Visual Arts & Exhibitions

By Christo   I suspect too many people reading this will not have encountered poetry since school, and attending a poetry reading will not be their first choice of social activity. Blackpool Dead Good Poets (BDGP) are different. Being in existence for several years, the Dead Good Poets have a strong connection with Blackpool & The Fylde College where several BDGP organisers teach or study. The group has matured enough to have won last year’s Radio Wave 'Website of the Year' award, and if you’d like a sense of who we are and what interests us, the blog (with a…

Duncan Hodgson finds out about all-new Swedish crime thriller, Inspector Norse, and how you can get involved in making part of the set with local community arts group, Aunty Social. Inspector Norse comes to Blackpool's Grand Theatre on Monday the 15th October 2012 and is sure to be a thrilling adventure full of mystery, and of course, yarn. The story centres around ex-pop-star recluse Freya out in her log cabin in the middle of winter and a stranger walking through the frozen wastes in a fur hat carrying a chisel. A couple of days later a body is discovered in…

Caroline Fisher gives us a sneak preview of the new Urban Illuminations for 2012. This Friday sees this years official launch of Blackpool illuminations and as a special treat for 2012, Richard Ryan (the director of Blackpool Illuminations) asked for a commision to bring a 21st century element to the historic Illuminations. With Robin Ross as curator, 4 artists from Robin's 'Sand, Sea and Spray' urban art event were asked to create an illumination tablo each. My Dog Sighs from Portsmouth, Rocket01.co.uk from Sheffield, Bristols Inkie & Lonac from Zagreb, Croatia were given the task. The tablos were painted in Europe's' biggest spray booth situated at the Blackpool Illumination Depot over a two day period last March, where I hung around trying to…

Kicking off Illuminations Week on altblackpool, Clancy Mason tells us about artist Jo Berry's reinterpretation of Heritage Illuminations for the Centenary. Blackpool Tower plus Fluted Pylons (1938). Image from Blackpool Local and Family History Centre (right). Lighting artist Jo Berry has been busy creating a new lighting installation for the 2012 Illuminations Centenary inspired by a fluted pylon design from the 1930’s. Originally from Burnley, Jo Berry has been exhibiting regularly for over 12 years. Her work is ground breaking and highly regarded, with pieces in the Victoria & Albert Museum (V&A) and Arts Council England (ACE) Collections.Her new series of…

Clancy Mason gives you a taste of the products on offer at the launch of Project Object next week. Blackpool Arts Service has commissioned Project Object artists and designers Tim Denton, Lois Blackburn and Bonker*s Clutterbucks to explore the wealth of historic collections Blackpool has to offer and use them as inspiration to create a range of contemporary and innovative items which are about to go on sale in the Grundy Art Gallery shop and at the Tourist Information Centre along Blackpool Promenade. The aim of Project Object was to give people in Blackpool an opportunity to work alongside and…

In the wake of the hugely successful Sand, Sea and Spray Festival (Blackpool’s own international graffiti festival), the town is still offering the best access to some world class street artists. This weekend it plays host to Pure Evil. His recent work includes Olympic street art efforts in Hackney, depicting a hooded figure running away with one of the Olympic rings. A very iconic image that could easily be mistaken for the work of Banksy, for those unaware of the variety of artists within this field. Pure Evil also received more recognition after a televised appearance on The Apprentice earlier…

Caroline meets up with Ollie Tingey of BUA (Blackpool Urban Arts) during one of their Parkour training meet ups to see what it’s all about. Caroline: So Ollie, what is Parkour? Other than bits on TV advertisements I’m afraid I’m a little ignorant. Ollie: Parkour as an art is an activity with the aim of moving from one point to another as efficiently and quickly as possible, using principally the abilities of the human body. It is meant to help one overcome obstacles, which can be anything in the surrounding environment - from branches and rocks to rails and concrete…