Liverpool Biennial Exhibition launches in Hull as Humber Street Gallery enters exciting new phase
On 18 January 2019, following on from its acclaimed Jamie Reid exhibition XXXXX: Fifty Years of Subversion and the Spirit, Humber Street Gallery will present Place to Place, an exhibition that showcases three female artists selected by the gallery to be part of the Liverpool Biennial touring programme which opens with its first exhibition in Hull.
The three featured artists are Inci Eviner, Suki Seokyeong Kang and Annie Pootoogook, each working in a different medium including film, painting, sculpture and drawing.
Inci Eviner will reflect on ideas of religion and authority in her film installation Reenactment of Heaven, specifically addressing the place of women in heaven and rejecting the role consigned to them in societies dominated by the male gaze.
Land Sand Strand is a multi-part installation by Suki Seokyeong Kang consisting of painting, sculpture and video, and conceived as a visual translation of the Korean musical notation ‘Jeongganbo’.
Annie Pootoogook’s drawings challenge traditional notions of Inuit art, instead depicting the realities of daily life as she saw it – from hunting and watching television, to intimate personal moments and scenes of domestic violence.
Liverpool Biennial is the largest festival of contemporary art in the UK. Free exhibitions and events took place across Liverpool’s public spaces, galleries and museums from July until October 2018 under the title Beautiful world, where are you?.
The touring programme provides an opportunity for the work to be experienced beyond Liverpool in seven contemporary art venues and public spaces across the north of England.
Taking place during 2019 and 2020 the tour includes Humber Street Gallery (Hull), Bury Art Museum & Sculpture Centre (Bury), In-Situ (Pendle), Super Slow Way (Burnley), The Tetley (Leeds), Touchstones Rochdale (Rochdale) and The Turnpike (Leigh).
Humber Street Gallery’s Senior Curator, John Heffernan, said: “We’re really pleased to enter into this new and exciting partnership with Liverpool Biennial.
“This is the first time the gallery has worked with such a strong network of partners across England and we’re really excited to connect our audiences with the wider touring programme. If you missed the prestigious Biennial then this is a rare opportunity to revisit incredible commissions here in Hull and an opportunity to visit our partners and explore contemporary art across the North.
“The first venue on the tour, we will exhibit the work of three incredible, international female artists. Featuring a number of art forms, the work and planned events programme will offer visitors to the gallery great variety and interest as we challenge and question the notion of gender roles and identity through art.”
Creative Director and Chief Executive at Absolutely Cultured, Katy Fuller, said: “We’re really proud to join this partnership with Liverpool Biennial and the other six great organisations across the North of England.
“Humber Street Gallery has an important role in Hull to bring world-class contemporary art to the cityand to ensure the legacy of our City of Culture year continues. To become one of the venues involved in the tour is a great opportunity for us and for Hull as it signals the ongoing recognition of the city as a creative and cultural destination to rival any other across the north.”
Last year’s inaugural touring programme attracted an audience of more than 45,000 of which 37% had never visited the venue before, while 18% said it was their first visit to an arts event in the past 12 months.
The touring programme is supported with National Lottery funding through Arts Council England’s Strategic Touring fund.
The public launch event will take place on 17 January 2019.
EXHIBITION LISTINGS
Humber Street Gallery, Hull, Inci Eviner / Suki Seokyeong Kang / Annie Pootoogook, 18 January – 31 March 2019
The Turnpike, Leigh, Mohamed Bourouissa, 16 February – 25 March 2019
Bury Art Museum & Sculpture Centre, Bury, Aslan Gaisumov / Janice Kerbel, 23 February – 4 May 2019
In-Situ, Brierfield and Nelson, Madiha Aijaz, 8 – 30 June 2019
Super Slow Way, Burnley, Reetu Sattar, 8 – 30 June 2019
Touchstones Rochdale, Annie Pootoogook, 13 July – September 2019
The Tetley, Leeds, Holly Hendry / Taus Makhacheva, 22 June 2019 – 13 October 2019 (Holly Hendry), 31 January 2020 – 3 May 2020 (Taus Makhacheva)