Three New Exhibitions...

We are very busy here at "Business Towers" supporting artists who are exhibiting their art in Yorkshire. We have three exhibitions starting this month to take us through to the New Year. more information about each exhibition will be on its way.

South Square Studio Artists at New Bradford Playhouse. Open now, three of South Square's studio holders, June Russell, Patricia Calver and Tony O'Connell are exhibiting their work in the bar area of the New Bradford Playhouse in Little Germany, Bradford. visit the theatre's website for opening times.

Barcaeyes by China9

China9 at Central Hall, Keighley. Huddersfield based artist, Dex Hannon, exhibits unusual art as his alter ego, China9, at our regular exhibition space in Keighley, West Yorkshire. Show starts Wednesday 28th November. Check out the Facebook Event HERE

Labyrinth 

This is a first! Sally Storr and Jo Whitehead exhibit glass, ceramics and plaster at Otley Courthouse, West Yorkshire from Sunday 2nd December. The exhibition, called Vessel, explores the deconstruction of the purpose of containers that hold liquid. Visit the Otley Courthouse website for opening times. 

Akari Maharani - Sab Rang Exhibition

Akari Maharani

A young self trained artist, who uses her heritage and love of colours as inspiration, Akari Maharani’s art draws influence and motive from her British Indian culture and organic nature. She combines the two and creates her works on a variety of medium. She is currently showing her art at Central Hall, Keighley as part of the Sab Rang Exhibition. 

She is hugely inspired by a mass of modern western artists, Rangoli (indian powder paint), Hindu festivals and her family. Taking on all external factors, be them the bustling streets of a major city or the British countryside, her work reflects this by using traditional Indian mehndi (henna) patterns, peacocks and flowers.  The paths between all the components of the pieces are as important to her as the shapes and the colour as it adds contrast and depth to her pieces. 

Sab Rang is showing at Cafe Central, Central Hall, Alice Street, Keighley until Friday 13 July. Admission is free and the exhibition is open from Monday to Friday 8.30am - 4pm and Saturday 9am - 2pm.

Zareena Bano - Sab Rang Exhibition

Sab Rang exhibition at Central Hall

Zareena is a Visual Artist and works as a freelance Creative Arts Tutor.  She has worked in the arts for over ten years now and is exhibiting her work as part of the Sab Rang exhibition at Central Hall, Keighley.

The artwork is made up using mixed media. The work is inspired by traditional South Asian and Arabic calligraphy designs fused with modern and contemporary art. The diversity of the range of work she has been involved with and has tutored on has reflected the needs and interests of the client group injected with her own style and passion.  She possesses a wide skill base of creative arts and attributes to be able to deliver different forms of art for different styles and levels of engagement.

Zareena likes working with different communities, sharing her passion, joy and knowledge of art, exposing talents of local people and provoking people to succeed in life. She likes to encourage people to express themselves, to exchange creatively and interact with each other. In doing this, she has reached out and touched many peoples’ lives therefore making a difference through art.

 Sab Rang is showing at Cafe Central, Central Hall, Alice Street, Keighley until Friday 13 July. Admission is free and the exhibition is open from Monday to Friday 8.30am - 4pm and Saturday 9am - 2pm.

Artists Bring Eastern Colour to Keighley

Zareena Bano

Visitors to Keighley's Central Hall will have a rare opportunity to explore many different facets of south Asian art.

The Sab Rang (All Colours) exhibition examines the subcontinent's rich cultural heritage, from calligraphy to contemporary wall art. The works on display will look at the traditional crafts and skills of India, Pakistan and Bangladesh - from the miniature paintings of the Muslim Mogul emperors to the complex patterns of mehndi, where decorations are applied to the skin.

Humaira Minhas

'Central Hall prides itself on being an easily accessible resource for all of the town's diverse communities,' says development manager Matt Blackmore. 'For example, we host All Keighley Communities Together, which helps people of all backgrounds to meet, discuss issues and make their voices heard. We are also home to Arakan Creative, the first theatre company in the north of England to specialise in stories from the Islamic world.

'That's why it's so important to us that our series of free exhibitions reflects the heritage of all our diverse communities. Yet, despite the large population of British Asian residents, there is currently nowhere else to view art from this cultural background.'

Sab Rang showcases the work of Akari Maharani, Zareena Bano and Humaira Minhas, who all share a love of rich colour. They each produce works singing with rich metals, bright opaque pigments and delicate shades but with recognisable and contrasting styles. The exhibition has been hosted by Artists in Business, which also provides support through hand-made fairs, workshops and seminars, in association with Bradford-based south Asian arts organisation Kala Sangam.

Akari Maharani

Sab Rang will be showing at Cafe Central, Central Hall, Alice Street, Keighley from Monday 11 June to Friday 13 July. Admission is free and the exhibition is open from Monday to Friday 8.30am - 4pm and Saturday 9am - 2pm.

Sab Rang - All Colours

Mural Art by Upasana Sonigra

Sab Rang is the title of the next exhibition at Central Hall, Keighley from Monday 11th June to Friday 13 July 2012. 

