Matt Calderwood, 'Some Things Just Work', 2004. Courtesy the artist
Quiet Revolution: A Hayward Touring Exhibition
4 July - 30 August 2009
This international group exhibition of lo-tech sculptural works brought together a set of artists whose practices open out a playful, exploratory relationship with familiar and unnoticed materials. These artists were not overtly interested in protest, rebellion or revolt. This was a ‘quiet revolution’, a series of open-ended experiments that sketched out different ways of approaching the world.
‘Quiet revolution’ is largely a journalistic term, referring to an unnoticed shift in society – a change that isn’t obvious or violent. The most famous historical example is Quebec’s secularisation in the1960s; more recently, it has been used to describe the fitting of UK homes with energy saving materials. The ‘quiet revolution’ of this exhibition invited the audience to reconsider the use of familiar objects. Through what might be described as ‘sculptural doodles’ and curious reworkings of the commonplace, Quiet Revolution explored how we can transform and are transformed by our environment.
Artists: David Beattie (Ireland), Margrét H. Blöndal (Iceland), Alice Channer (United Kingdom), Matt Calderwood (Northern Ireland), Hreinn Friðfinnsson (Iceland), Mitzi Pederson (United States), Joëlle Tuerlinckx (Belgium)
Milton Keynes Gallery was delighted to be the launch venue for Quiet Revolution, the first Hayward Touring Curatorial Open exhibition, which is an initiative supporting emerging UK-based curators. The Hayward Curatorial Open supports UK-based curators in realising innovative contemporary art exhibitions. The exhibition attracted national press coverage and our visitors were intrigued:
I very much enjoyed ‘Quiet Revolution’; the simplicity of materials and forms is most interesting, and moving. The pieces work very well in the Gallery space. (Male visitor from Bedford)
The exhibition themes and content provided the inspiration for a range of related events for diverse audiences:
- Exhibition Tour: For adult visitors curator Chris and artist Matt Calderwood discussed truth to materials and the simplicity and playful nature of the work, the ideas behind the exhibition and the process of curation in a free exhibition tour.
- Access Tour: For visitors with access needs Gallery staff conducted an audio-described exhibition tour, supported by a BSL interpreter. Access Tours are now regular gallery events, developed through close work with the Milton Keynes Theatre and Gallery Disability Steering Group. If you know of anyone who might benefit from this service please tell them about it!
- Curating Workshops: For teens and adults the Gallery ran a very successful curators course in which artist and curator Sarah Granger Jones worked through the ideas of the exhibition and how a curator might go about developing an exhibition.
- Extended Schools Workshops: For Milton Keynes Extended School Services we ran a summer school across five schools in Woughton Parish. Artist Katy Howkins and choreographer Helen Parlor worked together to create a multi media performance with parents and children from the local area. The final work and dance were performed publicly at the Gallery’s Project Space 2 at the end of the summer school. Participating schools were:Moorlands, Oldbrook, Shepherdswell, Penwith and Willlows. Choreographer Helen reported: A fantastic project which developed and saw different results with each workshop we ran. The final day was fun and energetic bringing everything together and showing what the young people and parents had experienced from this short project. It was great to see so many smiles and engaged people in the room and visiting the Gallery.
- Outreach Talks: Curator Chris Fite-Wassilak visited students at Northampton Universities to discuss the work and the process of curating
Press coverage included this from ‘Exhibitionist: The best art shows to see this week’ by Laura McLean-Ferris, www.guardian.co.uk 10.07.09
At Milton Keynes Gallery...a new generation of artists is taking an interest in humble materials. The title of Quiet Revolution, which is curated by Chris Fite-Wassilak, hints that altering the way we feel about humdrum household objects – fabric, buckets, brooms and boxes – might ultimately give us the power to change the world.
4 July - 30 August 2009
This international group exhibition of lo-tech sculptural works brought together a set of artists whose practices open out a playful, exploratory relationship with familiar and unnoticed materials. These artists were not overtly interested in protest, rebellion or revolt. This was a ‘quiet revolution’, a series of open-ended experiments that sketched out different ways of approaching the world.
‘Quiet revolution’ is largely a journalistic term, referring to an unnoticed shift in society – a change that isn’t obvious or violent. The most famous historical example is Quebec’s secularisation in the1960s; more recently, it has been used to describe the fitting of UK homes with energy saving materials. The ‘quiet revolution’ of this exhibition invited the audience to reconsider the use of familiar objects. Through what might be described as ‘sculptural doodles’ and curious reworkings of the commonplace, Quiet Revolution explored how we can transform and are transformed by our environment.
Artists: David Beattie (Ireland), Margrét H. Blöndal (Iceland), Alice Channer (United Kingdom), Matt Calderwood (Northern Ireland), Hreinn Friðfinnsson (Iceland), Mitzi Pederson (United States), Joëlle Tuerlinckx (Belgium)
Milton Keynes Gallery was delighted to be the launch venue for Quiet Revolution, the first Hayward Touring Curatorial Open exhibition, which is an initiative supporting emerging UK-based curators. The Hayward Curatorial Open supports UK-based curators in realising innovative contemporary art exhibitions. The exhibition attracted national press coverage and our visitors were intrigued:
I very much enjoyed ‘Quiet Revolution’; the simplicity of materials and forms is most interesting, and moving. The pieces work very well in the Gallery space. (Male visitor from Bedford)
The exhibition themes and content provided the inspiration for a range of related events for diverse audiences:
- Exhibition Tour: For adult visitors curator Chris and artist Matt Calderwood discussed truth to materials and the simplicity and playful nature of the work, the ideas behind the exhibition and the process of curation in a free exhibition tour.
- Access Tour: For visitors with access needs Gallery staff conducted an audio-described exhibition tour, supported by a BSL interpreter. Access Tours are now regular gallery events, developed through close work with the Milton Keynes Theatre and Gallery Disability Steering Group. If you know of anyone who might benefit from this service please tell them about it!
- Curating Workshops: For teens and adults the Gallery ran a very successful curators course in which artist and curator Sarah Granger Jones worked through the ideas of the exhibition and how a curator might go about developing an exhibition.
- Extended Schools Workshops: For Milton Keynes Extended School Services we ran a summer school across five schools in Woughton Parish. Artist Katy Howkins and choreographer Helen Parlor worked together to create a multi media performance with parents and children from the local area. The final work and dance were performed publicly at the Gallery’s Project Space 2 at the end of the summer school. Participating schools were:Moorlands, Oldbrook, Shepherdswell, Penwith and Willlows. Choreographer Helen reported: A fantastic project which developed and saw different results with each workshop we ran. The final day was fun and energetic bringing everything together and showing what the young people and parents had experienced from this short project. It was great to see so many smiles and engaged people in the room and visiting the Gallery.
- Outreach Talks: Curator Chris Fite-Wassilak visited students at Northampton Universities to discuss the work and the process of curating
Press coverage included this from ‘Exhibitionist: The best art shows to see this week’ by Laura McLean-Ferris, www.guardian.co.uk 10.07.09
At Milton Keynes Gallery...a new generation of artists is taking an interest in humble materials. The title of Quiet Revolution, which is curated by Chris Fite-Wassilak, hints that altering the way we feel about humdrum household objects – fabric, buckets, brooms and boxes – might ultimately give us the power to change the world.