-based artist completed an BA at The Glasgow School of Art (2021). Selected displays include: Get Liminal, The Old Police Station, London (2019); Foggy Windows, The Old Hairdresser’s, Glasgow (2018).
Anaïs Comer is a London-based artist graduated from BA Fine Art at Central Saint Martins (2019). Recent exhibitions comprise: Ai Mi Tagai, Youkobo Art Space, Tokyo (2021); Sounding Off 2.0, VITRINE, London (2020); The Destrier, Freehold Projects, Leeds (2019).
María Camila Cepeda Gnecco is a London-based artist graduated from MA Fine Art at Slade School of Fine Art (2021). Past shows include: We belong here, The Chapel, Leeds (2019); Pic ‘n’ mix, Pineapple Black gallery, Middlesbrough (2019); Blinked, The Old Truman Brewery, London (2019).
Pip Denham is a Glasgow-based artist completed a BA Sculpture in Edinburgh College of Art (2018). Recent displays comprise: The Apothecary, Pop Up Exhibition, Edinburgh (2019); Cibo Tempo, Boecho Gallery, London (2019); Alight, Royal Scottish Academy, Edinburgh (2019).
Maya Rose Edwards is a Glasgow-based artist graduated from BA at The Glasgow School of Art (2021). Selected exhibitions include: RSA Open (RSA, 2021); Origins Arts (Oxo Tower, 2018).
Katharina Fitz is a Nottingham-based artist completed an MFA Fine Art in Nottingham Trent University (2019). Recent shows include: Gilbert Bayes Award, Royal Society of Sculptors, London, (2021); When Seams Become Audible, One Thoresby Street, Nottingham, (2020); Five Hides, Manor Place Baths, London (2020).
Hongyu Luo is a London-based artist graduated from MFA Finе Art at Goldsmiths (2021). Past displays comprise: Access+, FuQing Chinese supermarket, London (2021); Intelligence Future, China Innovation Exhibition of Information and Interaction Design, Shanghai (2018).
Owl Call Radio is a London-based musical platform founded by Katherine E. Bash (PhD Architecture, The Bartlett UCL) in 2019. Recent displays include: owl call radio Listening Station, Chalton Gallery, London (2020); owl call radio Listening Station, The Combine, Lubbock (2019).
Salvi De Sena is a London-based artist completed a BA Fine Art at Slade School of Fine Art (2021). Selected shows comprise: Flash Fictions: Alternative Networks, The Photographers’ Gallery, London (2021); Bare Necessities, Haus Gallery, London (2021); Words to Be Looked at, Wolfson College Library, Oxford (2020).
Katherine Smith is a London-based artist graduated from MA Fine Art at Slade School of Fine Art (2021). Recent exhibitions include: Create a World, Great Ormond St. Hospital, London (2021); What do we know (anyway)?, Bloc Projects, Sheffield (2021); Sounds of Making, Surface Matters, London (2021).
Bethany Ellen Walker is a Dorset-based artist completed an MA in Ceramics and Glass at the Royal College of Art (2020). Recent displays: Future Edit, Crafts Council Gallery, London (2020/21); Deepbridge Chester Arts Fair, Online (2020).
Luke Raphael Andrew is a Glasgow-based artist completed an BA at The Glasgow School of Art (2021). Selected displays include: Get Liminal, The Old Police Station, London (2019); Foggy Windows, The Old Hairdresser’s, Glasgow (2018).
Anaïs Comer is a London-based artist graduated from BA Fine Art at Central Saint Martins (2019). Recent exhibitions comprise: Ai Mi Tagai, Youkobo Art Space, Tokyo (2021); Sounding Off 2.0, VITRINE, London (2020); The Destrier, Freehold Projects, Leeds (2019).
María Camila Cepeda Gnecco is a London-based artist graduated from MA Fine Art at Slade School of Fine Art (2021). Past shows include: We belong here, The Chapel, Leeds (2019); Pic ‘n’ mix, Pineapple Black gallery, Middlesbrough (2019); Blinked, The Old Truman Brewery, London (2019).
Pip Denham is a Glasgow-based artist completed a BA Sculpture in Edinburgh College of Art (2018). Recent displays comprise: The Apothecary, Pop Up Exhibition, Edinburgh (2019); Cibo Tempo, Boecho Gallery, London (2019); Alight, Royal Scottish Academy, Edinburgh (2019).
Maya Rose Edwards is a Glasgow-based artist graduated from BA at The Glasgow School of Art (2021). Selected exhibitions include: RSA Open (RSA, 2021); Origins Arts (Oxo Tower, 2018).
Katharina Fitz is a Nottingham-based artist completed an MFA Fine Art in Nottingham Trent University (2019). Recent shows include: Gilbert Bayes Award, Royal Society of Sculptors, London, (2021); When Seams Become Audible, One Thoresby Street, Nottingham, (2020); Five Hides, Manor Place Baths, London (2020).
Hongyu Luo is a London-based artist graduated from MFA Finе Art at Goldsmiths (2021). Past displays comprise: Access+, FuQing Chinese supermarket, London (2021); Intelligence Future, China Innovation Exhibition of Information and Interaction Design, Shanghai (2018).
Owl Call Radio is a London-based musical platform founded by Katherine E. Bash (PhD Architecture, The Bartlett UCL) in 2019. Recent displays include: owl call radio Listening Station, Chalton Gallery, London (2020); owl call radio Listening Station, The Combine, Lubbock (2019).
Salvi De Sena is a London-based artist completed a BA Fine Art at Slade School of Fine Art (2021). Selected shows comprise: Flash Fictions: Alternative Networks, The Photographers’ Gallery, London (2021); Bare Necessities, Haus Gallery, London (2021); Words to Be Looked at, Wolfson College Library, Oxford (2020).
Katherine Smith is a London-based artist graduated from MA Fine Art at Slade School of Fine Art (2021). Recent exhibitions include: Create a World, Great Ormond St. Hospital, London (2021); What do we know (anyway)?, Bloc Projects, Sheffield (2021); Sounds of Making, Surface Matters, London (2021).
Bethany Ellen Walker is a Dorset-based artist completed an MA in Ceramics and Glass at the Royal College of Art (2020). Recent displays: Future Edit, Crafts Council Gallery, London (2020/21); Deepbridge Chester Arts Fair, Online (2020).
About UK Mexican Arts Society (UKMAS)
UK Mexican Arts Society is a non-for-profit organisation focused on fostering collaboration, knowledge exchange and interaction between British and Mexican cultural bodies, artistic initiatives, creatives and the public.
UK Mexican Arts Society is a non-for-profit organisation focused on fostering collaboration, knowledge exchange and interaction between British and Mexican cultural bodies, artistic initiatives, creatives and the public.