Galleries - What's On - Arts

Galleries - Whats On

Welcome to DEAN CLOUGH... home to one of the UK's most active private galleries, devoted largely to the work of leading artists in the North of England. The galleries are open between 10.00am and 5.00pm, seven days a week. This page gives details of our current exhibition programme which we hope you will enjoy. Please note, though, that there are occasions when some of the galleries will not be accessible to the public. We generally advise people to call reception (01422 250250) to check availability.

Michael Sandle's 'Memorial...': inspired by contempt for US involvement in the Vietnam War and revived by an equal disquiet about the engagement in Iraq...		Michael Sandle: A Twentieth Century Memorial June 6th to August 6th (Hiroshima Day) 2009 Open from 10.30am to 4.30pm Michael Sandle’s title for ‘A 20th C. Memorial’ – an awesome, bronze sculpture of a skeletal Mickey Mouse firing a heavy machine gun – must have seemed premature when it was produced in the 1970’s, now it seems almost fated. Dean Clough has been negotiating this major loan from the TATE for almost a year and will be displaying it along with etchings and related works by the artist (supplied by Harrogate’s 108 Fine Art Gallery). There will also be regular showings of Sharmeen Obaid’s moving Channel 4 film, ‘Iraq: The Lost Generation’ about the civilian victims of the invasion of Iraq. Further details of the graphic works in the show, together with prices, can be found at www.108fineart.com

David Wheeler on tour with the BAS		IOU: ANTARCTIC TRAVELOGUE June 6th to September 25th 2009 WEEKDAYS ONLY PLEASE NOTE : Entrance to this show is free but by appointment only on 01422 369217 IOU’s Artistic Director David Wheeler spent three months in Antarctica as ‘Artist-in-Residence’ on The British Antarctic Survey (BAS). “Antarctica is an extraordinary place to explore the imagination,” he says. ‘Travelogue’ presents long-sequence video taken with five linked cameras, together with 3m wide panoramic photographs created during David’s time there. His experience will inform a major new visual arts and performance work that IOU will premiere in Yorkshire and then tour internationally.

'The Weeping Angel' by Robert Lee		Robert H Lee: A Life in Art 1915-2007 June 6th to October 4th 2009 The controversial and horrific bombing of Dresden in 1945 was witnessed by Bingley artist Robert Lee when he was a P.O.W. and it remained a lifelong influence on his work. A man who brought the same artistic values to his crafted wood pieces as he did to his paintings, Robert famously produced a ‘crying angel’ for one of Dresden’s churches as an ‘apology’ for the deed. He trained at Bradford College and the Royal College of Art (eventually becoming a well-known lecturer at Bingley College) and exhibited widely. This posthumous retrospective will feature the full range of his work, from montages to paintings and drawings – many of them offered for sale for the first time.

Westmoreland scene by John Ross		John Ross: Song of the Earth June 6th to October 4th 2009 John Ross ‘made his name’ with inky lampoons that seem at odds with his landscapes, many of which hark back to the 19th century via Piper and Nash. Leicester-born, RCA trained and resident in Huddersfield since 1980, Ross is 60 this year and this show is a small tribute to a notable ‘arts activist’ in the region (he is presently Director of the Artworks Project at Shorelodge Mills in Halifax).

Micah		Shifting Perspectives June 6th to October 4th 2009 “When our daughter Billie-Jo was born, I have to admit that I had no idea how we were ever going to live with her. Eight years on – and now I have no idea how I could ever live without her.” Richard Bailey’s remark reflects most parents’ experience: why should it ‘add charge’ to learn that Billie-Jo has Down’s syndrome? Bailey is among the photographers whose upbeat imagery in this show - about living with Down’s Syndrome - demonstrates an imaginative liaison with their subjects that other photographers rarely attempt and still more rarely achieve.

Out in the cold...		Vita Brevis (in collaboration with Scott Mason) Ongoing to late Spring "Ars longa, vita brevis, occasio praeceps, experimentum periculosum, iudicium difficile". Hippocrates’ famous remark essentially boils down to: “it takes so long to perfect a skill that no one lives long enough to do anything properly”. Dean Clough recently took a hard look at the collection of art it has famously acquired in the last 25 years, and earmarked nearly a hundred pieces for disposal. The items under sentence were put up for a ‘no reserve’ auction just before Christmas, when the public was given a last chance to ‘save’ them. The spurned canvases - once deemed to be worth thousands of pounds - have now been mounted in the car park, exposed to the elements, awaiting cremation by artist Scott Mason later in the year. It’s a timely, ‘credit squeeze’ exhibition that goes right to the heart of what constitutes ‘value’ in the arts world. But do bring a coat if you want to see it… (In the Long-Stay Car Park

Douglas Binder: Reclining Figure		PERMANENT AND SUPPLEMENTARY EXHIBITS Upstairs Gallery Collection Corridor & Painter in Residence Corridor Ongoing The Dean Clough collection represents a unique insight into the practice of painting in the North of England over the last 23 years. The Collection Corridor features some of our more notable pieces, including many items by the late, Leeds-based surrealist Tony Earnshaw, the shamanistic landscapes of Derek Hyatt, and sculpture by the Art Junkies (now beloved of the Saatchi Gallery, but once unknown studio artists here at Dean Clough). The corridor outside the Community and Education Gallery features recent and ongoing work by the former curator and artist in residence Doug Binder. Doug organises a life-drawing class every Monday here at Dean Clough (to which anyone is welcome: enquire at reception) and most of his works are nude studies. ‘Full Circle’ - a book covering the life and work of Douglas Binder - is currently under production. If you wish to be informed of publication please email your details to leastauklet@btconnect.com.

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