Sab Rang (All Colours) is an exciting exhibition by three Yorkshire women artists who explore their South Asian culture through art. Akari Maharani, Zareena Bano and Humaira Minhas explore the themes of heritage, history, calligraphy and mehndi with their contemporary art works.


Sab Rang will be showing at Café Central, Central Hall, Alice Street, Keighley BD21 3JD from Monday 11th June to Friday 13th July (Opening times: Mon -Fri 8.30am to 4pm Sat 9am - 2pm) ENTRANCE FREE


Sab Rang is sponsored by Artists in Business and supported by Kala Sangam  

    

More about the exhibition, including Artist's statements, coming soon....

Felt at Central Hall - Naomi Southon

Naomi Southon - Artist's Statement


"Inspired by biological forms, in particular a world hidden from the naked eye, my felt works have been created using traditional wet felting techniques and use rich and vibrant colours. The fine, intricate detail seen through a microscope is emulated in the pieces using hand and machine embroidery in a vast array of glorious threads. Further detail has been added using needle felting and beautiful glass beads embellish the colour and forms within the work".

Naomi's felt work will be at Central Hall, Alice Street, Keighley until Friday 6th April 2012.

Felt at Central Hall - Lucy Bowring

Lucy Bowring - Artist's Statement

The George and Lilly range is designed and created by Lucy Bowring. It consists of a large collection of handmade felt gifts and accessories including decorated purses, felt brooches, baby booties and book covers.  Accompanying these is a variety of special one off felt framed pictures which are completely original in both design and concept.

“ I have always been interested in designing and making textile products and really enjoy selling my items to the public as it’s nice to hear first hand feedback and see people enjoy what I have made. I get the influence for my pictures from stories, nursery rhymes and fairy tales and landscape round me. Ideas for badges, purses, booties and covers come from things around me experimenting with  different techniques and materials.”


Lucy's felt work will be at Central Hall, Alice Street, Keighley until Friday 6th April 2012.

Felt at Central Hall - Clare Ashton

Clare Ashton - Artist's Statement


"I came to feltmaking without planning, but once I had discovered it I have grasped, grappled, embraced and wooed this creative process to discover all its possibilities and all I can create and express through it.
"There is a wonder in the process of making felt as loose fibres fuse and knit themselves together under my hands, becoming a fabric of as many varied shapes and textures as I can imagine. In the past I have build up my images during the half-felt stages, but recently I have begun printing onto the felt and then felting it further before adding more print and repeating.  This process is enabling me to add depth and atmosphere to the artworks as the wool pulls the image into it.  By printing again on top I’m building up a field of focus with the foreground sharp and the background becoming less and less focused.  Only felt swallows and absorbs the print in this way, making each piece unique.
I use British sheep wool in my felt.  This way I can know the story of the wool, where it comes from, the landscape the sheep walked in, the weather it endured.  I also know it did not have to pollute the skys or oceans to reach me". 

"Knowing the source of my materials leads my thinking onto the subject of the images I am then imposing onto it.  To me it calls out to be the plants and animals, landscapes and structures which share the countryside the sheep inhabit.
When all these elements come together my work has integrity.  It has been true to my creativity, my environment, my inspiration, my soul and my creator".  

Clare's printed felt work will be at Central Hall, Alice Street, Keighley until Friday 6th April 2012.

Future Exhibitions

The next Artists in Business sponsored exhibition will be Felted Cloth, in collaboration with Central Hall in Keighley. (Please come and see it for yourself).

Naomi Southon

I have been setting up exhibitions and arts markets for 10 years - most of them when I worked at The Arts Factory - but when the gallery closed in March 2011 there was nothing in Keighley to fill the gap.  Keighley is a small town with a growing community of artists, two musician support centres and an arts organisation for young people (Small World). I really missed the exhibition side of my job and Keighley needs a dedicated gallery. So I was delighted when the CEO of Central Hall asked me to put together an exhibition of local visual artists for the opening of Central Hall last year.  This space is in the cafe area and it has a high footfall. 

Arts Factory, Keighley

I see the purpose of the exhibitions to show a wide range of contemporary visual art, including textiles, photography, fine art and print. Art should both inform and interest its audience so I try to include an explanation of processes and display artists' statements. The exhibitions are aimed at people who enjoy art and people who would not normally visit a gallery (visitors are a mix of cafe users and people who come specifically to see the work). 

Cafe Central Exhibition Area, Central Hall

These exhibitions are not necessarily challenging rather that they are informative.  This exhibition - Felted Cloth - shows the work of three textile artists who are very different in style yet they each use wet felt.  Their work is affordable, tactile and fun.  

Lucy Bowring 

Please keep checking back at the Artists in Business Blog to see more exhibitions and, if you are in Keighley, please pop into Central Hall and enjoy a cuppa whilst viewing the art.

Felted Cloth at Central Hall

The next Artists in Business exhibition at Central Hall is Felted Cloth from Monday 27 February to Friday 6 April 2012.

Naomi Southon

Felted Cloth is an exhibition of three textile artists who turn fleece into fabric to create tactile art.

