Visual Arts & Exhibitions

As a schoolteacher, the word “slime” strikes anguish into my very core. It conjures up fidgety students equipped with foul-smelling plastic tubs, kneading the viscous contents under the pretence that it helps them focus - that is if it doesn’t end up smeared in a vile mess all over the carpet. For Blackpool artist Adrian Pritchard, however, it is just one medium through which he explores the creative potential and physical limitations of gravity, and, through his participatory exhibits, challenges the parameters of what an artist actually is. Pritchard’s current solo exhibition at Blackpool’s Grundy gallery, a collection called Terraforma,…

A trio of exhibitions are currently on offer for art lovers wanting to discover the work of local artists. Organised by Arrested Re-Development and the Independent Creative Arts Network (ICAN), the exhibitions aim to provide a space for artists to show their work. It's A Gallery on Talbot road has seen a formal bridal shop transformed into a jam packed showcase of over one hundred works produced by artists from Blackpool and the Fylde coast. Featuring everything from urban to digital, classical and contemporary, the space offers a plethora of artwork to suit all tastes. Just around the corner on…

Photography exhibition Positions of Power is a pre-exhibition presented by Disparity Collective who are currently taking part in Lightbox 2017/18. Lightbox is a Redeye initiative which is an intensive year-long course, launching the careers of professional photographers through workshops, networking sessions and support from experts in the photography industry. The programme is designed to challenge assumptions, encourage reflection and nurture artistic potential, with collaboration at its core and guidance from group Mentor, Kate Jesson, Curator at Manchester City Art Gallery. Positions of Power runs ahead of a Liverpool based installation and exhibition, based around themes of power. The exhibition is designed to present the images…

Live! Tonight! Sold Out!! is an exhibition of digital artwork by John Marc Allen based on some of the icons of popular culture from Marilyn Monroe and Marlon Brando to Debbie Harry and David Bowie. It is on display at the Stage Door Café Bar at the Grand Theatre in Blackpool. John has always been interested in the way popular culture shapes the world around us, and the work reflects the influence of films, music, television, comic books and more on the way we look at and are inspired by the things created keep us entertained, as well as tapping…

Yesterday at The Grundy a group from the local arts community were invited to meet the new Curator Paulette Terry Brien, as well as hear about some of the new developments at The Gallery. Alt Blackpool's roving reporter didn't take a notebook and pen so what follows are only highlights.  An exhibition including a scale model of a pier will snake through the gallery in an exhibition which will also include other pier related exhibits within the gallery's existing collection.  Later in the year there will also be a circus themed exhibition trading on Blackpool's links with this art form.…