CityLife

CUBEopen reveals diverse new artists

Good Fortune by Simon Le Ruez

VISITORS to Manchester’s CUBE gallery could be forgiven for thinking that the chaotic entrance is undergoing some major building work.

But look closer and you will see that the signs and scaffolding outside are made up of tiny brushstrokes.

“It is very difficult to spot because it looks like something has happened to the outside of the gallery and it’s being repaired,” says gallery curator Jane Anderson.

“Actually, it is a very clever three-dimensional piece of artwork.”

The work, by Liverpool-based artist Brendan Lyons, is one of a series of quirky installations and surreal paintings currently on display at the annual CUBEopen exhibition.

The prestigious event, currently in its third year, aims to combine established artists with emerging new talent in a diverse exhibition of works exploring the urban environment. The exhibition features everything from drawing and painting to a fully installed swimming pool and even a living plant.

Eerie

And Anderson says that this year’s entries reflect a strong preoccupation with environmental issues.

“There has been more interest in sustainability and the environment in this exhibition than ever before,” she says.

One such work, by Edinburgh-based Claire Davies, centres on an indoor swimming pool that has been installed in the gallery floor. Small maps drawn by the artist are blown around the surface of the water by tiny fans.

Anderson says the eerie work reminds her of weatherman Fred Talbot’s floating map, which was situated in Albert Docks and featured on ITV daytime show This Morning.

“It is supposed to represent the growth of wind turbines,” she explains. “I think the preoccupation with the environment shows that these are not just political issues but social and aesthetic ones, too.”

The winner of the CUBEopen 2009 award is Simon Le Ruez. The Sheffield-based artist impressed the judges with his neon wall-mounted signs and smaller, fragile sculptures of piers, balconies and bunkers.

“I think the judges were really impressed by the amount of work that went into his sculptures and the clever way in which they subvert your ideas of scale,” said Anderson.

He will now be rewarded with residency at the gallery.

City environment

Visitors to this year’s CUBEopen will also have the chance to see works by last year’s winner, Manchester-based artist Andrea Booker, whose art makes use of rearranged commercial signage, subverting its original meaning in order to make statements about displacement and social identity.

Anderson says the exhibition shows Manchester artists contributing to artistic communities all around the world – and that artists working around the world have been inspired by Manchester.

Japanese artist Yuko Saito has submitted a 3D drawing inspired by the 100-year-old pipe work in the Cube gallery building itself.

And Manchester-based artist Brian Rosa has submitted photography celebrating order and chaos in Mexico City.

But the common thread running through the exhibition’s diverse works is that they are all inspired by the city environment.

“It’s an exhibition which looks at the questions and anxieties of living in an urban space and what that means for us today,” says Anderson. “It’s always interesting to see different takes on the spaces and places in which we live and these works should be resonant for anyone who has lived in and experienced a city like Manchester.”

CUBEopen runs until December 18 (2009) at CUBE Gallery, Portland Street, Manchester. Admission is free. For more information visit cube.org.uk or call 0161 237 5525.