The Gallery will be open as normal on Saturday 28th, Sunday 29th & Tuesday 31st December. Normal hours resume from 2nd January.
This year’s Diwali ‘Rivers of India’ event which took place at The New Art Gallery Walsall on Saturday
10 November was a huge success with people from across the local community coming to celebrate the annual festival of light.
The event this year was in memory of the people who lost their lives in the severe floods of Kerala in July and August this year which affected the southern Indian state of Kerala, due to unusually high rainfall during the monsoon season.
Sadly over 483 people died in what was the worst flood in Kerala in nearly a century. At least a million people were evacuated, mainly from all 14 districts of the state which were placed on red alert.
According to the Kerala government, one-sixth of the total population of Kerala had been directly affected by the floods and related incidents.
The Diwali event raised £130.00 on the day and will go to The West Midlands Kerala Cultural Association, which will then be sent to the Chief Minister of Kerala in India.
Diwali organiser, Surjit Rai said “Visitors to the event found this year’s theme ‘Rivers of India’ most interesting and the entertainment was culturally uplifting. However it was also a time of reflection and an opportunity to pay our respects to the memory of the people of Kerala who went through the tragic events in July”.
ENDS
Here at The New Art Gallery Walsall, we are working with Home of Metal and artist Alan Kane to present a unique exhibition for next summer, 4 Bedroom Detached Home of Metal.
We want to celebrate metal culture and are keen to include battle jackets, both actual and as photographs. We also want to recreate four bedrooms containing metal-related collections.
If you think you might be interested in working with us, please send your photographs and relevant contact details to andrew.lawson@walsall.gov.uk by Sunday 18 November 2018.
For further information, please visit www.homeofmetal.com
We are looking for fantastic designer-makers and artists to apply to take part in The New Art Gallery Walsall’s 2018 Local Makers’ Markets. Celebrating the wealth of talent in the region, and offering Christmas shoppers the chance to buy something unique, the Gallery will be hosting local makers during the first weekend of December.
We are looking for applications from a range of creative disciplines including, painting, sculpture, jewellery, photography, lighting, textiles, stone carving, fashion, glass, artisan foods and more.
If you already sell your products or are looking for the perfect opportunity to launch yourself into the creative market, we want to hear from you.
Celebrating the wealth of talent in the region and offering Christmas shoppers the chance to buy local bespoke and handmade products.
Join us at the Gallery on Saturday (1 December) for festive cheer and free mince pies and learn more about the makers with free demonstrations on the Sunday (2 December).
Saturday 1 December, 11am-5pm
Sunday 2 December, 12pm-4pm
How to apply for a stall:
To apply for a stall at the Makers Markets please download the application form below.
The date for submissions has been extended to November 14th 2018 for the last remaining stalls!
Makers Market Application Form 2018
For further information or enquiries please contact the Gallery on 01922 654400
Our new Autumn What’s On, October ’18 – January 2019 brochure is now available to pick up in the Gallery or download free below. Sign up to our mailing list for free and receive regular Preview invitations and event information.
Tonight on BBC FOUR What Do Artists Do All Day? follows artist Mahtab Hussain on his latest photographic project featuring young British Asians.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0bg2nsb
Mahtab’s exhibitionGoing back home to where I came from is currently on display at The New Art Gallery Walsall until the 2 September 2018 and Mitti Ka Ghar is on display in our Family Gallery until 24 February 2019.
Image credits: (top) Mahab Hussain, Going back home to where I came from, 2018, installation view,
The New Art Gallery Walsall
(bottom image)
Mahab Hussain, Mitti Ka Ghar, 2018, installation view, The New Art Gallery Walsall
Artist Andrew Tift was commissioned by the House of Lords to do the portrait below which features Lord Carrington in his ancestral home in Buckinghamshire.
Lord Carrington (b. 1919 – d. 2018)
The Times newspaper tribute to Lord Carrington
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Mark Essen
The Building as Material II
11 June – 26 August 2018
Artists’ Studio
To mark The New Art Gallery Walsall’s 18th birthday in 2018, the Gallery invited proposals from West Midlands-based artists in response to the theme: The Building as Material.
Following this Open Call, Birmingham-based artist Mark Essen has been selected to develop a new body of work from the Artists’ Studio, taking terracotta, a clay-based ceramic material used in the building, as his point of departure. During his residency, Mark will explore the relationship of clay to Walsall, researching local buildings and the contemporary use of clay in Walsall-made ceramics as well as the history of brick making in the area. Mark will make various brick and tile designs, inviting the public inside the studio to explore his raw materials.
Mark Essen (b. Reigate, UK) studied at Birmingham City University before completing an MA in Sculpture at the Royal College of Art in 2014. He was selected for Bloomberg New Contemporaries 2013 and has exhibited widely in the UK, including Workplace, Gateshead; Hauser & Wirth, Somerset; Tate St Ives, and Wysing Arts Centre, Cambridge. In 2017, Mark set up Modern Clay, a socially-engaged ceramics studio in Birmingham, which aims to remove perceived boundaries between fine and applied arts and crafts.
“I find it hard to talk about the story of Esther. It’s a difficult thing” Bob and Roberta Smith
Watch Bob and Roberta Smith fighting back the tears in his Objects of Obsession interview with the Royal Academy’s Tim Marlow about why he chose Jacob Epstein’s sculpture of his daughter Esther in the Gallery’s Garman Ryan Collection.
As part of the Royal Academy’s 250th anniversary celebrations, three Royal Academicians took part in a new series of digital talks about their chosen Objects of Obsession: works of art by another artist that have great meaning to them.
Each revelatory encounter was hosted by the gallery or museum which houses the piece and live streamed on
the venues own Facebook and YouTube pages to art fans across the globe.
Objects of Obsession is brought to you in partnership with the Royal Academy and The Space
Other talks in the series
Cornelia Parker discusses Sketch of an Idea for Crazy Jane (1855) by Richard Dadd
at Bethlem Museum of the Mind (16 February 2018)
Sonia Boyce discusses Othello, The Moor of Venice by James Northcote at
Manchester Art Gallery (8 March 2018)
We are excited to be hosting a range of talented Local Makers, Crafters & Artists at our up-coming market on December 2nd & 3rd.
Here’s a taste of what’s in store!
Original contemporary prints and drawings by Daniella Turbin.
Handmaid Crafts:
Wirework jewellery, accessories, cards and needle felted Christmas decorations by Jill Dind.
Natalie Brooks: Artist and Roly Poly Ponies:
Needle felted sculpture, cartoon ponies and Christmas decorations.
Mike Taylor:
Handmade wooden wares by Mike Taylor: Woodland Craftsman.
Urvashi Patel Art:
Watercolour art on cards, mugs, tote bags and accessories, as well as prints and originals.
Felti:
Felted home wares and accessories including brooches, pods, lamp shades and fairy lights created by Sarah Leigh.
Izzybird Bags by Elizabeth Whitehouse:
Handbags, corsages, greetings cards and ‘make your own’ kits.
Oimillie lamp work, glass and jewellery:
Lamp work beads and jewellery by Heather Pearce.
Fernandez Firecrafts:
Pyrography on wood, created by Jenny Fernandez.
Yvonne Thomas Felt Figures:
Mini felted figures. Personalised items also available by commission.
PLUS
Gerry Mahoney:
Feline based graphic illustrations.
John Sheldon:
Illustrations, drawings and glass painted artworks.
Claire Taylor:
Crocheted items created by Claire Taylor.
Mums Herd:
Children’s illustration and prints by Isabelle Blewitt.