Clare Ashton

Central Hall is open to the public from 8.30am to 4pm Monday to Friday and 9am to 2pm on Saturdays. Central Hall is on Alice Street, Keighley West Yorkshire BD21 3JD

Lucy Bowring

printmaking at Central Hall

Our next exhibition at Central Hall will be a feast of printmaking including Letterpress, Lino Print and Collograph. 

Letterpress by Jacqui Sharples

Printmaking at Central Hall, Alice Street, Keighley starts on Monday 21 November at Cafe Central and is a joint show with printmakers Jacqui Sharples, Emily Harvey and Alison Deegan. Each printmaker is a master of her craft and has a distinctive style. 

Collograph by Emily Harvey

We will be posting updates and artists' statements here to accompany the exhibition which is at Central Hall until Friday 6 January 2012.  Meanwhile, if you would like to find out more about printmaking workshops in Keighley please call Jo Whitehead on 01535 608471 or email Jo.artsbiz@gmail.com 

Lino print by Alison Deegan

Award Winning Photographer

Kath Williamson

One of our photographers, Kath Williamson, has won an award at the Sheffield Art in the Garden event! 

Here she is accepting her award from local artist Joe Scarborough. Come and see Kath's beautifully dreamy images at our exhibition, Photography @ Central Hall, Alice Street, Keighley.

Latest Exhibition in Keighley

Central Hall Cafe

Photography @ Central Hall is now open to the public until Friday 14 October 2011.
Photographers Steve Rayner and Kath Williamson showcase their images in the exhibition area in Cafe Central.  Central Hall is now open on Saturdays from 9am to 2pm as well as Monday to Friday 9am to 5pm. 

Look out for our next exhibition - Printmaking @ Central Hall from Monday 21 November 2011 to Friday 6 January 2012

Photographer Steve Rayner @ Central Hall

Balcony by Steve Rayner

Innovative photographer Steve Rayner is a professional whose client base includes wedding and event photography and product photography.  He talks about his  artistic work here.

"For some time my method of working has been to familiarise myself with an area over a period of time – days, weeks, possibly even years - and then to start to capture elements of that environment that seem important. This is usually done all at once, when the light is just right.  As the images are recorded, I’m visualising how they will interact with each other or combine to form an impression or a feeling rather than a literal representation. Sometimes they work out as composites, occasionally as individual images". 

Hirst Wood

To see Steve's work please visit his latest exhibition, Photography @ Central Hall from Monday September 5 Friday  2011. Find out more HERE.

Photography @ Central Hall

Add caption

Photography @ Central Hall opens to the public on Monday 5 September at Central Hall, Alice Street, Keighley. Admission to the show is free and this exciting exhibition show cases the work of two Yorkshire photographers, Kath Williamson and Steve Rayner.  Here is some more information about Sheffield photographer Kath Williamson. 

This series of images has been produced by Sheffield-based art photographer Kath Williamson. She has always felt particularly drawn to neglected gardens and allotments, as well as to those small and often overlooked corners in the city where nature is asserting itself. Seeming to tread a line between painting and photograph, her images reflect the transience, fragility and beauty of these wild places. 

“All is process. That is to say, there is ‘no thing’ in the universe.

Things, objects, entities, are abstractions of what is relatively constant from a process of movement and transformation.

They are like the shapes that children like to see in clouds..”

 (David Bohm, Physicist, 1917 –1992)

 Visit Kath's website by clicking HERE
The exhibition is open until Friday 14 October 2011. 

Photography @ Central Hall

Grass Verge by Kath Williamson

Since our first exhibition of Yorkshire Artists at Central Hall in April this year, Artists in Business has been commissioned to curate four more exhibitions in Keighley, West Yorkshire.
Photography @ Central Hall will be an exhibition of two Yorkshire photographers, Kath Williamson and Steve Rayner, from Monday 5 September to Friday 4 October 2011.  
Open times: Mon - Fri. Central Hall is sometimes open at weekends, please check out their website for details.  
www.central-hall.org.uk 
Central Hall is on Alice Street, Keighley BD21 3JD and has a lovely cafe where you can enjoy a good lunch. 

Millennium Square, Leeds by Steve Rayner

Art@Central Hall

Central Hall, Keighley's newest Community Resource Centre, will be hosting its first art exhibition, showcasing six local artists. 

Displayed in Cafe Central, the exhibition includes paintings, photographs, mixed media and printmaking.

Littondale - Sunshine and Shadow by Martin Williamson

Exhibition starts on Monday 18 April to Friday 6 May
ENTRANCE FREE
Central Hall Opening times: 9am to 4pm 

Monday - Friday
 Alice Street, Keighley BD21 3JD

Contact Central Hall: 01535 612500

View from Pen-y-ghent by Martin Priestley

Exhibiting Artists are Martin Priestley (photographer) Farooq Rehmat (fine artist) June Russell (printmaker) Nicola Smith (illustrator) Kath Tarpy (fine artist) and Martin Williamson (painter)

Black Prince by Kath Tarpy

Farooq Rehmat

What else does Central Hall offer? Meeting rooms and conference room for hire, free wifi and Cafe Central. To find out more contact us 01535 612500 or visit  Central-hall.com

Free Bird by Nicola Smith

Hedgerows at Cowgill by June Russell