Art Archives - Blackpool Social Club

09 Dec

Art Exhibition at Aunty Social- Introducing Keith Downey

Joe Booth0 CommentsVisual Arts & ExhibitionsArt, Aunty Social, Blackpool, Exhibition, painting

This week, Aunty Social is proud to introduce the work of local artist, Keith Downey by hosting an exhibition at their Topping Street venue from Thursday 11 to Friday 12 December. Now living in Blackpool, but born in Romney Marsh in Kent, Keith works in the style of the Dutch Masters, using oil paint on canvas. From childhood, Keith was clear he was only ever going to paint still-life or work with animals. Painting won, and he studied Illustration at Medway College of Design in the late 1970s. "From before I can remember, I absolutely loved that style of art…

09 Jul

Exhibition review: Donkey Work – Grundy Art Gallery

David Simper0 CommentsGuide, Visual Arts & ExhibitionsArt, art exhibition, donkeys, Film, grundy art gallery, horses, painting, sculp

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text css=""] The Grundy Art Gallery's new summer show is now open. Donkey Work and Horse Power are two exhibitions that examine artists' representations of the humble donkey and horse, inviting visitors to see our equine companions in a new light. David Simper caught the service 61 bus to Talbot Road to explore the exhibitions. [/vc_column_text][vc_column_text css=""]These exhibitions set out to show how artists have used donkeys and horses as symbols of labour, leisure, value and wealth. It features a number of renowned contemporary artists, including Sir Peter Blake and Marina Abramovic on loan from regional and national institutions, supported…

12 Nov

Exhibition Review: Between the Lines – Elizabeth Bullock

David Simper0 CommentsVisual Arts & ExhibitionsArt, art exhibition, blackpool art scene, painting, tea amantes

At the opening of the latest exhibition at Tea Amantes, we chat to artist Elizabeth Bullock about her inspiration – from Monet's garden to her childhood on Marton Moss. Having even managed to get the family meal served before leaving the house, I caught the service 61 bus down to town Tea Amantes to catch Elizabeth Bullock's show of watercolours, other artworks and poetry. Elizabeth has also penned a children's book called Stanley and the Half Pint and examples of her poetry were placed among the artworks.. So a versatile artist indeed. Bullock's works are accomplished and varied, between animal…

03 Oct

Theatre Review: Martha Pailing – Chat Shit, Get Hit

Mully0 CommentsTheatre, Dance & PerformanceArt, artist, blackpool art scene, community, performance, the old electric

The Blackpool-born performance artist's new show will shock and delight you, but no one will leave without realising something about themselves. Full disclosure: watching Martha Pailing’s latest work-in-progress show Chat Shit, Get Hit will be a very different experience if you’re a woman than it was for me as a man. If you are a woman going to see this startling work of spoken word and performance art, I imagine you might be wearily familiar with the ideas she explores, from the bubbling undercurrent of female rage to the reasons this rage rears its head. But if you’re a man,…

08 Jun

Exhibition Review: Anjinese and J. Paul Wright at Tea Amantes

David Simper0 CommentsVisual Arts & ExhibitionsArt, art exhibition, Blackpool, blackpool art scene, tea amantes

It's the first Monday of the month, which means it must be a new exhibition at the Tea Amantes cafe and gallery. Once more abandoning the family to their own devices, I take the service 3 bus to town and walk down Albert Road to the already bustling space. I fail to make it through the door before Anna Paprzycka, who runs these exhibitions, photographs me stood next to photographer Kate Yates. This gives me time to set up my little digital camera with its filter and lens hood. This is the first dual exhibition at Tea Amantes and the…

30 Sep

What’s On Guide: October 2022

Blackpool Social Club0 CommentsGuideArt, art exhibition, Exhibition, gigs, live music, Music, performance, photography, what's on

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text] We know you've missed it, so here's the Blackpool Social Club What's On guide for October... Tap the date to see that day's listings.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_tta_accordion color="white" active_section="1" css=".vc_custom_1664380592238{border-top-width: 10px !important;border-right-width: 10px !important;border-bottom-width: 10px !important;border-left-width: 10px !important;background-color: #ffe758 !important;border-left-color: #ffe758 !important;border-right-color: #ffe758 !important;border-top-color: #ffe758 !important;border-bottom-color: #ffe758 !important;}"][vc_tta_section title="Saturday 1st October" tab_id="1664380069018-7611342f-7c06"][vc_single_image image="36100" img_size="large" add_caption="yes" alignment="center"][vc_column_text] Aunty Social – new venue preview A chance to preview of Aunty Social’s new community art space on Topping St. Aunty is heading onto the high street so that it can bring its community arts offerings together under one roof and provide a space to explore…

25 Aug

Art review: How I Learned to Stop Worrying – An exhibition by John Marc Allen

David Simper0 CommentsVisual Arts & ExhibitionsArt, art exhibition, atomic threat, blackpool arts scene, dr strangelove, hive arts, nuclear war, protect and survive, the bomb

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text] John Marc Allen's exhibition brings home the reality of the continuing atomic age and its potential consequences. Those of us who lived through the existential dread of the 70s and 80s, thought that we'd got away with it when first the Berlin Wall fell followed by the Soviet Union. Now the threat of nuclear destruction seems to be back. As I write, things are hotting up in the Taiwan Strait, over something that could be described as a trivial matter, but not to the Chinese government. Not to mention the continuing Ukraine war. At the bottom of the road…

21 Jul

Garden Party at The Art B&B

Claire Griffiths0 CommentsEnvironment and NatureArt, art B&B, community garden, gardening

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text] Ever wondered where the mysterious Art B&B is in Blackpool. What lays behind the huge fried egg attached to the rear of said building. The 22nd of July 2022 is your chance to have a lookie at the blooming community garden and maybe grab a cocktail. [/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image="35509" img_size="large"][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]The Art B&B is an independent Boutique Hotel designed by 30 contemporary artists. It is a different experience for Blackpool and although once a classic victorian building, the Art B&B's interior and more recently outside have a refreshing alternative twist that is comparable to what you might find in the city.…

20 Jul

Art review: Radek Marszalik at Tea Amantes

David Simper0 CommentsVisual Arts & ExhibitionsArt, art exhibition, blackpool art scene, dark arts, drawing, painting, Radek Marszalik, tea amantes

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text] The Tea Amantes team has brought us another fine exhibition, this time featuring the work of Polish artist, Radek Marszalik. [/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width="2/3"][vc_column_text]I bussed it down to Albert Road to catch the opening event. The place soon filled with Blackpool and the Fylde's creatives and friends and the evening turned into quality social time. This work is of incredible detail and clearly requires great technical skill to put it together. There is good colour use and then contrast with stark yet intricate monochrome images. Radek says: "I adore creating with oil paints, graphite, colour pencils and other mediums, which allow…

22 Jun

Exhibition Review: Peter Jamieson Sinclair’s ‘Caravaggio: The art of forgery’ at HiveArts

David Simper0 CommentsVisual Arts & ExhibitionsArt, art exhibition, art of forgery, Blackpool, blackpool arts scene, caravaggio, hivearts, old masters, painting, peter jamieson sinclair

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text] It was a full house for the opening of Peter Jamieson Sinclair's exhibition of Caravaggio based works at HiveArts on Blackpool's Church Street on 15 June 2022. Referring to my Caravaggio book (Gilles Lambert), I have to say that these works are close to uncannily like the originals. Mind you, if they were the originals, how would we have covered the insurance bill? The notes visible on the photos often recounted that the originals had been lost and other background information, including what is known about the paintings' original subjects. The Art of Forgery explores the techniques used to…